Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale concluded with new benchmarks set for turnover and median. The sale aggregate of 70,124,500 guineas was well clear of the wide-margin record set in 2024, and the median of 76,000 guineas was a 9% increase on the previous year’s record equalling figure. The sale clearance rate was an excellent 92%.
Boughey Strikes for Night Of Thunder Colt at 800,000 Guineas
NIGHT OF THUNDER’s purple patch continued on the third day of Book 2 with both the highest and second highest priced lots of the session. Leading the way was a colt consigned by New England Stud who was purchased by trainer George Boughey for 800,000 guineas after a prolonged bidding duel with bloodstock agent Anthony Stroud.
George Boughey trains the NIGHT OF THUNDER colt BOW ECHO who won the Group 2 Tattersalls Online Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket’s Cambridgeshire Meeting and is now near the head of the betting market for the 2026 2000 Guineas.
The trainer said: “We had some stiff competition, he has been bought for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid. He looks very similar to Bow Echo, Sheikh Obaid picked him out – obviously we are delighted to train him.”
“The colt is from a good family, the mare was a Listed winner. He looks like he will be one for next summer onwards, Sheikh Obaid is a patient owner and hopefully this colt can emulate what Bow Echo did. We have had three or four by the sire, they have all won their maidens, but Bow Echo is the first with us to go on and look like a better horse.”
And of bidding past the 500,000 guineas mark, Boughey added: “I had to pick the phone up twice to the Sheikh! We were well over, but he wanted the horse and it is great to have the horse in the barn.”
The February-foaled colt was bred by Lady Riblat and Lord Derby’s Stanley House Stud out of the Listed winning GOLDEN HORN mare QUENELLE D’OR, from the family of Lord Derby’s great racemare OUIJA BOARD, dam of Champion Three-Year-Old Colt AUSTRALIA.
Ballyhimikin’s Night Of Thunder Filly to Henry Lascelles for 700,000 Guineas
An opening online bid of 200,000 guineas indicated that there was significant appetite for Ballyhimikin Stud’s daughter of sire of the moment NIGHT OF THUNDER and so it proved, with the filly eventually knocked down to Henry Lascelles for 700,000 guineas. The underbidder was bloodstock agent Alex Elliott, standing on the phone at the entrance to the sales ring.
Ballyhimikin bred the brilliant NIGHT OF THUNDER colt OMBUDSMAN, a dual Group 1 winner in 2025 in the Juddmonte International and Prince of Wales’s Stakes, who was sold by the stud at Book 2 for 340,000 guineas in 2022.
The link with Ballyhimikin, NIGHT OF THUNDER and his star performer stretched further to the buyer, as Henry Lascelles revealed: “I was working at the farm and prepped a yearling draft that included Ombudsman and Estrange, who have had a great year on the track. We loved the filly, she is going to be a two-year-old, and she is out of a fast dam who was Group placed at two.”
Ballyhimikin’s Jack Hanly commented: “Night Of Thunder has been a revelation. It is has been fantastic for us, we have been so lucky to have been involved in the stallion. We have been strong supporters of him for a long time.
“This filly had a lot of vets on her, there was a lot of chat and a lot of interest. She has been a queen here in the ring and in the yard, she has been perfect. We are very happy – we were expecting a good result but that is a huge result.”
“The mare has done us proud. Her first foal by Mehmas was really nice, he has gone to Australia and won’t be appearing until next year. She is a very nice, attractive-looking mare, and you have to buy them on the physical as well and hopefully that will be continued to their stock. We loved her from the very beginning.”
“We have had a great sale here over the two weeks. We had a great crop of yearlings, hopefully they will carry on and do well – the most important thing is their performance on the track.”
Hanly is heading to Ascot on Saturday to see OMBUDSMAN run in the Group 1 Champion Stakes and added: “It is the race of the year, it is going to be some shoot out!”
The filly is out of the Group 3 placed mare PRINCESSE DE SABA, a daughter of SHAMARDAL’s ill-fated son DARIYAN, who was bought by Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for €87,000 in 2021. Her first foal by MEHMAS fetched 270,000 guineas at the December Foal Sale in 2024 when bought by John Foote. She had a colt foal by HAVANA GREY this spring and was covered by BLUE POINT.
Stanley Lodge Enjoy Brilliant Pinhooking Result with 475,000 Guineas Camelot Colt
Stanley Lodge enjoyed a brilliant pinhooking result on the final day of Book 2 with the CAMELOT colt out of the black type CLODOVIL mare TIGRILLA. The 80,000 guineas Tattersalls December Foal Sale purchase realised a significantly higher price on his second visit to the Tattersalls sales ring when selling for 475,000 guineas to bloodstock agent Alex Elliott, M V Magnier and White Birch.
“He is by Camelot and out of a black type mare who has produced a good horse by Twilight Son. This colt was very well bought by Nick Cope and the boys, and the team was very determined to get him,” revealed Alex Elliott.
