Tattersalls December Foal Sale

And breathe. If you listen carefully enough, you can almost hear the collective exhale from all of those invested in the bloodstock industry and its transfer market, as we near the conclusion of another dizzying year on the merry-go-round that is the European sales calendar. The relentless nature of it can have a bewildering effect at the best of times, but this year the sums changing hands were often so astronomical that you could be forgiven for mistaking what were you watching for a mirage. Only during the Sceptre Sessions...

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...

MV Magnier acquired lot 937 for 1,000,000gns on Friday. The son of Sea The Stars (Ire) was the first foal to reach the seven-figure mark at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale, which is in its third session and concludes on Saturday. Bred and consigned by Genesis Green Stud, he is a son of Angel's Point (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}). The colt is a half-brother to G2 Solonaway Stakes winner I Can Fly (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), who was placed thrice at Group 1 level, and the stakes winner and group-placed...

A Frankel (GB) full-sister to multiple Group 1 winner and Classic hero Chaldean (GB) (lot 945) sold for a joint-record 2,500,000gns to Amo Racing at Tattersalls. The new sales topper is out of the winner Suelita (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}). The chestnut is also a half-sister to G2 Mill Reef Stakes hero Alkumait (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) and his stakes-winning full-brother Get Ahead (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), who was second in the G1 Flying Five Stakes. Lot 945 was bred by Whitsbury Manor Stud. The record price was set in 1997 for...

Sea The Stars (Ire)'s colt (lot 931) out of Frangipani (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}) matched the 700,000gns price of lot 925, when changing hands from The Castlebridge Consignment to Juddmonte at Tattersalls on Friday. A half-brother to G1 Deutsches Derby hero Fantastic Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), the colt was bred by Philipp Stauffenberg and his wife Marion.

Agent Amanda Skiffington was in action for lot 925, a filly by Frankel (GB), who sold from the draft of Norris Bloodstock for 700,000gns. Skiffington was buying on behalf of Hampstead Holdings. The half-sister to G3 Pride Stakes heroine Ville De Grace (GB) (Le Havre {Ire}) is the second Frankel filly to make 700,000gns or higher so far on Friday, with lot 897 the current sales topper at 800,000gns who went to MV Magnier. The extended family features GI Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Handicap victor Prince Arch (Arch) and G1...

Just three lots after the 650,000gns Camelot (GB) colt, lot 897, a filly by Frankel (GB) and out of In The Mist (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), became the new top lot when selling to MV Magnier for 800,000gns. The half-sister to Cloudy Dawn (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), a winner of the G3 Prix de Lieurey, and the stakes winner Iromea (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), was part of the West Blagdon Stud consignment. Second dam Kenmist (GB) (Kenmare {Fr}) won at listed level in England and placed at group level in Italy. She is...

Lot 894 was the second horse to break the 500,000gns-mark at Tattersalls on Friday when selling to Anthony Stroud for 650,000gns on behalf of Godolphin. Consigned by West Blagdon Stud, the son of Camelot (GB) is a half-brother to Lope De Vega (Ire)'s duo of GII Royal North Stakes second Sweet Enough (GB) and the listed-placed Enfjaar (Ire). Bred by James Wigan, the colt is a grandson of a full-sister to dual Grade I winner Photo Call (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). His third dam Theann (GB) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) is...

A filly foal by Wootton Bassett (GB) out of Accolade (Fr) (Orpen) (lot 871) was knocked down to Henry Lascelles for 580,000gns to take the lead mid-afternoon during the third session of the Tattersalls December Foal Sale on Friday. Offered by breeder Awbeg Stud, the filly is a full-sister to Group 3 winner and G1 Prix du Jockey Club and G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains runner-up The Summit (Fr).   Wootton Bassett currently has the first two top lots at the #tattsdecember foal sale. This filly by the sire has...

NEWMARKET, UK -- Mehmas (Ire) has done little wrong since exploding onto the scene as the leading first-season sire of 2020 and, unlike some who have achieved that accolade, he has sustained that momentum through subsequent seasons. Only a few weeks ago, his daughter Naughty Eyes (Ire), who has been supplemented for next week's December Mares Sale as wildcard lot 1486D, became her sire's 62nd two-year-old winner of the season, enabling Mehmas to break the record set by his own stud-mate Kodiac (GB).  It has been another stellar year for...

NEWMARKET, UK -- In contrast to the opening day of foal trade in Ireland just over a week ago, the Tattersalls December Foal Sale was slower out of the blocks with a clearance rate of 60%. The average and median did improve throughout the day and ended with slight increases on this session last year at 12,086gns (+8%) and 9,000gns (+13%). Turnover, from 111 of the 182 foals sold, dipped by 14% to 1,341,500gns, albeit from 24 fewer foals changing hands than on the corresponding day last year. Of those...

As poster boys and girls go, the Group 1-winning three-year-olds Economics (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) and You Got To Me (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) aren't too bad at all. It's a truism that plenty of top-flight winners in Europe are owned by their breeders, but it also the case that all breeders have to sell some of their young stock, and plenty of hard graft at the foal sales can unearth a good one.  The Classic winner You Got To Me returns to the December Mares Sale next week in...