By Emma Berry
DONCASTER, UK—On the eve of the Goffs UK Premier Sale, Managing Director Tony Williams had spoken with cautious optimism of his hope that the company's leading yearling auction would take another step forward this year. Bettering the previous sale record by £100,000 can be seen as a leap rather than a mere step and in the £380,000 session-leading first-crop son of Gleneagles (Ire) there was widespread anticipation that this would be a colt to lead the flagship Doncaster sale into new territory.
The Goffs UK team didn't have long to wait to see if its determination to persuade Julian Dollar of Newsells Park Stud to consign the half-brother to listed winner Al Malhouf (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) to the Premier Sale would pay off. In at lot 20, the free-moving bay glided around the ring alongside Newsells Park's yearling manager Gerry Meehan, not putting a foot wrong as the bidding soared past the previous record and Al Donald stood his ground against a sustained attempt from Amanda Skiffington.
The SackvilleDonald agent was busy throughout last season's yearling sales on behalf of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha of King Power Racing and was fulsome in his praise of the colt who has paid a huge compliment to his young dual Guineas-winning sire.
“He was a standout horse by some way, the nicest I've seen ay Doncaster in many a year,” said Donald. “And he's a half-brother to a good horse by a potentially exciting young stallion.”
Naturally delighted with the result, Julian Dollar, who has brought a draft of nine to Goffs UK having eschewed Arqana's August Sale this year, said, “Tim Kent and Tony Williams came to the stud to see the horses and felt that this was the kind of horse who could change the profile of this sale. If that's what they are trying to do then it's up to breeders to send them the ammunition. Gerry [Meehan] adored this horse and has felt all along that he was something special.”
Newsells Park Stud ended the first session as the leading vendor by aggregate with seven yearlings sold for £870,000.
Realistic ambitions
A lively final hour of the sale boosted the session's figures but ss the day progressed it was clear that breeders and pinhookers alike had set realistic reserves. The clearance rate by the end of the session came in at a decent 88.5% when 225 of the 254 yearlings offered found buyers.
Seventeen yearlings sold for six-figure sums and the aggregate, average and median figures adjusted to a level more in line with those achieved two years ago. The average of £44,791 was down from £53,490 on the same day last year, as was the median of £35,000 (from £37,000). The session's turnover dipper only slightly at £10,078,000.
Stamina Unaffected By Rude Awakening
Despite having to stand outside in his dressing gown at 4am when a fire alarm caused the Mount Pleasant hotel to be evacuated, Oliver St Lawrence lasted until very close to the end of the 11-hour sales session to buy lot 256 at £200,000 on behalf of Fawzi Nass.
Standing with Nass and trainer George Peckham, the agent withstood attempts from Joseph O'Brien and, latterly, Ross Doyle and Richard Hannon, to secure the Exceed And Excel (Aus) half-sister to the listed winners Scoville (Ger) (Sholokhov {Ire}) and Skagen (Ger) (Dashing Blade {GB}) bred by Eimear Mulhern's Abbeville Stud.
“She was a lovely walking filly. Fawzi saw her yesterday and loved her. We've been sending photos to his teenage son Abdullah back in Newmarket and he said we had to buy her,” St Lawrence said.
Since the publication of the catalogue, the filly's 2-year-old half-brother Tenax (Ire) (Slade Power {Ire}) has won for Joseph O'Brien bringing the tally for his dam Stravina (Ger) (Platini {Ger}) to six winners from eight runners.
Dream Buy For HKJC
The fact that Oasis Dream (GB) has had two new Group 1 winners this year along with some smart juvenile performers has refreshed buyers' memories that he is indeed an elite sire who should not be ignored. A member of a strong Juddmonte family whose full-brother has continued to improve this year was on the select list of the Hong Kong Jockey Club and lot 175 duly ended up at the head of the team's purchases for the day at £150,000. The May-born colt's dam Quiet (GB) (Observatory {GB}), a half-sister to the dam of Twice Over (GB) (Observatory {GB}), was bought carrying him for 38,000gns at Tattersalls.
