Teenager Ruairi Kilmartin Enjoys Dream Result with Dark Angel Filly at Tattersalls

NEWMARKET, England–Fifteen-year-old Ruairi Kilmartin was left speechless after his Dark Angel (Ire) filly–a mere €7,000 buy at the Goffs November Foal Sale–had provided him with a fairytale result when selling to Paul Corrigan for 70,000gns on the opening day of the Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale.

“No, never,” an incredulous Kilmartin replied when asked whether he'd dared to dream of lot 159 making that sort of money. “I thought she'd make 20 or 30 grand, but that's exceeded my expectations. We were flat out there yesterday evening with 40 or 50 shows, and she had three vets, but I didn't know what would happen.”

Certainly, few could have predicted what played out at Park Paddocks before an emotional Kilmartin watched his filly exit the sales ring, having achieved the sort of result that many involved in the game wait a whole lifetime for, often in vain.

But don't be fooled into thinking that this was a stroke of luck on Kilmartin's part. No, this was all down to a young man who showed cool, hard judgement well beyond his years when he first saw the filly as a foal, less than three weeks after her full-sister, Heritage House (Ire), had finished fourth in a Listed race at Newmarket.

“She was by Dark Angel and her dam was a half-sister to Mehmas, so it was all speed,” Kilmartin said of his reasoning behind the initial €7,000 purchase. “I saw her full-sister was in training with James Fanshawe and that she'd finished fourth in a Listed race. I thought she'd go on and get more black type, and luckily she did.”

The filly was consigned by Kilmartin's father, Dermot, under the name of his Kildallan Farm in Westmeath. This seemingly wasn't Ruairi's first time with a bit of his own skin in the game, but he was in no doubt that this topped anything he'd done previously–and he has no plans to stop here, either.

“I'll go buy a few more foals!” he said of what might become of his windfall. “I've had a leg or two in a few of my dad's breezers before now, but this is by far the best result–I'm delighted.”

Equally delighted to get his hands on lot 159 was Corrigan, a big supporter of the Linda Perratt yard in South Lanarkshire. That is likely to be the ultimate destination for this filly after Corrigan secured her with an online bid, acting on the advice of another youngster with a big future in the shape of apprentice jockey Tommie Jakes.

“Tommie chose her,” said Corrigan. “He rides a lot for us and his family became friends. His mum [Tonie] and dad [Jeremy] have had horses for a long time. They will look after her and break her, etc. before she most likely moves to Linda's yard. Tommie thought she had plenty of scope and she should be a nice horse in the making.”

It's worth pointing out that direct statistical comparisons with last year are difficult with this being the first two-day edition of the Somerville Yearling Sale, but the clearance rate of 76% is likely to give the Tattersalls team cause of concern after the high of 89% in 2023. Of the 214 lots offered here on day one, 161 sold for an aggregate sum of 4,385,500gns. The average was 27,239gns and the median was 22,000gns.

No Place for Nurturing Talent Like Tally-Ho

The popularity of the first yearlings by July Cup winner Starman (GB) was a feature of the Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale. Out of the five highest-priced lots, he was responsible for two of them, helping him to an impressive average of £52,360 and an aggregate of £1,309,000 for 25 sold.

A few days later and it was a case of deja vu here at Park Paddocks as Starman again made his presence felt with the top lot during this opening session, a half-sister to the G3 Palace House Stakes winner Seven Questions (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) who was sold to Richard Ryan for 100,000gns. She was consigned by Tally-Ho Stud who stand the first-season sire.

Of the 12 Starman yearlings offered, eight sold at an average of 37,125gns and for a total of 297,000gns. It wasn't quite the fireworks of Doncaster but still took fair doing for a stallion who stood his first season in Mullingar at a fee of €17,500 in 2022.

“She is a lovely filly, the mare is proven, and she will be the first Teme Valley horse with Karl Burke,” Ryan said of lot 154. “I have been looking for a nice horse for Karl for some time and she fits all the criteria. Karl trained Boogie Time [another half-sister by Kodiac] and he felt this was a step up as an individual. She has a great mind and a lot to like with a fabulous walk.”

“I like the sire and I quite like them as a bunch,” Ryan added of the stallion. “I think he has got every chance.”

Starman is certainly in the right place to make a good fist of his second career, while there are seemingly worse places to be than Tally-Ho if you're a young person looking to make your way in the industry, too.

Indeed, look no further than young Ruairi Kilmartin, who already has his next steps mapped out after spending some time under the wing of Tally-Ho's Roger O'Callaghan.

“I have been going around with Roger and he has been really helpful,” Kilmartin added. “I expect I will end up at Tally-Ho Stud, although my dad tells me to stick to the books!”

Burns Doesn't Stick Around to Soak in the Acclamation

The O'Callaghans weren't the only Irish racing dynasty able to celebrate a good day's work.

