Godolphin Strike For €850K Record-Breaking Camelot Colt At BBAG

Godolphin repeated their feat of five years ago when signing for the €850,000 top lot at Friday's BBAG September Yearling Sale, surpassing the previous record fee of €820,000 they paid for a Sea The Stars (Ire) filly in 2019.

It's a record that had been shared since 2020 when Dietrich and Annabel von Boetticher's Gestut Ammerland also forked out €820,000 for a full-sister to the 11-length Deutsches Derby winner and sire Sea The Moon (Ger), but now there is a new outright leader in the shape of the colt who went through the ring on Friday as lot 67.

Named Del Maro (Ger), he too has a Classic pedigree fully befitting of the highest-priced horse in the sale's history. A son of the 2,000 Guineas and Derby winner Camelot (GB), Del Maro was offered by Gestut Brummerhof and is out of their homebred Preis der Diana scorer Diamanta (Ger) (Maxios {GB}), a half-sister to the Listed winner and Group 2 Oleander-Rennen third Diamantis (Ger) (Golden Horn {GB}). His second dam is the G3 Preis der Winterkonigin runner-up Diamantgottin (Ger) (Fantastic Light).

Diamanta's first foal, the Dubawi (Ire) filly Diya (Ger), who failed to find a buyer when offered at this sale in 2022, has also proved herself a talented performer in the familiar yellow and black silks of her owner-breeder. Although well beaten in the Preis der Diana when last seen, she'd earned her place in that field with a comfortable victory in the Listed Diana Trial the previous month.

Anthony Stroud struck the winning bid on behalf of Godolphin, who will be hoping for better luck with this colt than they had with their €820,000 purchase in 2019. The filly, later named Annie d'Autriche (Ger), never made it to the racecourse, whereas the Sea The Moon sibling, named Sea The Sky (Ger) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), showed a high level of form in France for Andre Fabre, winning at Listed level and finishing third in the G3 Prix Minerve.

Incidentally, Sea The Sky later found her way into the hands of the Godolphin team as well when bought for €1.25 million at Arqana last December.

Of the 210 lots offered, 153 sold at a clearance rate of 73%, down 2% on last year. The average also fell by 2% to €48,552, while the median was consistent with 12 months ago at €48,745. The aggregate spend was €7,428,500, down 8% on last year's figure.

Soldier Hollow Gone But Not Forgotten

Anthony Stroud also signed for lot 113, a Teofilo (Ire) colt who fetched €150,000, on behalf of Godolphin, but he was forced to settle for the role of underbidder when it came to the sale's other standout result.

The Soldier Hollow (GB) colt in question, or lot 52, was offered by breeder Helmut von Finck of Gestut Park Wiedingen, the owner of the former German champion sire who died in May this year. Soldier Hollow is perhaps best known as the sire of the Deutsches Derby winners Pastorius (Ger) and Weltstar (Ger), while daughter Tamfana (Ger), who was purchased for €20,000 at this sale in 2022, has finished fourth in the 1,000 Guineas and third in the Prix de Diane this year.

This colt is out of the winning Shirocco (Ger) mare Wamika (Ger), who has already produced three black-type winners by Soldier Hollow, including the G3 Preis der Winterkonigin scorer Whispering Angel (Ger). She in turn is the dam of the G3 Bavarian Classic winner Wilko (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}).

The second dam, Wakytara (Ger) (Danehill), has also produced a multiple Group winner by Soldier Hollow in the shape of Wai Key Star (Ger), something which was identified by Alex Elliott as one of the reasons why he refused to be beaten on lot 52.

“He was just a very, very classy individual,” he summed up after securing the colt for €320,000. “The mare hasn't missed to Soldier Hollow and even the second dam didn't miss to Soldier Hollow, so it's obviously blood that works.

“If he can run as well as he looks, then I'm sure we're going to be okay, even with such a hefty price tag on him. He'll go to Ralph Beckett. It's a sale that has been good to us and, hopefully, this is another horse who can add to that.”

