Godolphin Pick Up Baton From Amo as 'Crazy' Trade Continues at Tattersalls

By Emma Berry and Adam Houghton

NEWMARKET, UK — If Tuesday was Amo day, Wednesday was the day of Godolphin as Sheikh Mohammed's team, so often the dominant force at Book 1, hit top gear in signing for the top four lots and four of the five seven-figure horses of the second session.

Amo Racing did not leave Park Paddocks on Wednesday empty-handed. Indeed, Kia Joorabchian added another seven yearlings to his eye-popping haul on the opening day, and his stated intention to recruit the best possible bloodlines in order to compete with the top owner-breeder operations meant that he also played a significant role in driving the market when underbidder on the day's two most-expensive horses. 

The best way to describe the continued demand for horses during the second day of Book 1 was relentless. David Cox, whose Baroda Stud provided a late highlight when selling the penultimate lot of the day, a colt by Dubawi (Ire), for 1,500,000gns, struck a note of reality when saying, “With all the things going on in the world, here we are and the only thing we are worried about is whether it's going to rain.”

The atmosphere has been pretty surreal at Park Paddocks over the last two days, and there were plenty of wizened sales veterans shaking their heads and admitting that they'd never seen anything quite like this before. 

The statistics tell part of that story and, as on the opening day, they were up, up, up. Despite 17 fewer yearlings being sold than on the corresponding day last year, the aggregate rose by 13% to 40,383,000gns. The median of 240,000gns climbed by 23%, with the average of 345,154gns posting the largest increase of 30%. The clearance rate, with 117 yearlings sold, was 89%, a hugely respectable figure for an elite sale. 

Grangemore's Queen

Guy O'Callaghan, the breeder of champion miler-elect Charyn (Ire), hailed his dam Futoon (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) as “the mare of a lifetime” after selling a full-sister to the dual Group 1 winner for 2,900,000gns to Godolphin.

Hinting that we might see a repeat performance of Tuesday's recruitment of smart fillies, Alex Elliott, standing alongside Kia Joorabchian, took the bidding into seven figures, and when the tussle between Amo Racing, Godolphin, Oliver St Lawrence, Watership Down Stud and Sumbe reached 1,800,000gns, O'Callaghan reached out in the gangway to squeeze his wife Serena's arm as if to say, “We've got this.” They had, but they got much more besides, as bidders fell away leaving only Joorabchian to push Anthony Stroud to the final sale price – the best of the day.

“A special mare,” said O'Callaghan, who bought the 11-year-old Futoon for 100,000gns seven years ago. Boy, how she has repaid that faith. Through repeated matings with the O'Callaghan family's beloved stallion Dark Angel, she has produced first the G2 Mill Reef Stakes winner Wings Of War (Ire) followed by Charyn. As the black type has piled up so too have the prices of her offspring risen: from £140,000 to 250,000gns, to last year's 850,000gns and now into the millions.

O'Callaghan continued of lot 183, “The stars aligned. Charyn is going to be champion miler this year, and she was a special filly. It all came together.”

He added that his calm exterior was misleading. “I'm doing cartwheels inside. It's been a team effort, everyone at home, my wife Serena, my head lad Jack. She's been so straightforward, she's never been a problem. Every day she's just been simple, she's come here and behaved and operated and just been an absolute queen.

“She's been showing hard since Saturday and never did a bad show. It's a great sign of her mind and Charyn was the same.They have that phenomenal mindset and they just take it. The good ones can take it and she's a good one.”

The own sister to Charyn is heading to @godolphin, coming out on top at 2,900,000gns for @guy_oc's Dark Angel filly at #TattsOctober Book 1. pic.twitter.com/baipTd7xAQ

— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) October 9, 2024

Of the strength of trade, he said, “It's just a vibrant market. It's crazy. It's unbelievably strong. Kia and Godolphin locked on and took each other on. That's just a dream for any breeder.

