By Brian Sheerin
The Australian buyers remained strong on what was an admittedly low-key Thursday affair at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-In-Training Sale, with Stuart Boman securing Native King (GB) (Kingman {GB}) to join the stable of Annabel Neasham for owners Go Racing for a joint session-topping 85,000gns.
Boman has been busy at Tattersalls this week, with Native King the 14th horse he managed to secure, and the Blandford Bloodstock agent described the overall recruitment from the sale as the busiest ever for the agency.
“I had bought 13 horses before this chap so I thought it was unlucky and I had better try for another one,” Boman joked. “He is a stunning horse and very well-bred. I am good friends with Rob Speers, and Ibrahim Araci bred this horse and raced him. I had a good chat with Rob yesterday and trainer Hugo Palmer and they recommended the horse, who will benefit from gelding.”
Araci's silks are best associated with Native Khan (Fr) (Azamour {Ire}), who chased home Frankel (GB) in the 2,000 Guineas, and Native King carried those black, white and red silks to victory earlier this year at Chester. He has placed on a further three occasions and reached a rating of 88, with Boman stating the three-year-old was a natural fit to continue his career Down Under.
“He has got a big engine and a big turn of foot. At the start of the year, he came from last at Chester to win. It was not a great race but the turn of foot he showed that day is what you need in Australia. He will also get a faster pace to run at and some firmer ground in Australia, which will suit. Kingman works in Australia.”
Boman added, “I have been working this sale for 15 years and this has been Blandford's best ever Autumn H-I-T Sale–the most amount of horses bought and for the biggest outlay.”
In a week where the National Hunt trainers struggled to contend with the international buyers when recruiting jumps prospects, Matt Coleman managed to snap up the 89-rated Lyric (Ire) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) to join Jonjo and AJ O'Neill at 85,000gns. Lyric will chart a very different path to Native King and is set to embark on a juvenile hurdling campaign. In five starts for John and Thady Gosden, Lyric won a 1m2f Windsor maiden and wasn't beaten far in a Doncaster handicap off 88 when last seen.
Coleman explained, “He has been bought for Jonjo and AJ O'Neill, who were looking for a dual-purpose type. This horse has got some good form and he won a nice novice at Windsor in the spring. He ran quite well in the Listed Cocked Hat at Goodwood in May, only beaten a neck by stablemate Pappano, who made 200,000gns last night.Then he had a bit of a break and he ran quite well on Saturday behind Iron Lion and a few others who made a lot of money this week.”
The agent continued, “His sister is black-type over jumps and the O'Neills will probably run him over hurdles this winter and then pop him back on the Flat on some soft ground in the spring. The first job, though, will probably be a gelding operation.”
The number of lots offered on Thursday was down by 18% compared to last year and so too were some of the key trends. The turnover dropped 24% to 1,945,000gns, the median rose 33% to 8,000gns and the average dropped by 4% to 11,577gns. The clearance rate rested at 86%, down 2% on last year.
Buy of the Day
Ottoman (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) showed enough form in seven starts for Eddie and Patrick Harty in Ireland to suggest there could be a day in him over in Britain. At 11,000gns, Dan Astbury and Stockton Hall may not have found themselves a star, but there is a decent chance the horse can get his front in low grade handicaps. Placed off 61 in a 1m handicap at Naas, Ottoman has since disappointed at the Curragh and at Galway. A €55,000 yearling, he's clearly not a bad looking horse and, if he puts it all together, can provide his new connections with some fun at a low level.
Thought for the Day
It was an early finish on Thursday at Tattersalls, which begs the question, why couldn't the sales company fit the 100 or so horses that are due to go into the ring on Friday into the Thursday session given it finished at 4.30pm. Don't worry, we're not all coming back to Park Paddocks on Friday for the good of our health. Apparently the reason is down to stabling for the bigger consignments.
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