Elliott bought three yearlings in total for an aggregate of €460,000, with the others including lot 73, a colt by Too Darn Hot (GB) who sold for €110,000.

Another Classic Coup for Liberty Racing?

Eckhard Sauren was another of the sale's most prolific buyers with his five purchases–headed by Gestut Gorlsdorf's Kingman (GB) filly [lot 155] who fetched €200,000–coming to an aggregate of €629,000.

Sauren also bought a colt by first-season sire Japan (GB) out of the aforementioned Whispering Angel for €120,000. Of the 24 yearlings by Japan offered, 14 sold for a total of €717,000 and an average of €51,214. The dual Group 1 winner stood his first season at Gestut Etzean in 2022 at a fee of €11,000.

The HFTB Racing Agency was busy on behalf of Darius Racing, picking up six yearlings for an aggregate of €380,000, while the Liberty Racing team, led by Lars-Wilhelm Baumgarten, were back for more, little wonder given the significant success they've enjoyed with their recruits from this sale in recent years.

As if buying last year's Deutsches Derby hero Fantastic Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) here for the bargain sum of €49,000 wasn't enough, the team then repeated the dose at Hamburg in July with Palladium (Ger) (Gleneagles {Ire}), a colt they'd bought from this sale for €80,000 in 2022.

Fantastic Moon, who is back in Group 1 action in Saturday's Grosser Preis von Baden, came from the Stauffenberg draft in 2021 and Liberty Racing returned to that source this year with their €140,000 purchase of lot 107, a Teofilo (Ire) colt out of the G2 Cape Verdi runner-up Asoof (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}).

Lot 65, Liberty Racing's most expensive buy at €200,000, also had something in common with one of their Classic victors as a son of Gleneagles. Offered by Gestut Park Wiedingen, the colt is a half-brother to the G3 Preis der Winterkonigin winner Dhaba (Ger) (Areion {Ger}), who is in turn the dam of the three black-type performers, headed by the Listed scorer and G2 German 1,000 Guineas third Dishina (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}).

All told, the team responsible for the last two winners of the Deutsches Derby added six yearlings to their ranks for a total of €527,000.

Lope De Vega's Big Year Shows No Signs of Slowing Down

Lope De Vega (Ire) continues to lead the race to be crowned champion sire in Europe in 2024 and his popularity was reflected at the recent Arqana August Sale where a filly by the Ballylinch Stud stallion commanded one of the top prices at €1 million.

That filly was consigned by Ballylinch, but roles were reversed in Baden-Baden on Friday as the team behind Lope De Vega turned buyers with the €190,000 purchase of lot 78, a filly out of the Listed-placed Lips Eagle (Ger) (Gleneagles {Ire}). Lips Eagle herself is a half-sister to the G1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis – Bayerisches Zuchtrennen and G2 German 2,000 Guineas winner Lucky Lion (GB), while the second dam, Lips Arrow (Ger) (Big Shuffle), won two Listed races and was Group 3-placed on two other occasions.

“It's been a huge year for the stallion,” said Lizzy Sainty, the French representative for Ballylinch, after securing the only Lope De Vega yearling in the catalogue. “She's a lovely filly. She was really typical of her sire with a lovely walk and she obviously comes from a really top class nursery in Etzean. They do a brilliant job.

“She'll come home to Ireland and John [O'Connor, managing director of Ballylinch] will make a decision on her future later.”

Sainty also confirmed that Prix du Jockey Club hero Look De Vega (Fr) is on track for his two big autumn targets, with the G2 Prix Niel set to be used as a stepping stone to the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for which he heads the ante-post betting.

It was announced in July that Ballylinch had snapped up a majority share in the exciting stallion prospect, in association with Al Shaqab Racing. He will retire to Ballylinch at the end of his racing career to stand alongside his world-famous sire.