“[Futoon] has been a great mare to me and she's got another Dark Angel on the ground and is in foal to Blue Point. She's the mare of a lifetime. When Charyn won the Group 1 and got the breakthrough I knew I was sitting on some hot property.”

Asked if he would be sending a mare or two to France next year to visit Charyn when he retires to Sumbe, O'Callaghan replied, “Definitely. Without a doubt.”

Anthony Stroud, in company most of the day with Sheikh Mohammed, David Loder and Charlie Appleby, said of the day's topper, “Her pedigree speaks for itself and she was a very nice individual. The brother has done fantastically well this year. It was probably more than we anticipated but there seems to be a premium on these fillies and she was a filly that we all liked a lot.”

Banks 'So Proud' of Lady Bowthorpe 

There had been plenty of talk about the first foal of the G1 Nassau Stakes winner Lady Bowthorpe (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and the chestnut son of Dubawi did not disappoint when eliciting a final bid of 2,000,000gns from Godolphin. 

Again this was a battle between Stroud and Joorabchian, whose now trademark tell for when he is about to bid on a horse is to turn his back to the auctioneer. 

“Send all the corporals away and you come to me, sir,” implored the auctioneer after the bid of two million went to Stroud outside the ring. This time the man from Amo was not for turning, and it was to Sheikh Mohammed that breeder Emma Banks and Luca and Sara Cumani of Fittocks Stud went to bid their thanks.  

“That's the way the day has gone,” said Stroud on being pushed hard on a number of horses. “It's so competitive and these horses are selling so well. It's such an international market and there are so many principals from different parts of the world. It's been an incredibly strong sale.”

He continued, “[Emma Banks] raced Lady Bowthorpe and she was brave enough to go to Dubawi. Fittocks do an excellent job and the remarkable thing is he'll be going to be trained about a mile from where he was born: from Fittocks to Moulton Paddocks.”

Stroud added of Sheikh Mohammed's presence at Tattesalls, “Needless to say, he's key. There was definitely a broad section of horses at the top end that we were happy to show him. [By] horses like Too Darn Hot, who is an emerging stallion and standing at Dalham Hall. It's good that he's doing so well as well, hence we bought the colt from Croom House.”

Banks said of lot 242, “I love his Mum and I love him, and I will follow him and I am very happy he has gone to a great owner and a great establishment. 

“I am just so proud of Lady Bowthorpe, and everyone who is involved with her – she was bred at Fittocks and has gone back there, and she is loving her life as a broodmare and the fact that she has had such a gorgeous, attractive and well put-together horse makes me so proud.

“Martin and all the Fittocks staff have done such a beautiful job of looking after him. He has just been a superstar since the day he was born, but I am very biased.”

Lady Bowthorpe's first foal sells for 2,000,000gns.

A protracted bidding war sees @godolphin outbid @amoracingltd for @asecretagent's Dubawi colt, consigned by @saracumani's Fittocks Stud at #TattsOctober Book 1. pic.twitter.com/bY6htCy5Fk

— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) October 9, 2024

The aforementioned Too Darn Hot (GB) colt (lot 236) from last week's leading Goffs Orby vendor, Denis Brosnan's Croom House Stud, was secured for 1,500,000gns. His dam, the Galileo (Ire) mare Knocknagree (Ire), is a half-sister to another star graduate of Croom House, the Group 1 winner and late sire Zoffany (Ire).

Another seven-figure yearling at #TattsOctober Book 1 as @godolphin go to 1,500,000gns for @CroomStud's Too Darn Hot ½-brother to the Gr.2 winner Idea Generation, out of the Galileo ½-sister to Gr.1 winner Zoffany. pic.twitter.com/TI5Ddb8p04

— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) October 9, 2024

Stroud's last strike of the day came for lot 297, Qatar Racing's Dubawi half-brother to the G2 Prix Corrida winner Morgan Le Faye (GB) (Shamardal) and Listed winner Emotion (GB) (Frankel {GB}). The colt was signed on their behalf by David Cox of Baroda Stud.

