Tattersalls February Closes With Gains

The two-day Tattersalls February Sale came to a close on Friday with figures well up on the 2019 renewal. With the catalogue size down slightly, 305 horses went through the ring with 264 sold for a clearance rate of 87%, compared to 85% a year ago. The average settled at 12,350gns, up 16% on last year, while the median rose 30% to 6,500gns. Despite the smaller offering, the aggregate was up at 3,260,300gns.

Leading the way on the price board was the 4-year-old gelding Creationist (Noble Mission {GB}) (lot 285), twice a winner on the all-weather for Roger Charlton and rated 92. He was bought by Rupert Pritchard-Gordon for 60,000gns with a specific mission: to be the work companion for dual Group 1 winner Romanised (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). He will thus head to the yard of trainer Ken Condon.

“He has been bought to go to Ireland and to Ken Condon's and though he will run as a dual-purpose horse, he has been mainly bought to be a work companion for Romanised,” said Pritchard-Gordon, racing manager for Romanised's owner Robert Ng. “Creationist is a well-rated horse and looks as though he will do that job well. I am sure Ken will find a few options on the track for him, too.”

St Just (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) (lot 347), a winner at two last year and again placed on Jan. 27, was offered by William Haggas's Somerville Lodge and signed for by Quantum, a syndicate run by Jonathan Ramsden, at 55,000gns. He will join the yard of Jedd O'Keefe. Creationist and St Just were the only two to surpass 50,000gns for the session, the lower profile of the two days.

Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony said upon conclusion of the firm's first sale of the year, “The first Tattersalls February Sale took place in the year 2000, and the sale is now a well- established fixture in the European bloodstock sales calendar, regularly attracting an extraordinarily diverse international cast of buyers, similar to so many sales at Tattersalls. The February Sale's ability to draw buyers from all corners of the world has been particularly evident over the past two days with buyers from around 30 different countries all contributing to robust trade from start to finish and a set of figures which compare favourably with last year's February Sale.

“The average and median have both risen appreciably and the top price of 200,000gns for the stakes-winning filly I'll Have Another comfortably surpassed last year's top price at this fixture. The turnover has also risen despite a significantly smaller catalogue, and a clearance rate nudging 90% is another clear indication of the enduring appeal of sales of this nature at Tattersalls. As ever, the quality consignments from Godolphin, Juddmonte Farms and Shadwell have been well received and in addition to widespread participation from throughout Europe including Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Spain, Sweden and Turkey, buyers from the Gulf region as well as Australia, Kazakhstan, Israel, Libya, South Africa and the U.S. have all made a significant contribution to a Tattersalls February Sale which has provided a positive start to the year.”