Tattersalls December Mares 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...

NEWMARKET, UK -- Records, records, records. It didn't feel particularly blockbusting on the final half-session of mares at Tattersalls, but that is the nature of any sale. Big days, quieter days. The days they all come for - Monday and Tuesday - certainly didn't fail to deliver some showstopping moments. It could have been predicted that Kia Joorabchian, after his spectacular spending spree at Book 1, and with plenty of stallions now at stud, would play a similarly prominent role during the December Sale, and his Amo Racing was again...

NEWMARKET, UK -- The Wednesday of the December Mares Sale may have become a quieter session than was once the case but there are still plenty of enticing broodmare prospects, not least from the Godolphin draft. It provided five of the day's top ten lots, including the session-topper Bridestones (Ire), a listed-placed filly by Teofilo (Ire) out of the G1 Fillies' Mile winner White Moonstone (Dynaformer). The four-year-old was selected by agent Alex Elliott, who assisted the Amo Racing team in the purchase of the overall sale-topper, the 4.8 million...

Woodford Thoroughbreds and D acquired lot 1770B, a placed half-sister to G1 Sun Chariot Stakes winner Tamfana (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}), for 1,550,000gns as the final lot of the Sceptre Sessions on Tuesday. Slievebrook House consigned the placed The Palace Girl (Ger) (Areion {Ger}), who counts the high class GI Beverly D Stakes heroine Sea Calisi (Fr) as kin. She was bred by Gestut Etzean and Hans-Helmut Rodenburg. Kevin Coleman, Sean Grassick and Demi O'Byrne picked out the March-foaled bay for €30,000 out of the BBAG September Yearling Sale in...

Francis-Henri Graffard sent juvenile Group 1 winner Vertical Blue (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) through the Tattersalls ring as the penultimate Sceptre Sessions lot (1770A), and she duly made 3,200,000gns on the bid of John Stewart's Resolute Racing, bidding online. Bred by Haras du Mont dit Mont in Ireland, the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac heroine is out of the Sea The Stars (Ire) mare Krunch (GB). Second dam Spinacre (Ire) (Verglas {Ire}) won the Listed Flame of Tara Stakes and was third in the G3 Prix Imprudence. Paul Nataf signed the ticket...

The Imperium Sales-consigned Term Of Endearment (GB) (Sea The Moon Ger}) hammered for 1,300,000gns on the bid of Red Bank at Tattersalls on Tuesday. Successful in the G2 Lillie Langtry Fillies' Stakes, the G2 Bronte Cup Stakes, and the G3 Give Thanks Stakes, the daughter of listed winner and Group 1-placed Miss You Too (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}) was offered as lot 1757. Andrew Whitlock is the breeder on record, while Alex Elliott bought Term Of Endearment for 50,000gns as a Book 3 yearling during the October Sale.   ⚜️ TERM...

G3 Bronte Cup Stakes heroine River Of Stars (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) was knocked down to Oakley Creek--bidding online--for 1,650,000gns later in the evening at Park Paddocks. Second in the G1 Prix de Royallieu, lot 1750 is a half-sister to stakes winner Apadanah (Ger) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). Bred by Dr. Klaus Schulte, the relative of G2 Coventry Stakes winner and Group 1-placed Rashabar (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) was a 400,000gns purchase by Woodford Thoroughbreds at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale in 2019. She was consigned by Kimpton...

By Brian Sheerin and Adam Houghton The sale of Irish Oaks heroine You Got To Me (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) during Tuesday's Sceptre Session at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale boiled down to a head-to-head between Kia Joorabchian and Newsells Park Stud owner Graham Smith-Bernal, with the Amo Racing founder once again underlining his burning desire "to compete" after coming out on top with a bid of 4.8 million guineas. The bidding war which pit Joorabchian and Smith-Bernal against one another was a far cry from what we witnessed at Park...

Zarak (Fr)'s Village Voice (GB), a winner of the G3 Prix de Flore, caught the eye of Resolute Bloodstock to the tune of 1,300,000gns as the Sceptre Sessions continued on Tuesday. Offered by Simmonstown Stud, lot 1743 has been placed four additional times at group level. Her second dam struck in the G2 May Hill Stakes and G3 Sweet Solera Stakes, and was third in the G1 1000 Guineas, the G1 Coronation Stakes, and the G1 Fillies' Mile. Village Voice, bred by Malih Al Basti, sold for 38,000gns to BBA...

Narvick International and Grand Stud purchased Lumiere Rock (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) (lot 1748) for 1,300,000gns during a busy session of the Tattersalls December Mares sale. Sold during the second day of the Sceptre Sessions, the winner of the G2 Blandford Stakes and G2 Silken Glider Stakes was part of The Castlebridge Consignment. Part of The Last Partnership breeding programme, the 4-year-old was originally a 55,000gns yearling out of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.   LUMIERE ROCK sells for 1.3million gns to Narvick International/Grand Stud. The G2...

The consistent G2 Sapphire Stakes heroine and Breeders' Cup starter Believing (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) (lot 1740) brought a final bid of 3,000,000gns from MV Magnier to take the lead during the Tattersalls December Mares Sale. Part of the Highclere Stud consignment, the 3-year-old filly was placed in a trio of Group 1 sprints in three consecutive months: the Nunthorpe Stakes (August), the Flying Five Stakes (September), and the Prix de l'Abbaye in October. Bred by M. Mullen and Cloneymore Farm, she was third in the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup last...

Multiple Group 1-placed filly A Lilac Rolla (Ire) (Harry Angel {Ire}) (lot 1735) became the first seven-figure filly or mare during Tuesday's Sceptre Sessions at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale. A half-sister to the multiple stakes placed Mutaaqeb (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), she sold for 1,000,000gns to John Stewart's Resolute Bloodstock, who was bidding online. Northern Farm was the underbidder. Consigned by Paddy Twomey's Athassel House Stud, the bay won the G3 Ballylinch Stud Priory Belle Stakes at Leopardstown and was second in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas and third...