He said, “I am delighted, fair play to Tweenhills for using us to consign him, he is a lovely horse.

“Trade has been very strong. We've had two millionaires this week, we have homebreds off the farm selling very well for clients – everyone is very happy. I was not expecting trade to be as strong as this, it's been a bonzana really, hasn't it?”

A late highlight on day two at #TattsOctober Book 1 as @BarodaStudIre's Dubawi colt out of the Gr.1 winner Molly Malone sells to @godolphin for 1,500,000gns.

Nine yearlings have made seven figures at the sale so far. pic.twitter.com/6pizEIc1lJ

— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) October 9, 2024

St Mark's Basilica Gets Brown's Vote

The Blandford Bloodstock agency has signed for 16 yearlings so far over the last two days for 8,130,000gns, a good number of those going the way of Richard Brown, who acts on behalf of a number of clients, including Wathnan Racing and Saeed Suhail. The latter, who has won the Derby twice, with Kris Kin and Desert Crown (GB), is now the new owner of lot 265, a colt by first-season sire St Mark's Basilica (Fr), who was knocked down to Brown at 950,000gns. Amo Racing once again played the role of underbidder. Consigned by Newsells Park Stud on behalf of breeder Al Shahania Stud, he is a son of the Group 2-winning Monsun (Ger) mare Longina (Ger), who is already the dam of G3 Prix de Royaumont winner Ottery (GB), who was bought at this sale three years ago by Juddmonte for 800,000gns,  

“I thought he was an absolutely gorgeous colt,” Brown said. “It's a lovely back page, too. Obviously I was very keen on him, then Saeed Suhail saw him out here, and he was much braver than I would've been. 

“There aren't many owners out there who've owned two Derby winners, obviously he had Kris Kin and we bought Desert Crown here a few years ago now in Book 2. He likes mile-plus horses, and this is certainly a horse who'll need a bit of time. He looks like he's going to be a mile-and-a-quarter or mile-and-a-half horse, but he's a patient owner.”

Suhail's Derby winners were both trained by Sir Michael Stoute, who recently announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season. 

Brown added, “He had a tremendous relationship with Sir Michael over a number of years, they had two Derby winners together and a Guineas winner. There's going to have to be a little bit of a restructure, which has already been discussed. At the moment he has horses in training with William Haggas and Andrew Balding, so it'll be up to Saeed. We'll have a chat at the end of the sales and work it out, but I'm sure any trainer would be happy to have this colt. I'm liking what I'm seeing from St Mark's Basilica, who was an exceptional racehorse.”

Amo Racing Still Full of Running

The most expensive of Amo Racing's seven new recruits on Wednesday, including some bought in partnership, was lot 234, a Sea The Stars (Ire) colt out of the winning Shamardal mare Kitcara (GB), making him a full-brother to Al Aasy (Ire) whose nine wins include six Group 3 contests.

He was offered by the Castlebridge Consignment and achieved a sum of 800,000gns which will be split between the Amo Racing team and those of Al Shaqab and Valmont. 

“Last year Nicolas de Watrigant and I bought a Wootton Bassett in France and he went to Ralph Beckett,” bloodstock agent Alex Elliott said of how the partnership between Amo Racing and Al Shaqab started. “The guys have stayed in touch and they have a very similar mindset. What's the point in trying to beat each other when you can join up? It limits your risk, when you're racing for peanuts. There's silks to consider and that sort of thing, but if everyone's on the same page it can work out.”

Elliott, who is also heavily involved in the Valmont team which enjoyed Classic success this year with Irish Oaks heroine You Got To Me (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), confirmed that the Sea The Stars colt will follow Tuesday's top lot, the Frankel (GB) filly who fetched 4,400,000gns, in going into training with Ralph Beckett.

He added, “It [the partnership] suits everybody and he's going to the same trainer in Ralph. We see it happen a lot in the States more than here, people teaming up to buy big-money colts. Hopefully, if you buy enough, one of them pays for the lot.

