New Sale Format but Same Old Story as Havana Grey Filly Stars at Tattersalls

NEWMARKET, England–For the second consecutive year Havana Grey (GB) and Whitsbury Manor Stud were responsible for the highest-priced yearling at the Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale as a filly by the in-demand stallion went the way of Alex Elliott, acting on behalf of Amo Racing, for 140,000gns during Tuesday's session at Park Paddocks.

Lot 419 was the headline buy on a productive day for Elliott, who signed for the top three lots from the session in some shape or form. Lot 376, a Sergei Prokofiev colt offered by Chasemore Farm, is also set to sport the familiar purple silks of Amo Racing after being bought for 90,000gns, while Elliott had earlier teamed up with Billy Jackson-Stops to secure a Cotai Glory (GB) colt [lot 277] from the Houghton Bloodstock draft for 100,000gns.

“I think we've bought eight in total over the two days,” Elliott said of his haul. “It's a lot of horses here for people to focus on and obviously the quality at a sale like this shows through. It's not a select sale. There are a few horses there who could have been in different books, but people brought them here to stand out and I think, generally, they've been well rewarded for doing so.”

This year another 121 lots were offered compared to 12 months ago, when the Somerville Yearling Sale was held over a single session, and yet the aggregate increased by just 3%. Of the 426 yearlings offered, 316 sold for a total value of 8,927,500gns. The clearance rate of 77% represented a 13% decrease on last year, while the average fell by 11% to 28,252gns and the median by 19% to 22,000gns. Only three yearlings achieved a six-figure price this year compared to seven in 2023.

Incidentally, the 140,000gns Elliott paid for the Havana Grey filly is the fourth highest price in the short history of the Somerville Yearling Sale. She is out of a half-sister to the G2 Sapphire Stakes winner Stepper Point (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}), who was also runner-up at the top level in the King's Stand Stakes and Nunthorpe Stakes, while the Listed scorer and G2 Temple Stakes third Lady In France (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) is another of the dam's siblings.

“She was the standout filly for me over the two days and I love the pedigree,” Elliott added. “She's quite young so there is a lot of improvement to come. She has a bit of length to her and she just has loads of quality–I loved her when I first saw her. I thought she was the one to get and, luckily, Kia [Joorabchian of Amo Racing] thought the same.”

Cotai Glory Emerges from the Shadow of Studmates

Tally-Ho Stud stallions Mehmas (Ire) and Starman (GB) have each had their fair share of column inches devoted to them in the last week or so, one fast becoming the kingpin on the roster and the other a first-season sire starting to make a name for himself.

On Tuesday, however, it was another member of the team based in Mullingar who was able to enjoy his moment in the limelight as Elliott and Jackson-Stops came away with the Cotai Glory (GB) colt, the only other six-figure lot to sell on Tuesday.

Lot 277 is out of the unraced Dutch Art (GB) mare Millvina (GB), a half-sister to the G2 Temple Stakes heroine Priceless (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) among others.

“I think Cotai Glory constantly punches above his weight,” Elliott said of the sire perhaps best known for producing the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye scorer The Platinum Queen (Ire). “This horse was George Scott's pick of the sale and we're delighted to get him. He comes from a very good farm and he's got a very fast pedigree. He looks like a horse that we can really get on with.”

“He's been bought for Valmont and Michael Blencowe,” Elliott added. “We started the partnership last year and we're going to do the same again with two going to George, two to Andrew Balding and two to Ralph Beckett. We actually run a horse tonight up at Newcastle called West Acre who George thought a lot of earlier in the year–hopefully, it's the start of a good day.”

The last remark certainly proved prophetic given Elliott's exploits through the afternoon, so too what happened at Gosforth Park where West Acre (Ire) made no mistake on debut as the 6-5 favourite. In doing so he became Mehmas's 45th individual two-year-old winner in Europe in 2024, 18 more than any other stallion.

Middleham Park Land Sibling to Star Sprinter

One of Mehmas's flagbearers this season has been the G2 Sapphire Stakes winner and G1 Nunthorpe Stakes runner-up Believing (Ire), so all eyes were on her half-brother, by another relatively unheralded Tally-Ho resident in Inns Of Court (Ire), when he went through the ring as lot 279.

The colt was offered by Dermot Kilmartin of Kildallan Farm–whose 15-year-old son Ruairi made headlines here on Monday when his Dark Angel (Ire) filly sold for 70,000gns–and he capped quite the 48 hours for the family when selling to Highflyer's Anthony Bromley, Eve Johnson Houghton and Middleham Park for 75,000gns.

Middleham Park's Tom Palin confirmed that Johnson Houghton will be the lucky recipient of the well-related colt, who is by the same sire as several other talented performers to have carried their blue and orange colours. They are headed by The Strikin Viking (Ire), who the team sold to Wathnan Racing after his runner-up finish in the G2 Railway Stakes, along with the Listed winner and G3 Oak Tree Stakes third Ziggy's Dream (Ire).

“I thought that he was one of the standout specimens of the sale,” Palin summed up, before delivering a pun which served to highlight that the colt must have been on his mind for a while. Either that or he's just a far quicker thinker than I expect I would be with the phones of the press pack thrust in my face.

“The page is there for the world to see–I suppose seeing is Believing, isn't it?” he joked. “He walks for fun and obviously we have a big love affair with Inns Of Court. Maybe he's not everybody's cup of tea as a sire, but for us he can do no wrong.