“He's taken it all in his stride and has behaved impeccably ever since he arrived on the sales ground,” said consignor Jenny Norris of Norris Bloodstock, who also foaled the colt on behalf of his breeders in the Quiet Partnership. “The mare boards with us and is now in foal to Dabirsim (Fr). She has no foal on the ground as he was quite a late foal so the mare was rested last year.”
The colt's 4-year-old brother Silent Echo (GB) was trained initially, like his dam, by Roger Charlton, for whom he won twice at three. Sold on for 120,000gns by Juddmonte last autumn to Peter Hedger, the gelding has won another two races and is now rated 99.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club had previously struck at £140,000 for lot 93, a colt by Kodiac (GB) out of the treble listed winner Miss Honorine (Ire) (Highest Honor {Fr}) bred by James Hanly, Trevor Stewart and Anthony Stroud.
“He's a nice balanced colt and the whole team was in agreement on the fact that he's just a really nice individual,” said Mark Richards.
It was a good day for James Hanly's Ballyhimikin Stud, which consigned both the Kodiac colt and another of the top ten lots (134), a Camacho (GB) half-brother to last year's £270,000 sale-topper by Bated Breath (GB). While he couldn't quite scale the heights of his sibling, the son of Night Sphere (Ire) (Night Shift) still brought a decent return of £125,000 when sold to Dermot Farrington on behalf of Phoenix Thoroughbreds. The Camacho colt will be trained by John Quinn, who has guided Signora Cabello (Ire), by the same sire, to two Group 2 victories and a runner-up finish in the G1 Darley Prix Morny for the Phoenix team.
Amer Abdulaziz arrived in Doncaster on Tuesday morning and through Farrington added three yearlings to the Phoenix Thoroughbreds string for next season.
Knight Has His Day
Richard Knight was denied the chance to buy lot 92 in the ring when the son of Acclamation (GB) was initially knocked down for £180,000, but after it transpired that he had been bought by back by his vendor, the agent later agreed a private sale of £150,000 with Rathbarry Stud.
Knight was reluctant to name the new owner of the half-brother to four winners from the Meon Valley Stud family of Reprocolor (GB) but he did advise that the colt would be trained in Newmarket by William Haggas.
“He's very racy and light on his feet plus he's out of a good producer. I was very sweet on him,” said Knight.
The agent was back in action later in the day to secure lot 142, a Kodiac half-brother to the black-type performers Faithful Creek (Ire) (Bushranger {Ire}) and Tangled (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}) on behalf of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Malek Al-Sabah, who races inder the name of Al Areen Racing.
“No trainer has been decided yet but he's a lovely sharp colt by Kodiac and the mare has been a successful producer,” said Knight after signing the ticket at £120,000.
Shadwell Back In The Fray
The absence of a single purchase by Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum at Arqana's August Sale was noted but his Shadwell team, which has increasingly targeted the Premier Sale, made its presence felt during the opening session with Angus Gold signing for six yearlings for a total of £595,000.
One of those purchases put broad smiles in the faces of the WH Bloodstock team, a new name on the consignors' list representing the young partnership of Mimi Wadham and Violet Hesketh, both 27, who met while students on the Godolphin Flying Start programme.
The duo pinhooked lot 32 as a foal and the Tamayuz (GB) half-brother to the 98-rated Berkshire Blue (Ire) (Champs Elysees {GB}) was one of the session's early leaders at £110,000.
“Reality hasn't quite hit yet,” said Wadham, whose mother Lucy trains in Newmarket. “He's been popular since he's been here and has been impeccably behaved. We bought him for 35,000gns as a foal, so to sell him to Shadwell for £110,000 is a real result.”
Hesketh added, “I loved his attitude throughout the whole sale. He's shown himself brilliantly, had his head down with a great walk and hopefully he'll go and do the business on the track.”
WH Bloodstock will head next to the Tattersalls October Sale at which they will consign one yearling in each of Books 1 and 2 and a further six in Book 3.
