Tattersalls December Foal Sale

NEWMARKET, UK--As the prices dipped from Friday's bumper session to a more modest level, so did Newmarket's weather, which settled into relentless icy rain for almost the entire concluding session of foals at Park Paddocks. Such gloomy exterior conditions could not dim the demand for bloodstock in the ring, however. We're not even into December yet, but Tattersalls can be satisfied with heartening levels of trade at the halfway house of its lengthy December Sale, with just four days of fillies and mares to come from Monday. On Friday, Genesis...

NEWMARKET, UK--A proper old-fashioned bidding war between two superpowers of the breeding world underpinned the most expensive foal transaction seen in Europe for almost 20 years, when Genesis Green Stud's Dubawi (Ire) half-brother to Group 2 winner I Can Fly (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) sold for 1.8 million gns to Godolphin.  "I just wish Walter was here to see this," said an emotional Michael Swinburn of his late brother, the outstanding former jockey and trainer, who died in 2016. "He owned the mare and had her in training. I Can...

NEWMARKET, UK—Both the quality and the quantity were hiked, but the energy remained pretty seamless on the second day of the Tattersalls December Foal Sale. Once again business far surpassed the equivalent session last year, no surprise by this stage despite the unexpected resilience of that market, and measured up pretty closely to the tempo recorded in the pre-Covid innocence of the 2019 sale. With the pinhookers meeting conspicuous competition from end-users, especially for well-bred fillies, turnover soared by 32% to 9,225,000gns from 7,014,800gns, also eclipsing the 8,532,700gns banked in...

From bringing its largest draft of 26 foals to the Tattersalls December Sale in 2020, Mickley Stud's consignment for this week has almost doubled in size again to 50 weanlings.  It may be time-consuming for prospective buyers to work their way through this batch of youngsters down in the Solario Yard but it could also prove worthwhile. In 2015, Mickley's Richard Kent and his co-breeder, the late Lady Caroline Lonsdale, brought a Havana Gold (Ire) foal to sell who went on to become the Group 1-winning sprinter and young Whitsbury...

In what feels like the blink of an eye, we are now embarking on the final sale of the year at Tattersalls. The Newmarket auction house generally doesn't do things by halves and, if recent sales are anything to go by, the next two weeks at Park Paddocks will include plenty of show-stopping moments, with the mares' catalogues in particular being bolstered by several significant dispersals.  Before we get to that, however, we have one final day of yearlings to contend with. The December Yearling Sale can offer a second...

A pair of colts by Dark Angel (Ire) have been added to the upcoming Tattersalls December Foal Sale as wildcards. The duo, consigned by Barton Stud, will sell on Nov. 26. Lot 999A is out of the winning mare Nawassi (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), herself a daughter of G2 Queen Mary S. heroine Maqaasid (GB) (Green Desert). Maqaasid also placed in the G1 1000 Guineas and G1 Cheveley Park S. and is a sister to Group 1 producers Istishaary (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Jumooh (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). Istishaary's Il Fornaio (Arg)...

The catalogue for the Tattersalls December Foal Sale is now online at www.tattersalls.com. Offering 1070 lots, the December Foal Sale will take place Wednesday, Nov. 24 through Saturday, Nov. 27. "The Tattersalls December Foal Sale is a prolific and consistent source of Group 1 winners as well as spectacular pinhooking triumphs and we have some truly outstanding foals catalogued for this year's sale," said Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony. "As ever the December Foal Sale has attracted the cream of the British and Irish foal crop, with all of the current...

NEWMARKET, UK—"Not for the first time this year we can reflect on a market which has displayed extraordinary and commendable resilience," said Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony in his closing address for the December Foal Sale. Those sentiments have been repeated often around Park Paddocks this week, just as they were back in October when the trade for yearlings was frankly remarkable given the events of 2020. As the curtain fell on the fourth and final day of foals, again the most noteworthy figure was the clearance rate of 79%, which...

NEWMARKET, UK--When there are two Dubawi half-brothers to Group 1 winners in a foal catalogue, the chances are that they will attract the attention of Sheikh Mohammed and go close to topping the sale, and that was exactly how it played out at Tattersalls on Friday. First up (lot 939) was the half-brother to the Irish champion 2-year-old filly Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy), brought to the sale from Ireland by his breeder Airlie Stud to head proceedings at 700,000gns. His price--100,000gns ahead of the top lot at last year's sale--made...

A new high mark was established at the current renewal of the Tattersalls December Foal Sale on Friday when Godolphin went to 700,000gns for Airlie Stud's Dubawi (Ire) half-brother to G1 Moyglare Stud S. winner Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy) and the American Grade III-placed Data Dependent (More Than Ready) (lot 939). The dam, Dane Street, is a half-sister to G1 Dewhurst S. winner Intense Focus. Three lots later, Godolphin spent 600,000gns on Fittocks Stud's Dubawi colt out of the listed-winning and Group 1 producer Baisse (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}) (lot...

NEWMARKET, UK-They say that necessity is the mother of invention. The very fact that Tattersalls is contriving to stage the December Sale, while adapting to the strictures of lockdown, attests to that axiom. And so, too, did the fact that the highest bid of the second session was made online--by someone who was actually on site, and could have dived into the ring in an emergency. That resourceful gentleman proved to be Gerard Lowry of Oneliner Stables, who emerged from the cloak of cyber anonymity after the hammer came down...

NEWMARKET, UK—The popularity of first-season sires is no new phenomenon but it is a feature of the market which apparently gains more and more traction, and three freshmen were responsible for four of the top ten lots as pinhookers wasted no time in assembling their prospective yearling drafts for next season. The first session traditionally represents a quieter start to the four-day auction, which builds towards the better pedigrees on Friday. With shorter sessions throughout the sale this year, there were 135 foals sold on Wednesday, compared to 168 on...