Waterhouse And Bott To Train Record-Priced 1.3 Million Delius From Tattersalls 

Another record was broken at Tattersalls on Tuesday when Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe eighth Delius (GB) (Frankel {GB}) became the most expensive horse ever sold at the Autumn Horses-In-Training Sale when knocked down from Coolmore to Hubie De Burgh and a range of other buyers to join Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott. 

A delighted De Burgh explained that Delius, who has won three of his six starts and was beaten a little under nine lengths by Bluestocking (GB) (Camelot {GB}) in the Arc, had been on his radar for a long time. By teaming up with owner Sir Owen Glenn of Go Bloodstock, along with the buying team of Johnny McKeever and Claudia Fitzgerald, he landed the potential Melbourne Cup candidate. 

“It's a joint-venture and he goes to Gai Waterhouse and the team,” De Burgh said. “He's been bought for Sir Owen Glenn of Go Bloodstock. He's had a lot of great horses, including Lady Of Camelot (Aus) (Written Tycoon {Aus}), who Gai trained for him. He wanted a Cup horse for next year, and obviously Gai did as well, so it's a joint venture between Gai and Sir Owen.”

Deep into the bidding, auctioneer Alastair Pim described Delius as “a Group 1 horse who can run in any Group 1 race anywhere in the world.” That statement wasn't lost on the Australian buyers, with Chris Waller and Ciaron Maher involved in the bidding war along with one unnamed bidder online.

“What else can I say? He's a Frankel, has raced six times and has a 118 Timeform rating and he's won over 1m2f and 1m4f. He has the perfect profile for Australia and the only bad run he had came in the Arc on ground he hated. It was a lot of money but unfortunately that's what they are making.”

De Burgh was decisive in his bidding and it paid off. Explaining how Delius had been on his radar ever since he made a winning debut for Coolmore and trainer Jean-Claude Rouget at ParisLongchamp back in April, and that any deal to source the colt was put on the back burner due to the handler's poor health, the agent said, “I had Stevie O'Connor on [the phone]. He's Sir Owen's racing manager and we've been trying to buy this horse for a long time. I actually tried to buy him after his first and second starts and we really wanted the horse but unfortunately Jean-Claude wasn't very well and MV [Magnier] didn't want to sell the horse.”

He added, “It was only after the Arc when Jean-Claude was happy to let the horse go. It was hard to buy the horse on our own–it was a lot of money–so joining forces gave us the opportunity to bid against Chris Waller, Ciaron Maher and all of the other people who were involved in the bidding.”

🤩 Record price for the #TattsAutumn HIT Sale.

Delius sells for 1,300,000gns to @Deburghequine, @johnnymckeever1, @gobloodstockaus, @GaiWaterhouse1 & Bott Racing 🇦🇺@coolmorestud's 3YO Frankel colt is a Gr.3 winner and Gr.1 placed for Jean-Claude Rouget. pic.twitter.com/4BNcCV6GjY

— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) October 29, 2024

Delius was purchased by Magnier for 675,000gns from breeders Furnace Mill Stud at the Tattersalls December Foal Sales. It wasn't the only good piece of trading carried out by Coolmore on the day with Ollie Sangster going to 330,000gns on behalf of Wesley Ward for Mountain Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) while McKeever also sourced Irish Cesarewitch winner The Euphrates (GB) (Frankel {GB}) on behalf of Waterhouse and Bott earlier in the session for 250,000gns. 

Unsurprisingly, the record sale of Delius on Tuesday highlighted another strong day of trade overall, with all of the key figures significantly up on the corresponding session from 12 months ago. Turnover climbed 16% to 13,890,000gns, the median was up 7% to 23,500gns and the average was also up 16% to 52,218gns. The clearance rate stood at 93% [up 3%].

Another Big Payday For Elliott's Imperium Draft

The strength of the Australian buying bench was one of the major themes of the Tuesday session, with Alex Elliott of Imperium Sales one of the major beneficiaries, after selling two horses–Hutchence (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Mr Monaco (GB) (Territories {Ire})–in quick succession for 870,000gns combined to go Down Under. 

First up was Hutchence, a winner of a 2m handicap at Ascot for Ralph Beckett in the Valmont silks, who boasts a rating of 97. He was bought by Guy Mulcaster on behalf of Chris Waller for 460,000gns. 

Mulcaster said, “He came highly recommended from the Beckett stable and we liked the horse. We thought he'd good form and he's probably done it all on one preparation so we thought there was a little bit of juice left in the lemon. We'll take him home, take a punt and see how we go.”

Asked if he would be going to Chris Waller, Mulcaster said, “Well we're not sending him to Ciaron Maher are we? I don't think we're in any mad rush with the horse.”

He continued, “I thought he'd make that sort of money because some of the lesser horses have been making good money and it's been hard to buy horses. This sale has been good to us but you've got to keep digging and finding the next one under a rock, don't we?”

Hutchence goes the way of @MulcasterBS and @cwallerracing for 460,000gns at the #TattsAutumn HIT Sale.