Shadwell also bought the first Muhaarar (GB) yearling in the Doncaster ring, lot 21, for £120,000. The colt is out of the listed-placed Montjeu (Ire) mare Lady Francesca (GB, a half-sister to G3 Ridgewood Pearl S. winner Purr Along (GB) (Mount Nelson {GB}), and was consigned by his breeder Newsells Park Stud.
The three Muhaarar colts sold through the first session returned an average price of £72,000.
Among the other Shadwell purchases for the day was lot 113, the first foal by Showcasing (GB) out of the six-time winner Must Be Me (GB) (Trade Fair {GB}) sold by Barton Stud for £115,000. Realising the same price was lot 188, Kilcarn Park Stud's Dream Ahead half-brother to the listed winner Thanksfortellingme (Ire) (Notnowcato {GB}) whose grandam is Cheveley Park Stud's former champion juvenile and top-class producer Red Camellia (GB) (Polar Falcon).
Tucker's Brazen Lady
Devon-based Richard Tucker is one of the most prolific breeders of winners in Britain and his Nelson Farm enjoyed a decent result with a first crop daughter of Australian sprinting star Brazen Beau (Aus) when lot 203 was sold to Howson & Houldsworth bloodstock for £100,000.
Tucker had bought the filly's dam Royal Blush (GB) (Royal Applause {GB}) through the same agents as a 4-year-old back in 2011 for 7,000gns from breeder Denford Stud and she has proved to be a real bargain. Her best runner to date, the Group 2-placed seven-time winner A Momentofmadness (GB) (Elnadim), sold in the same ring as a yearling for £72,000 and the Brazen Beau filly will race for the same owners, Tony Wechsler and Ann Plummer.
“In our opinion she was the nicest filly in the sale but it also helped that she is a half-sister to a horse who has given Ann and Tony so much fun,” said Matt Houldsworth. “She will go into training with Charlie Hills.”
Richard Tucker added, “She was a smashing filly who has been a delight to deal with from day one. The mare has been very kind to us.”
Nine of the ten members of Brazen Beau's first crop offered on Tuesday sold for an average of £47,556.
Session Ends On Several High Notes
As twilight crept across the Doncaster sale yards, one of a number of late highlights of the opening day was provided by the Oaks Farm Stables-consigned son of the late Society Rock (Ire) out of the dual winner Skeleton (Ire) (Tobougg {Ire}), offered as lot 235.
Mark Dwyer pinhooked the colt from Brian Kennedy's Meadowlands Stables for 50,000gns and saw that figure rise to £135,000 when Anthony Stroud had the final say on behalf of Godolphin.
“I had Society Rock as a breeze-up horse and I couldn't sell him but he was such a good racehorse and I've always been watching him,” said Dwyer.
“You have to feel for Roger O'Callaghan [of Tally-Ho Stud] as he's a huge loss when he's producing horses like this.”
Also providing a strong final hour to the day was lot 259, a daughter of Gleneagles bought for John Dance for £140,000 by Daniel Creighton. The grand-daughter of listed winner Honest Quality (Elusive Quality), who traces back to the Juddmonte matriarch Toussaud, was consigned by Houghton Bloodstock for breeder Colin Murfitt of Pantile Stud and brought the first-day average for four Gleneagles yearlings sold to £165,000.
She was followed into the ring by lot 260, who will also end up racing in John Dance's colours after agent Ed Sackville went to £120,000 for the Manister House Stud-consigned daughter of No Nay Never whose grandam Sundrop (JPN) (Sunday Silence) was a dual Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed.
Ed Sackville would be made to stand down when it came to the final lot of the day (265), Trinity Park Stud's Acclamation (GB) half-sister to Group 2-winning sprinter Mobsta (Ire) (Bushranger {Ire}). The agent made a concerted effort to add her to the list of 17 purchases on the day by SackvilleDonald but eventually had to concede to Joe Foley, who went to £185,000 to buy her for Steve Parkin of Clipper Logistics.
The second and final session of the Premier Sale begins today at 10am.
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