Paddy Burns, who belongs to another family which has been heavily involved in this industry for several generations, with uncle Maurice the owner of Rathasker Stud near Naas, also came away from Tattersalls having landed a nice touch. That said, can it be called a good day's work when your Acclamation (GB) colt is the very first lot through the ring, allowing you to head for your ferry crossing at Holyhead around the time this scribe was still considering the breakfast options at Park Paddocks?

I jest, of course, but the 75,000gns it cost Oliver St Lawrence to secure lot 2 certainly put a spring in Burns's step as he embarked on the long journey home to Loughtown Stud, a result which came about after he bought the dam, Adelante (Fr) (Zoffany {Ire}) for 25,000gns at the 2020 Tattersalls December Mares Sale.

“I bought the mare out of George Baker's yard,” Burns said of that initial purchase. “She was a tough, consistent filly and I like Zoffany as a broodmare sire. Royal Applause has worked on the family before, so we went for the same sireline with this colt.

“Thankfully, he was very popular and a lot of great judges were very complimentary about him as a speedy, sharp-looking sort of colt. They followed through on that in the ring and Oliver, Fawzi [Nass] and the Victorious Racing team are very lucky and successful owners. Hopefully, this guy brings them more of the same.”

Burns was a first-time consignor at the Somerville Yearling Sale, but he promised to be back–even if the early bird slot can't be guaranteed every time–while St Lawrence was busy trying to find another Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) for the Victorious Racing team. Bradsell, of course, sold at this sale for just 12,000 guineas in 2021, before finding his way into the hands of his Bahraini owners after being bought by Blandford Bloodstock for £47,000 at the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale.

On Monday three yearlings went the way of St Lawrence on their behalf for a total of 190,000gns, with the others including lot 163, Ballyvolane Stud's Ardad (Ire) colt who fetched 65,000gns.

Talking points

• George Scott was one of the most active members of the training ranks at the sale as he signed for six lots in tandem with Billy Jackson-Stops, while Eve Johnson Houghton and Highflyer's Anthony Bromley were another formidable combination as they came away with six of their own. However, it was Clive Cox who arguably made the biggest statement as he went to 85,000gns to secure a Sands Of Mali (Fr) colt from the Barton Stud draft. Lot 200 was one of five purchases made by the Lambourn trainer for a total of 236,000gns.
• Philipp Stauffenberg was another first-time consignor at this year's Somerville Yearling Sale and, though his A'Ali (Ire) filly [lot 185] failed to find a buyer, it still proved a worthwhile venture as his other filly by Hello Youmzain (Fr ) [lot 223] went the way of Highflyer for 68,000gns. Admittedly, breeding precocious, speedy two-year-olds isn't really in keeping with the German way of doing things, but the name Stauffenberg Bloodstock is always to be respected in this game, whatever the circumstances. It will be interesting to see whether the team follow up with further consignments at this sale in the years to come.
• Last year a total of seven six-figure yearlings sold at this sale, so it's fair to say that there's work to be done on day two to at least match that feat after lot 154, the Starman (GB) filly, was the only one to reach that benchmark during this opening session. There's obviously no reason for the team at Tattersalls to panic just yet, with over 210 yearlings still to go through the ring on Tuesday, but they might have hoped to be a bit further ahead of the curve given the much bigger catalogue assembled for the first two-day edition of this sale.
• It wasn't just the top end of the market which seemed to suffer, either. The average for 161 lots sold on Monday was 27,239gns, while the median was 22,000gns. By way of comparison, the average at the end of last year's sale for 271 yearlings sold was 31,904gns. The median was 27,000gns.

Buy of the Day

There isn't much of lot 92, the Kessaar (Ire) colt offered by Ringfort Stud. Nor is there much to speak of when it comes to the race record of his dam, the Mehmas (Ire) mare Destacado (Ire), who retired as an 11-race maiden. However, dig a little deeper in the pedigree and there's enough there to suggest that he could prove a shrewd buy at just 5,000gns. This colt is Destacado's first foal, but she in turn is a half-sister to four-black type performers, including the Listed winners Redolent (Ire) (Redback {GB}) and Pepita (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire})–the dam of last month's G2 Lowther Stakes heroine Celandine (GB) (Kingman {GB})–plus the G3 Albany Stakes third Illaunglass (Ire) (Red Clubs {Ire}). Every inch a two-year-old, lot 92 could be the type to emulate Pont Neuf (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}), who won one of the first juvenile races of the season after being picked up by the same team–Anthony Bromley of Highflyer and Eve Johnson Houghton–for 24,000gns at this sale 12 months ago.

Golden Touch

Ruairi Kilmartin would have been the obvious way to go, but the team at North Fordon Farm also deserve a mention for the job they did with their Ubettabelieveit (Ire) filly who went the way of Rabbah Bloodstock for 62,000gns. Successful pinhooks to report were otherwise in relatively short supply on the day, so it's worth shining a light on the story of lot 189, a mere 12,000gns purchase at last year's Tattersalls December Foal Sale. She was sold on that occasion by Mickley Stud who would still have been celebrating this result for their first-season sire who stands at a fee of just £5,000.