FABILIS set a new record for the Tattersalls August Sale when selling for 350,000 guineas during the second and final session, while two more sons of champion sire Galileo will head to Australia for Darby Racing.
Whilst the sale is only in its second year, the price eclipsed the 220,000 guineas set at last year’s inaugural sale. The clearance rate on the second day was an extraordinary 94% whilst the turnover was more than double yesterday’s opening session, taking the sale proceeds to more than 5,000,000 guineas. The combined turnover for the Tattersalls July Sale and August Sale was almost 18 million guineas, well above last year’s July and August combined turnover of 14,371,300 guineas.
Fabilis Sets New August Sale Record
The Juddmonte Farms consigned and Ralph Beckett trained FABILIS set a new record at the Tattersalls August Sale when knocked down to Peter Doyle for 350,000 guineas on behalf of Prince Najd.
The triple winning son of FRANKEL was victorious on his most recent start at Newmarket just five days ago and was offered with a Timeform rating of 104.
"He is for Prince Najd, a very long established client," said Doyle. "I bought for his family many years ago. He is a lovely horse, I didn't think he'd make that much, but lots of people liked him. He comes from a very good operation, it is always nice to buy a horse from Juddmonte. The horse passed all the vets very well.
"The immediate plan will be to go and race in Saudi Arabia and aim for the Crown Prince Cup. We have had some success in the race before."
Competition for the three-year-old colt was fierce and included buyers from Australia and throughout the Gulf region.
De Burgh Secures Ballydoyle Duo for Darby Racing
Hubie De Burgh secured the Ballydoyle Stables pair of Listed fourth IOWA and the placed FATHER’S DAY for 100,000 guineas and 80,000 guineas respectively. The pair are both by the late Champion stallion GALILEO and were bought on behalf of Australian syndicator Darby Racing.
Both are heading to Australia and De Burgh outlined the onward plans and purchasing strategy for the two colts.
"They are both going to Darby Racing," he said. "They’re not making any more Galileos and they love them down there. Aidan O’Brien does all the hard work for us; we take them down there and they are just ready to run and they win!
"Iowa is obviously a more exposed runner, but another Galileo with a huge page. His better runs have been more recently as he has gone further in distance and he is just nailed on for Australia. He is going to be a 1m4f horse over there. His run against Masterofreality, who was second in the Melbourne Cup and got disqualified, was pretty good so for that sort of money."
De Burgh added: "Buying these sort of horses at auction is much better value for us than if you went to buy them privately. Scott Darby of Darby Racing has done incredibly well with what he has done, but he likes the auction process as he feels that we’re buying them at better value. I don’t know who will train them but they will go to Sydney as that is where Darby Racing is based.
"We had Spirit Ridge and Harpo Marx who came from Tattersalls a couple of years ago and they were first and second in a Group race on Saturday, so why would you change the process if it is working? They will go to very good trainers, be well looked after and hopefully will do well."
Chairman's Statement
At the conclusion of the 2021 Tattersalls August Sale, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony commented;
"Last year’s inaugural Tattersalls August Sale, which was born out of Covid - related disruption to the racing calendar, was a huge success and the second renewal has returned figures which suggest that the fixture very much has a long-term future.
"With the recent July Sale returning to its customary numbers the August catalogue was significantly smaller than last year, but the vibrance and extraordinary level of international participation which are the hallmarks of sales of this nature at Tattersalls have been in evidence from start to finish. Buyers from throughout Europe, the Gulf region, Australia and the USA have added to the strong domestic participation and we have yet again hosted a sale which has achieved a clearance rate in excess of 90% and generated sustained demand in all sectors of the market.
"Equally pleasing has been the fact that the August Sale has seen a return almost to normality after more than a year of staging sales which have been hampered by Covid - related protocols. It has been a real pleasure to have welcomed so many people back to Park Paddocks as we turn our attention to the Tattersalls yearling sales season starting with the Somerville Yearling Sale next week."
