By Emma Berry
NEWMARKET, UK — The 91-rated Clearpoint (GB) (Ardad {GB}) bucked the trend of a number of the more expensive lots sold on Friday at Tattersalls and is to remain in the UK to continue his racing career.
The four-year-old will switch stables from Charlie Fellowes to Simon Hodgson, who bid 75,000gns on behalf of PCF Racing for the four-time winner. The sprinter (lot 338) is entered for Sunday's Listed Kachy S. at Lingfield.
Hodgson said, “He has been bought for John Whelan of PCF Racing. I don't know if we will run on Sunday, we will need to chat about it. John is a big supporter of his trainers and he has lost some good sprint handicappers so has been looking to replace them. This was the only horse we had on the list today that we felt was worth having a look at. John is in his 80s and he loves going racing.”
If Hodgson does decide to send his new charge to Lingfield on Sunday, Clearpoint would be a fitting winner of the race named in memory of Kachy (GB), who, like Clearpoint himself, was bred by Fiona Denniff, who was seen chatting with the Hampshire-based Hodgson after he had signed for the horse.
It was a relatively quiet final day of the February Sale. The promising wildcard Billy Webster (Ire) didn't meet his reserve, and a handful of horses behind Clearpoint exceeded the 50,000gns mark, with several of them off to race in the Middle East. Of those, First Encore (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), offered as lot 280 from Ed Walker's stable, was bought by agent JD Moore for 62,000gns.
“He is for trainer Hamad Al Jehani in Qatar,” said Moore of the 81-rated three-year-old. “He has the recent Qatar Derby winner Jeff Koons in his stable and he has been very lucky at Tattersalls. [The horse's] form is rock solid, he looks progressive with a lovely profile and he has been very well produced by Ed Walker and his team.”
The biggest change in this sale from last year's edition was the fall in clearance rate. In recent years the trade for horses in training even at the lower end of the market had picked up notably but this trend did not continue over the last two days. The second-day clearance rate of 77% was an improvement on the opening session, and overall it settled at 73%, down from 84% in 2023. The average and median were both up slightly on last year, at 14,315gns (+3%) and 7,250gns (+4%) respectively.
From a smaller catalogue, there were 98 fewer lots sold than in 2023 which naturally led to a downturn in the aggregate, which was 2,863,000gns (-31%).
“The sale-topping 200,000 guineas Shadwell broodmare Taqaareed and the 125,000 guineas Juddmonte colt Retort were the obvious highlights of the 2024 Tattersalls February Sale. Taqaareed is the second-highest price at this fixture since 2018 and Retort is the third-highest-priced colt in training ever sold at the Tattersalls February Sale, with both of them demonstrating the sustained domestic and international demand for quality breeding stock and horses in training,” said Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony at the close of trade.
“As ever the overseas contribution has been notable. Buyers from throughout Europe and the Gulf region have been out in force, the 125,000 guineas colt Retort is heading to Australia and North African buyers have again been conspicuous. Domestic British and Irish buyers, both Flat and National Hunt, have been the mainstay of the sale, but the smallest February catalogue since 2014 has unsurprisingly produced turnover some way short of last year's impressive figure and the clearance rate, while eminently respectable, has not matched the customary market-leading levels that we would aspire to at sales of this nature. Nevertheless, the average and median have both held up well with small increases in both categories, and the National Hunt fraternity has a rare and immediate opportunity to look forward to, with the outstanding Andy and Gemma Brown Dispersal taking place this coming Monday, 5th February at Tattersalls Ireland.”
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