“This colt is a hell of a horse–he's huge. He has a temperament to die for, vetted perfectly, and is very light on his feet. Now, let's just hope he wins the Derby!”

High Days for Hobby Breeders

It's been quite the few days for Jeff and Phoebe Hobby and their Brightwalton Stud, both on the racecourse and in the sales ring. 

It all started on Sunday when the husband-and-wife team enjoyed the biggest success of their sporting lives at Longchamp, courtesy of their homebred Makarova (GB) (Acclamation {GB}), the five-year-old mare who signed off from racing in the best possible fashion with a first Group 1 win in the Prix de l'Abbaye. She was then followed into the winner's enclosure on Monday by the two-year-old Fernando (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}), a close relative of Makarova who provided another thrill when gaining the first victory of his career, albeit in the rather less glamorous surroundings of Yarmouth.

As for events at Park Paddocks, it was the turn of their homebred Lope De Vega (Ire) colt to star on Wednesday when he went through the ring as lot 218. Consigned by Barton Stud on behalf of the Hobbys, he is out of the Listed-placed Galileo (Ire) mare Isabella (Ire), already the dam of two winners, including Maltese Falcon (Ire) (Caravaggio), a Grade III scorer in the US. This colt was one of Godolphin's nine purchases on the day when fetching 750,000gns.

“I've always been a fan of Lope De Vega and we bought the mare [for 225,000gns] at the Robert Ogden dispersal,” Hobby said afterwards. “He's the most lovely specimen and he's been a dream all the way through. He's one of those yearlings who has never gone through the ugly duckling stage. When we brought him in to start yearling prep, I just looked at him and thought he could go through the sales ring now. He's always looked the part.

“It's terrifying, utterly terrifying,” he said of his emotions when watching his pride and joy go through the ring, before taking a moment to reflect on Makarova's Longchamp triumph. 

He added, “I haven't really come down from that and we backed it up with her sister's first foal winning at Yarmouth, which was also pretty exciting in its way. But Longchamp was amazing. For a homebred from our little stud farm to win a Group 1, out of a mare I bought for 65,000gns here at the July Sale–it's what dreams are made of really.”

Kingman Filly a Bit More Than Ten Bob

Ed Walker was the man who masterminded the career of Makarova, saddling her to win five of her 28 starts, and the Lambourn trainer was also celebrating on Wednesday after it was confirmed that he'll be the lucky recipient of lot 246, a Kingman (GB) filly from the Mahon family's Mountain View Stud draft. She is out of the Dubawi (Ire) mare Lady Macbeth (Ire), an unraced full-sister to this year's Oaks runner-up Dance Sequence (GB). 

Dance Sequence will be in action at Newmarket on Friday when she lines up in the G3 Pride Stakes, and so too will Ten Bob Tony (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Walker's runner in the G2 Challenge Stakes.

Beaten a little over a length when finishing fourth in the G2 German 2,000 Guineas in May, Ten Bob Tony has been the flagbearer this year for ownership group Tbt Racing, and Ed Sackville reported that this filly is set to represent similar connections after he struck the winning bid at 750,000gns.

“She's a very strong filly by a stallion who has had a great year at stud, particularly with his fillies,” Sackville summed up. “Ed [Walker] trains Celandine who is by Kingman. This filly is a very different type – she's bigger, stronger and more imposing. She has a lovely female family and is from a brilliant nursery.” 

He added “I think when they're at that level, you're never expecting to get them – you're just praying.”