Consigned by @ImperiumSales, the progressive 3YO son of Frankel boasts an official rating of 97 having won his last start at Ascot by 4 lengths. pic.twitter.com/mwqQNH22kE

— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) October 29, 2024

Ironically, it was Maher [along with Astute Bloodstock] who purchased the next lot into the ring, the 98-rated Mr Monaco at 410,000gns. All told, Imperium sold nine horses for a combined sum of 1,576,000gns, and Elliott, whose debut consignment came at this sale 12 months ago, commented, “They all made about what I thought-there were a couple of nice surprises as well.”

He added, “There was a lot of pressure after last year and I wanted to back those results up. The team did it and horses did it. Again, I was very proud to stand there and see the horses sell well for the clients. It will keep the clients happy as there are a lot of yearlings to pay for!” 

Another from @ImperiumSales to light up the sales ring at the #TattsAutumn HIT Sale as Mr Monaco goes the way of @AstuteBldstock & @cmaherracing, with @WillBournee landing the 410,000gns winning bid for the 98 rated 3YO. pic.twitter.com/cTeadBy2nz

— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) October 29, 2024

Atlantic Coast Also Off To Australia

Henry Dwyer enjoyed a momentous summer in Britain with star mare Asfoora (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) winning the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Australian-based handler was on hand at Tattersalls to snap up Atlantic Coast (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) alongside Sam Haggas of Hurworth Bloodstock for 340,000gns. 

Owned by Al Shira'aa Racing, the Joseph O'Brien-trained Atlantic Coast won the G3 Killavullan Stakes at two. He has clearly trained on a three-year-old given he was last seen winning a Listed contest at Saint-Cloud for that outfit. 

Dwyer said, “We generally come over here to look for horses who are going to get 1m4f up to 2m, but he is just such a lovely horse and we think that his form over a mile and 7f will stretch out to 1m2f in Australia.

“He is just a lovely horse, has a lovely head on him, Kodiacs have done well in Australia and Joseph has trained him well. For a horse who has had a bit of racing at three and a bit of travelling, he looks in such good order. There is a beautiful nature to him. We are so pleased to have him and be able to take him back to Australia. He is going to be a great bit of fun.”

520k Caviar Heights To Stay In Britain

On a day where the majority of the top lots were sold for export, Sam Haggas managed to strike late in the session to secure the 104-rated Caviar Heights (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) to continue his career at Somerville Lodge with his father William. 

International targets will come under the radar for Caviar Heights, who won at Listed level for trainer Karl Burke and owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum.

“He is staying in Newmarket and going to my parents,” Haggas explained. “I hope the horse can develop into an international campaigner. My parents have had a lot of success taking horses to Sydney for the Autumn Carnival and I hope he can develop into that sort of horse-that would be the dream.”

🗣️ “He's been on my radar for a long time.”

Sam Haggas delighted to have bought Caviar Heights for 520,000gns, with the Listed winning 3YO Sea The Stars colt heading into training with @WilliamHaggas.#TattsAutumn | @hurworthbstock pic.twitter.com/okwVQRJE6x

— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) October 29, 2024

Kirk Lands 'Sexy' Prospect For Mullins

Willie Mullins, who has Absurde (Fr) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and Vauban (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) to look forward to in this year's Melbourne Cup, might just have sourced a candidate to chart a similar path in years to come in the shape of 330,000gns buy Too Bossy For Us (Ire) (Golden Horn {GB}).

Trained by Kevin Philippart De Foy, Too Bossy For Us won over 1m2f at Ascot and reached a rating of 89 on the level. The immediate plan for the three-year-old colt will be to go over hurdles, top agent Harold Kirk revealed, before explaining that Mullins could always target those major staying handicaps further down the line. 

He said, “I did not expect to have to pay that. I knew he was going to be very popular and I think he has been vetted seven times and [buyers from] Australia were going to be very strong on him. He is a beautiful horse-is very progressive, looks as if he is going to stay a good trip and can only improve. I have not seen a nicer horse in a long, long time.”

Kirk added, “He is by Golden Horn, who is very sexy. Even for jumping prospects, Golden Horn is very sexy and his stats on the Flat are excellent. This is the first one by him that I have bought.

“This horse is also out of a High Chaparral mare so he is almost guaranteed to stay longer distances. We have bought him to be a Royal Ascot and Melbourne Cup horse, but he will go jumping first. He is a long-term project and he is a super model of a horse.”

Buy of the Day

Today's buy of the day comes from press bench colleague Nancy Sexton, who made a pretty strong case for Miss Cynthia (GB) being very well bought at 100,000gns. It's hard to argue against Nancy at the best of times but there's no reason to disagree with this observation. Sold as part of the Sir Mark Prescott draft, the daughter of Sea The Moon (Ger) was last seen finishing fourth in the G1 Prix du Cadran and had already picked up black-type in a Listed race over 2m earlier in the season. On top of all that, Miss Cynthia is a pretty well-bred filly, being out of a sister to Lush Lashes (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Good shout, Nancy. 

Thought for the Day

There was a time when the National Hunt trainers could come to the horses-in-training sale and stock up on jumps prospects. While Gordon Elliott and Willie Mullins managed to source talent on Tuesday, the majority struggled to get involved. At a time when small field sizes are causing consternation in many of the top National Hunt races throughout the season, it's hard to see that trend reversing in the current climate.