By Emma Berry
NEWMARKET, UK–Whether up top or down below, the consignors at Park Paddocks all agree that the major redevelopment work that has been carried out by Tattersalls over the last few years has been a huge boost.
The extended yards of R, S and T in the Somerville Paddock seem to have almost doubled in size during the levelling-up process, with extra rubber runways making the business of showing and viewing horses that bit easier.
Gerry Meehan, the yearling manager of Blue Diamond Stud, is delighted with the position for his quartet of yearlings, describing the renovation as a “game-changer”.
He says, “Even though the yard is only a metre wider all round, it seems massive compared to how it used to be.”
Imad Al Sagar's Blue Diamond Stud is selling four colts by big-name stallions in Dubawi (Ire), Kingman (GB), Lope De Vega (Ire) and Sea The Stars (Ire), and on paper, at least, it is hard to look past the Dubawi half-brother to the treble Group 1 winner Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}).
“He is what it says on the tin,” says Meehan of lot 35. “He's a star: he looks a star and he does everything like a star. He'a a proper horse and he shows off when he comes out here.”
He adds, “They are four very nice horses; we're very lucky.”
Down at Solario yard EE, which was revamped impressively last year, there's a strong French flavour, with La Motteraye Consignment making a rare reappearance at Tattersalls and stabled just around the corner from Michel Zerolo's European Sales Management draft.
Gwen Monneraye, who runs the Normandy-based La Motteraye operation with his partner Lucie Lamotte, is on hand with a pair of Book 1 yearlings, including a filly by Night Of Thunder (Ire) from the family of The Wow Signal (Ire) [lot 495]. The consignors have 39 yearlings being prepared for the October Yearling Sale at Arqana, which is naturally much closer to home for them, but Monneraye admits to a touch of FOMO necessitating a return to Tattersalls after a four-year absence.
“In French we have a saying 'Les absents ont toujours tort', which roughly translates to 'if you're not there you are missing out on something',” he says.
“We sell for ourselves but we also sell for lots of clients and it's nice to provide the options for them. When you want to sell in France and in England, you have to be very well organised, and we don't do anything unless we are well organised. We are building a bigger barn to make it more practical for us to come here more often, so I think in two years' time we will have a bigger draft.”
Monneraye adds, “The horses travelled over really well, so we were able to show as early as Friday afternoon, which I didn't expect, but all through the weekend we have seen a lot of people. We have another four for next week so it's going to be a full month of sales.”
Making their Book 1 debut is Natalie Folland and Matt Bowen, who consign from Fonthill Stud in Wiltshire as Folland-Bowen Bloodstock and offer a son of Showcasing (GB) as lot 63 on behalf of breeder Jane Keir. The colt, from a well-established and successful international family, enjoyed a good update since the publication of the catalogue when his half-brother Flight Plan (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) won the G2 Dullingham Park S. for Steve Parkin's Clipper Logistics on Irish Champions weekend.
“The update came just at the right time. We're still pinching ourselves,” says Keir.
“Liam Norris found his dam Romp for me and said, 'Jane, this mare probably won't be to everyone's taste but she's worth looking at.' She was on the end of the row and she ended up costing 14,000gns.
“She's a Pivotal mare with Singspiel as her broodmare sire too, and [Breeders' Cup Turf winner] Rebel's Romance is in the family as well, so hopefully it's building.”
Romp, who wasn't covered this year, now has a Pintaubo filly foal at foot, and she resides at Lord Margadale's Fonthill Stud, which is leased by Folland and Bowen. Keir herself was the former owner of Elkington Stud, which was managed by Folland until its sale a few years ago.
Keir adds, “There was no question that the mares would go with Nat. They are treated like royalty there.”
While Keir admits that Flight Plan's sire Night Of Thunder is now at the top of her list for Romp next year, it is another Darley-based son of Dubawi, Too Darn Hot (GB), that has brought an extra large smile to the face of Watership Down Stud's Simon Marsh this season. It is with good reason, too, as not only was Too Darn Hot bred at Watership Down Stud by Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber, but they retained a significant share in him when he retired to Dalham Hall Stud. With his first crop of juvenile runners, the stallion from Watership Down's signature family of Darara (Ire) now has four group winners to his name, including the G1 Moyglare Stud S. winner Fallen Angel (GB).
“He was always a horse that one would have thought that his 2-year-olds would be later types, and since August he has done exceptionally well. His pedigree is really full of later-maturing horses, like Dar Re Mi and So Mi Dar, and then Darara and Darshaan. Everything he's doing at the moment is really a bonus and we hope that next year his 3-year-olds will really develop and do even better,” Marsh says.
“It's fantastic to have bred a horse who could become a significant influence, and for us to have ended up owning half of him is extraordinary. We have a couple by him to sell this week, including a filly who is interestingly inbred 3×3 to Darara [lot 259].”
With Too Darn Hot's sire Dubawi, the reigning champion, still in full flow and responsible for 19 of the yearlings in Book 1, it is fair to expect to see him feature prominently on the leaderboard at Tattersalls this week, especially with Sheikh Mohammed in attendance. On Monday afternoon, the ruler of Dubai was patrolling the sales grounds, inspecting yearlings with his principal trainer Charlie Appleby, and the Godolphin buying team of Anthony Stroud and David Loder.
The sheikh is far from the only major player in town, however. His niece Sheikha Hissa was also spotted alongside Shadwell's Racing Manager Angus Gold, while owners and breeders from as far afield as Australia, America and Japan have also made the bloodstock pilgrimage to Newmarket. There seems little doubt that the next three days will bring with them yet more staggering trade for a very special bunch of yearlings.
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