Talking Points

• Frankel was the dominant force at Book 1 of the Orby Sale where he was completely out on his own in terms of the average and aggregate figures, and it's proving a very similar story at Park Paddocks this week. Of the 13 yearlings by Frankel offered, 12 have sold for a total of 12,660,000gns and at an average of 1,055,000gns. Lot 184, Watership Down Stud's full-brother to the Irish Derby and St Leger winner Hurricane Lane (Ire), was the pick of them on Wednesday when selling to Blandford Bloodstock for 850,000gns.
• Croom House Stud reportedly sent a handful of the farm's best yearlings to the Orby Sale this year and boss Denis Brosnan was quick to express his delight at how the gamble had paid off after topping the sale with a Frankel (GB) colt who went the way of Godolphin for €2,000,000. A week later and again Brosnan had Godolphin to thank as he celebrated another significant result at Park Paddocks when his Too Darn Hot colt (GB) (lot 236) fetched 1,500,000gns. With a pinhooked Pinatubo (Ire) colt, lot 171, doubling in price and also going the way of Amo Racing for 250,000gns, it's clear that Brosnan managed to keep back some smart ammunition for this week, too.
• Fourteen different entities have already spent at least 1,000,000gns over the first two days of the sale. Godolphin and Amo Racing lead the way with their spending already well into eight figures.
• The influence of Amo Racing this year when it comes to driving the market really shouldn't be understated. As well as adding a large number of yearlings to their team for 2025, either in their sole ownership or in various partnerships, Amo Racing were also responsible for pushing Godolphin every step of the way on Wednesday when filling the role of underbidder on the two most expensive horses.
• Newsells Park Stud remains dominant at the head of the leading consignors' table, with 13 sold for a total of 9,735,000gns, headlined on Wednesday by the St Mark's Basilica (Fr) colt who went the way of Blandford Bloodstock for 950,000gns.

Buys of the Day

It's easy to go a little number-blind, such are the number of noughts behind some of the horses to have passed through the ring in the last 48 hours. Any horse that sells for a six-figure sum is by no means cheap but two in particular, both by proven sires, look to have been well bought on Wednesday.

Federico Barberini signed for lot 162 on behalf of Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum, and the son of one of this season's hottest sires, Lope De Vega (Ire), from the family of the outstanding Serena's Song may well prove to have been a value purchase at 200,000gns from Ballylinch Stud.

Mark McStay picked up lot 256, a filly by Wootton Bassett (GB) out of a half-sister to Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never), for 100,000gns. Sold by New England Stud, she will race for the team behind the multiple Group 1 winner Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio).

Golden Touch 

It's not all about the six-figure lots when it comes to the pinhookers, where every bit of profit counts. Finbar Kent of Mickley Stud brought his first Book 1 pinhook to Tattersalls, a colt by El Kabeir whose full-brother Masekela (Ire) finished fourth in the Derby as well as winning the Listed Washington Singer Stakes. 

Bought privately as a foal at €25,000 when failing to reach his reserve at Goffs, the colt (lot 25o) sold for 80,000gns on Wednesday to Ed Sackville and Hugo Palmer. 

“I'm delighted,” said a beaming Kent. “When you see how well Hugo Palmer has been doing with his two-year-olds this year it's a real compliment that he would like our horse.”

Pinhooking Fortunes On Wednesday

Of the 149 horses catalogued during Wednesday's session, 41 were pinhooks, and after two withdrawals, 39 horses visited the ring. One lot did not meet its reserve and was a buy-back, leaving 38 yearlings marked as sold. Of the latter group, 33 made a profit ranging from 4,900gns to 423,927gns.

Ballyphilip Stud offered lot 209, a son of Blue Point (Ire), and he was sold to Godolphin for 550,000gns to realise the highest return (423,927gns) among the lots sold for a profit. The colt was a €130,000 Goffs November foal.

Five lots lost money. The 38 pinhooks marked as sold were acquired for 3,942,151gns as foals and made 7,866,000gns on Tuesday representing a 99.5% return.

We have multiplied the price of the foal by 1.1 and added a running cost of 12,000gns (for foals bought in guineas) or €15,000 (for foals bought in euros) for keep, feed, veterinary, shoeing, sales prep and sales entry fees. Depending on whether someone has their own farm, or where they choose to board a horse, will obviously mean that costs for each individual can vary significantly.

It is worth noting that sometimes a horse can appear to be bought and sold by different names but have actually not changed ownership at all.