“The stars aligned and I'm staggered that we got him for what we did. I thought he was probably a 100 grand horse, although he could look expensive in 12 months' time if it doesn't go the right way!”

Mohaather Colt Brings it Full Circle for the Johnson Houghtons

Roles were briefly reversed for Eve Johnson Houghton at a sale where the purchases she was involved in nearly reached double digits, working closely with Highflyer's Anthony Bromley throughout.

Indeed, the shoe was firmly on the other foot when it came to the turn of lot 362 to go under the hammer, the Mohaather (GB) colt having been bred by Johnson Houghton out of the unraced Kendargent (Fr) mare Reprieval (Fr). He is a half-brother to Betty Clover (GB) (Time Test {GB}), another homebred who won the Listed Marygate Stakes at York back in May, although her trainer-owner wasn't in attendance on the Knavesmire to see it happen.

“I was at Newbury and the whole of the course knew as I was screaming her home–it was really embarrassing,” Johnson Houghton said of that success, doing a better job of keeping her cool this time after the Mohaather colt, who was consigned by Hillwood Stud, had sold to Oliver St Lawrence for 70,000gns.

“I tried to sell him as a foal and couldn't,” Johnson Houghton added. “Mum needed a colt foal to run with her colt, so she bought him off me. I thought he'd make 50,000gns, and he made 70,000gns, so I am thrilled.”

The role played by Johnson Houghton's mother, Gaie, in the origin story of this colt certainly shouldn't be understated. Lest we forget, it was Gaie who bred the G1 Sussex Stakes winner and promising young sire Mohaather, before he was sold for 110,000gns at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Talking points

• Whitsbury Manor Stud was the sale's leading vendor with 11 yearlings sold for an average of 56,455gns. These included two of the top ten yearlings, by the stud's resident stallions Havana Grey (GB) and Showcasing (GB).
• Havana Grey may have ruled the roost but it has been a promising sales season for Tally-Ho Stud's newcomer Starman (GB) so far. Of 22 yearlings catalogued for the Somerville Yearling Sale, 17 were sold for an average of 31,882gns. These included the top lot of Monday's session, a filly out of Get Up And Dance (GB), who sold for 100,000gns to Richard Ryan.
• Coolmore's Sioux Nation, who provided the stiffest opposition to Havana Grey in the battle to be crowned leading first-season sire when their first runners hit the track in 2022, enjoyed a successful sale of his own with six yearlings selling for an average of 48,667gns. That was the highest average of any stallion in the top 20 on the sires' table, with lot 87, a colt from Galbertstown Stables, leading the way when selling to Robson Aguiar for 60,000gns.
• Last year you had to travel your finger down to the 18th name on the sires' table, Galiway (GB), to find a stallion who had won much beyond a mile. This year it was Lope De Vega (Ire), down in 23rd, who did the most to fly the flag for stallions with a win to their name over at least ten furlongs. It's safe to say that this sale is delivering exactly what it has always promised as a reliable source of fast and precocious sorts.
• A total of 886 of those fast and precocious yearlings have been offered in the last week or so–460 at Doncaster and then 426 here at Park Paddocks–and it's hard to escape the conclusion that this is a market which has reached its saturation point when looking at the results across both sales. We're all well aware of the difficulties at the lower to middle tiers, but perhaps of chief concern for the team at Tattersalls will be the way those in the top bracket of this sale performed over the two days, with only three yearlings commanding a six-figure fee.

Chairman's Comments

“The Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale has made huge progress in its four-year history with the inaugural one-day sale in 2021 producing turnover below five million guineas and an average price of 21,000 guineas,” said Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony.

“This year's renewal, while falling short of last year's across the board records, is still a long way in advance of the 2021 levels and is a clear indication of a sale which has quickly established itself as an important fixture in the European yearling sales calendar.

“Nevertheless, the demand for places and the conscious decision to reduce overall numbers in the two weeks of the forthcoming Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, has resulted in a two-day Somerville Yearling Sale for the first time and a very significant increase in numbers, all of which has contributed to a clearance rate which has fallen some way short of where we would like it to be.

“Certain sectors of the market have held up well, with a wide-margin record number of lots selling for 50,000 guineas or more, but the evident softening of the market at the lower levels, which has been a consistent theme this year, also reflects prevailing economic realities which we are all aware of.

“As with every sale at Tattersalls we will assess all the factors at play with a view to establishing the optimum format for the Somerville Yearling Sale going forward and in the meantime we look forward to Books 1 to 4 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and to seeing Somerville yearlings continue to excel on the racecourse where it matters most.”

Buy of the Day

The late Dandy Man (Ire) was a consistent source of high-class sprinting two-year-olds in his time at Ballyhane Stud and it would take a brave soul to bet against him coming up with another one from this penultimate crop of yearlings to go through the ring at Tattersalls. Lot 339 certainly has the credentials of one who should be winning races as a two-year-old and he's going to a prolific trainer of such horses in Archie Watson, who bought the colt in tandem with Blandford Bloodstock for just 14,000gns. Offered by Throckmorton Court Stud, he is out of the Acclamation (GB) mare Positive Mentality (Ire), a three-race maiden for Michael Dods, while the second dam is a half-sister to the G3 Prix du Bois winner Dolled Up (Ire) (Whipper) and Listed scorer Zeiting (Ire) (Zieten). Zeiting is in turn the dam of six black-type performers, while another sibling by Acclamation, Madany (Ire), has produced top-class talents such as Eqtidaar (Ire) and Massaat (Ire) among others.