“A lot of the Camelots are real staying types to look at, but I think this mare might speed him up. You could be looking at anything from seven furlongs as a two-year-old and then as an older horse to a mile plus, we all liked the idea that she would put in speed.”
Stanley Lodge’s Nick Cope revealed: “Myself and Tom and David Brickley of Ard Erin Stud buy a few foals together, and sometimes we unearth a couple of nice ones on the way. But this horse was more than that – he is a real deal of a horse, a gentleman, he did not put in a bad show here and when you do that you can’t ask for much more. He vetted real clean and he scoped well, he has a great attitude and is an unbelievably athletic, good-moving horse – all the cliches!
“Camelot had an amazing year last year, Bluestocking won the Arc and you had big sales for him in Book 1 last year. It was very easy to say that we wanted a Camelot foal, but to get the foal was difficult. We bought this guy off Baroda and as soon as we saw him we liked him, then you hope he is in range and when he fell our way, we had to have him.
“It was at the top of our budget. We gave a lot of money before on a foal and got stung on him, and we just thought what on earth were we doing spending that sort of money?! We reassessed then, brought it back down to earth and planned to buy a Book 2 horse, with a pedigree or physical, and who might become a Book 1 type if there is an update. We landed on selling in Book 2 for this lad as we wanted to stand out, thank god it has worked!”
He concluded: “Tom and David have their own farm and are busy, I manage Stanley Lodge, we all have day jobs, but we will be back for the foal sales. Fingers crossed we can go again.”
The March-foaled colt’s dam TIGRILLA won the Listed Prix Six Perfections and is the dam of three winners including the impressive Weatherbys Super Sprint winner CABURN. It is the diverse international family of 2000 Guineas winner REFUSE TO BEND, Melbourne Cup winner MEDIA PUZZLE and Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes winner RICH TAPESTRY.
Starspangledbanner Filly to Kevin Ryan for 400,000 Guineas
The progeny of STARSPANGLEDBANNER have been popular in the Tattersalls sales ring this week with 19 lots selling for an average of 164,684 guineas, led by the 900,000 guineas sale topper. Manister House Stud’s STARSPANGLEDBANNER filly proved one of the highlights of Book 2’s third and final session when selling for 400,000 guineas to trainer Kevin Ryan, standing in his customary spot this week at the top of the stairs opposite the auctioneer.
“She’s a lovely, athletic filly with a great temperament,” commented Ryan. “I haven’t had many by Starspangledbanner, they’re hard to find but I’m delighted to get her. She looks a very racy filly and hopefully she turns out that way.”
STARSPANGLEBANNER has enjoyed an excellent year with his two-year-olds on the racecourse led by the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile and Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes winner PRECISE and the Group 2 Coventry Stakes winner GSTAAD, a three-time Group 1 runner up.
The May-foaled filly is out of the Listed Dick Hern Fillies Stakes second REYAADAH, the dam of four winners from four runners including the black type filly TAMREER. REYAADAH’s dam is a half-sister to the dual Group 1 winner and European Champion Older Miler MUHTATHIR.
Amo Racing Secure Another Starman for 400,000 Guineas
Amo Racing struck for a 400,000 guineas STARMAN colt on the third day of Book 2, the sixth yearling by the leading first season sire that they have purchased this week. The colt was offered by Gerrardstown House Stud and is the most expensive colt sold by the sire to date.
“He was Robson Aguiar’s favourite since the weekend, he knew the horse beforehand and he knows these type of horses, and it made sense to buy him,” commented Amo Racing’s trainer Kevin Philippart de Foy.
Gerrardstown Stud’s Donie Fahey revealed: “It was kind a bit of everything – you are excited, nervous, apprehensive, you are scared – thankfully it all worked out well.
“He has been a very easy horse to deal with from birth, we have loved him from the start, I am just glad that someone else loved him too. You have your evaluation from home, and you hope you are right, but I think we actually undervalued him. You have to be realistic, the market is tough,and you don’t know what is going to happen when the horse goes in there, we can only control the controllables. And when the horse is in the ring, it is out of our control.”
He added: “It is huge for us. A sale like this is massive for us, we had our biggest result a few weeks ago but this sale has left that well behind. I am so lucky I have some great people working with me, we are a family-run farm, we are all involved, and it is very nice to get it right. I told Kia that we will be watching him as if he is our own and I hope he turns out to be their next stallion!”
The colt’s dam TAMMY WYNETTE is the dam of Listed placed filly LETHERFLY, third in the Sweet Mimosa Stakes at Naas. Her dam CMONBABYLITEMYFIRE is a half-sister to European Champion Two-Year-Old Colt TOORMORE and the dual Group 2 winner ESTIDHKAAR.
Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale begins at 9.30am on Thursday, 16th October.
