'It's Great For The Boys' – Vigors Brothers Go Big On Perfect Power Colt At Tattersalls

New dreams abound for Harry and Oliver Vigors, some of the youngest pinhookers to get in on the action at Tattersalls this week, with the pair going to 72,000gns to secure a Perfect Power (Ire) colt in partnership with Redwall Bloodstock. 

That proved to be the sale-topping figure for the final session of what has been record-breaking foal trade at Tattersalls. In fact, such records had already been achieved by Friday when the 30,906,000 turnover for that memorable session exceeded what was spent during the entirety of this sale 12 months ago. 

Turnover climbed by a massive 46% to 43,504,000gns for the entire sale. The 78% clearance rate was up by 4% on last year while the 67,658gns average represented a 52% rise. The median jumped by a similar level [43%] to 30,000gns. 

Competing in such a competitive marketplace was not enough to deter the young Vigors brothers. The Perfect Power colt, who was offered by Manor House Farm Stud, was put forward by older brother Harry as the one they wanted most on Friday. While a certain amount of bravery was required, the bidding team-which featured Tweenhills' Hannah Wall-managed to get their boy, all with Dad's blessing of course. 

Charlie Vigors, father of Harry and Oliver commented, “We needed to form a partnership to get him so he will go back to Tweenhills from here and we will consign him next year. It's the first horse that the boys have bought in their own name. It's great for the boys. They are interested and want to get involved. They have been involved with various pinhooks down through the years but this is the first one they've gone and bought themselves.”

The Perfect Power colt was bred by Richard Vines. Lot 1095 hails from Oasis Dream (GB) mare Perfect Muse (GB) and is from a family that Vines has nurtured for generations. The sale put a cherry on top of what has been a respectable start made by the stallion with his first crop of foals selling for an average of 38,240gns for 25 sold this week. 

The triple Group 1 winner had foals sold to Peter and Ross Doyle, Federico Barberini and more over the course of the week, including a colt who sold for 130,000gns to the former. 

Harry Vigors commented, “He was the standout individual of the day. Waking up this morning, he was the one we really wanted and luckily we've come away with him. Perfect Power was a very fast racehorse and, being a son of Ardad, who is a very good sire as well. We went down this morning without Dad and liked him. Then Dad came down and saw him and he liked him as well.”

The Cat That Got 'The Cream'

Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony borrowed a line from one of the sales company's main rivals when claiming where 'the cream' of the foal crop could be found following the sale. Mahony also acknowledged the contribution international buyers made at what has been another memorable sale at Park Paddocks. 

He said, “References to 'the cream of the British and Irish foal crops' have been made constantly throughout this week's record-breaking Tattersalls December Foal Sale and the extraordinary figures show the esteem in which the best British and Irish thoroughbreds continue to be held and where 'the cream' is to be found. All week Park Paddocks has been alive with pinhookers from Britain, Ireland and further afield; a combination of veterans who have been plying their trade for many years and hordes of the younger generation whose enthusiasm and commitment provide encouragement to the wider industry looking forward.

“Equally notable has been the immense contribution made by owners buying to race. The December Foal Sale will always be dominated by pinhookers, but owners, both domestic and international, have made a huge impact on the sale, particularly those from Australia, China, Japan and the USA as well as from throughout Europe and the Gulf region.”

Mahony added, “Between them all they have contributed to a Tattersalls December Foal Sale which will be remembered for a very long time, not only for Whitsbury Manor Stud's outstanding 2,500,000 guineas Frankel filly foal out of Suelita, who equalled the 27-year European record price for a foal, but also for a sale which produced an unprecedented number of foals selling for 500,000 guineas or more, wide margin records across the board for average, median and turnover and a massive 32 of the 40 highest-priced foals to have been sold in Britain and Ireland this year.

“The confidence that the leading British and Irish breeders show in the uniquely diverse market at Tattersalls is a source of immense pride and it would be no exaggeration to say that so much of the strength of this week's foal trade, as well as the record-breaking December Yearling Sale, has been driven by the game-changing Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale a few weeks ago. Those three days of yearlings have driven the European bloodstock market ever since and to see so many British and Irish breeders and consignors subsequently reaping richly deserved rewards has itself been truly rewarding.

“Not all in the garden has, however, been rosy and the lowest tier of the market continues to struggle which is a concern, but as we move on to the market leading Tattersalls December Mares Sale we can reflect on another 2024 Tattersalls sale which has exceeded expectations and again shone a positive light on the industry.”

Talking Points

This was a sale where the end-users dominated at the top end. From Amo Racing ending the sale as leading buyer with four foals sourced for 4,675,000gns, it was interesting to see that Yulong [signing under Willingham] and Coolmore filled the second and third spots with spends of 3,224,000gns and 1,800,000gns respectively. 

As well as topping the Friday session with Chaldean's sister, Whitsbury Manor Stud ended the sale as the leading vendor with 21 lots selling for a combined 4,347,500gns. 

In terms of the younger sires, one would have to be impressed by the start that Baaeed (GB) has made. He had seven foals selling at Tattersalls this week and they averaged 240,000gns. To put that into context, that's better than what Kingman (GB) and Night Of Thunder (Ire) achieved with similar offerings. Shadwell, Katsumi Yoshida and Yeomanstown Stud were some of the notable supporters of Baaeed in the ring this week. 

As Mahony referenced in his chairman's statements, there were 10 foals who cleared 500,000gns at Tattersalls this week. Interestingly, half of those were by Frankel, who ended the week as the leading sire with a 1,140,000gns average.

Stauffenberg Sticks It Out For Space Blues Colt

Philipp Stauffenberg shopped hard at Tattersalls this week and was rewarded for sticking it out to the bitter end when coming up trumps on a Space Blues (Ire) colt consigned by Jamie Railton for 65,000gns. 

The colt, which cemented a 365,000gns outlay on four foals this week, was described by Stauffenberg as a proper Book 2 candidate for next year. He hails from a Teofilo (Ire) dam and is from the family of Group 1 winner Debussy (Ire). 

The leading pinhooker explained, “He was just a very good walker. He's by a stallion who we don't know a lot about but we have to give him a chance. Of the foals we saw today, he's the one who really stood out by the way he moved. He looks a proper Book 2 horse-not a high-end Book 2 horse but, you never know, if the stallion comes up with a good one, he could be. We just hope for the best with him. This is the fourth horse we've bought this week. It was tough and we were underbidders several times.”