Over 50 horses connected to John Dance's Coverdale Stud and Titanium Racing Club will provide an extra smattering of interest to the horses-in-training section of the two-day Tattersalls Guineas Sale, which kicks off on Wednesday.
First Ambition (GB) (lot 151), an Invincible Spirit colt out of Dance's six-time Group 1 winner Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), will spearhead the draft that is being offered by The Castlebridge Consignment.
Dance was arrested almost a year ago and is involved in an ongoing Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) investigation into allegations of fraud and money laundering involving his company WealthTek LLP. Under the name of an associated company, Vertem Asset Management, Dance sponsored the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy at Doncaster between 2018 and 2022.
Following his arrest and the subsequent freezing of his assets, Dance's horses were initially not allowed to be entered for races, but in May the British Horseracing Authority granted permission for them to run under the name of Coverdale Stud or Titanium Racing. Some of the horses offered on Wednesday have not been in full training and are essentially blank canvases.
Andrew Mead, Director of Castlebridge, commented, “Castlebridge has approximately 50 horses selling over Wednesday and Thursday on behalf of John Dance. None of them have raced over the past few months and the majority are unexposed and represent genuine untapped potential. Most people will be aware of the circumstances behind the sale of these horses and we have received a lot of enquiries, including prior to the start of showing at Tattersalls.”
The record number of lots in the horses-in-training section means that the auction will get underway on Wednesday evening at 5 p.m. The breeze takes place on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.
Tribal Rhythm (GB) (Ulysses {Ire}) (lot 118), a half-brother to Group 1-winning sprinter Bradsell (GB), and the 107-rated Asjad (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) (lot 190) are other notable horses in the draft.
The horses-in-training section of the sale gets underway on Wednesday evening and follows through to Thursday morning at 9.30. Some top-notch horses have been sold at the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up Sale, including leading stayer Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) and Prix de l'Abbaye winner The Platinum Queen (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}). The breeze-up horses begin selling at 12:30 on Thursday afternoon.
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