The first day of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale got off to a strong start, with six lots selling for 300,000 guineas or more led by a SEA THE STARS colt who topped the opening session at 800,000 guineas, the highest price at the sale since 2019 and the third highest priced colt in the history of the fixture.
Sea The Stars Colt the Headline Act at 800,000 Guineas for Marner
Following the unparalleled demand for yearlings by DUBAWI and FRANKEL at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, it was the turn of another European ‘super-sire’ to claim the headlines. A son of SEA THE STARS provided the highlight of the opening session when selling for 800,000 guineas to Anthony Stroud of Stroud Coleman Bloodstock.
Bids came thick and fast from around the ring for the Windmill Farm consigned colt with trainer Charlie Fellowes, stood alongside Will Douglass, raising the price above half a million guineas before Stroud and eventual underbidder MV Magnier settled into a protracted duel with the former prevailing.
The successful purchaser commented: "He is a very good-looking horse with a good pedigree. The nick works quite well with the Shamardal mare, and also you have Al Aasy, by Sea The Stars, in the family too. He’ll be trained by John Gosden for a long-established client."
The colt is out of KITCARINA, a daughter of SHAMARDAL and Listed winner KITCAT and a full-sister to the dam of Group 1 Coronation Cup second AL AASY, from the family of European Champion PENTIRE. The sale is the best yearling price achieved by consignor Fiona Marner’s Windmill Farm, who commented:
"We bought the mare and since her purchase the pedigree has just really developed. Her full-sister Kitcara became the dam of Al Aasy and this colt has been so special all along. We have a lot to thank John Clarke for as we had the foal share to Sea The Stars, and the mare is back in-foal to the sire, carrying a colt. It is just fabulous to have such a good first foal out of her."
Marner continued: "He has done so well in the last month, every day he keeps improving and he just loves his work and has a wonderful temperament. It is such a team effort, we are just a tiny farm, we only have five young mares. The mare is owned with two very long-standing and loyal partners, Derek James, who is in America, and Peter Wollaston."
BBA Ireland Strike for Frankel Colt at 700,000 Guineas
The appetite for progeny of the Champion sire FRANKEL showed no sign of abating in the second week of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, and the sole offering by the sire on the day was the subject of a fierce bidding battle between agent Will Douglass and an online bidder. Douglass made a bold attempt to secure the colt with a leap to 600,000 guineas from 500,000, but the online bidder responded and was not to be denied, eventually winning out at 700,000 guineas.
Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland was the agent bidding online and commented:
"The colt is by the sire of the moment. Frankel is doing everything on the racetrack and in the sales ring - the two hottest sires are top and bottom of the pedigree as he is out of a Dubawi mare. This colt is a great individual and wouldn't have looked out of place in Book 1. We are surprised by the price we had to give, it was our last bid, but we are delighted to have got him."
The colt is out of the DUBAWI mare QAWS, a half-sister to Group 1 Prix de l’Opera placed HADAATHA and was consigned by the Swinburn family's Genesis Green Stud.
Michael Swinburn said: "He came to us this time last year. It is a nice page and it is a hell of a cross. During prep he has just gone 'whoop' and turned into a Dubawi with a Frankel walk. He is just a beautiful horse to deal with, as most Frankels are. I am delighted with the price."
White Birch Secure Yeomanstown’s Imposing Sea The Moon Colt
Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm was at the fore of the buyers’ sheet at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, purchasing thirteen lots in partnership with MV Magnier and two lots independently, and he added three further purchases to that list on the opening day through Michel Zerolo’s Oceanic Bloodstock.
The highest priced of those was Yeomanstown Stud’s imposing SEA THE MOON colt, with Michel Zerolo finally seeing off the attentions of persistent underbidder Karl Burke, sitting with daughter Kelly Burke on the stairs, with a bid of 410,000 guineas. Dwayne Woods, Daniel Creighton, Jake Warren, Joseph O’Brien and Anthony Stroud were all involved in trying to secure the regally bred colt.
"He’ll go to Jean-Claude Rouget for Mr Brant,” said successful bidder Zerolo, who was seated beside the trainer. When asked to expand on what appealed about the colt, he said: "Pretty much everything. He’s got a fine page and it’s a pedigree we know well in France. He comes from a very good family developed by Andreas Putsch and Sea The Moon is most definitely a serious stallion."
"He is an exceptional colt, as good a yearling as I have produced for any sale this year," said David O'Callaghan of Yeomanstown Stud. "He was exceptional, a beautifully balanced horse with bay/black points, a beautiful mover and very correct. I don't think there was a man or woman on the sale ground who did not admire him. He has gone to a great owner and I hope he does very well with him. I hope the horse he is as good as he looks."
The colt is out of the INVINCIBLE SPIRIT mare PEARLY SPIRIT, a sister to last month’s emphatic Group 1 Matron Stakes winner PEARLS GALORE and a granddaughter of the Group 1 Prix Vermeille winner PEARLY SHELLS and provided the Yeomanstown Stud team with a remarkable pinhook, after they purchased him for 110,000 guineas at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale.
O’Callaghan added: "We got a good update in the second dam with Pearls Galore, it just gives more credibility to an already good family."
Twomey Strikes for Lope de Vega Filly at 375,000 Guineas
Trainer Paddy Twomey has enjoyed a banner season with a breakthrough Group 1 success by LA PETITE COCO in the Pretty Polly Stakes followed swiftly by a second courtesy of PEARLS GALORE in the Matron Stakes, and he will be hoping Hillwood Stud’s LOPE DE VEGA filly follows in their footsteps having purchased her for 375,000 guineas, the top priced filly on the opening day.
Paddy Twomey, who was bidding from the seats, revealed: "She is a nice filly and by a top stallion in Lope de Vega. She is out of a good Teofilo mare, her two siblings are Stakes horses already and I am delighted to have her. She is for an existing owner and will make a very nice broodmare when she has finished racing."
He added: "Last week was hard work, we bought one filly and have been sent two more, but it was harder to compete. I went home on Wednesday and said to the guys that we'd regroup and come back this week."
It was a second good result on the opening day for Hillwood Stud following the sale of their SHOWCASING colt to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for 260,000 guineas, and a delighted Charlie Vigors commented:
"Moi Meme has been a fantastic mare for us; she has been successful in the sale ring and on the racecourse, and the racecourse being the ultimate place. It is great, she was a very good racemare herself and is from a good family, she ticked the boxes for us when we bought her and she has repaid us well."
All of MOI MEME’s foals to date have been by LOPE DE VEGA, with yearling sales of 200,000 guineas, 350,000 guineas, 900,000 guineas and 160,000 guineas to date in addition to today’s sale, and three winners from three runners. Her first foal CAPITAL STRUCTURE was second in Grade 3 company for Chad Brown and Klaravich Stables in the USA on her most recent start, and her second foal KING VEGA, runner up in the Group 3 Solario Stakes as a two-year-old, has also enjoyed racetrack success Stateside winning a Stakes race this summer for trainer Graham Motion.
Vigors revealed that MOI MEME had visited pastures new this season: "She is actually in-foal to Night Of Thunder, we thought we'd have a change of scenery for a year! Obviously the two horses are doing well in the USA, and Hugo Merry [who bought MOI MEME’s yearling at the 2021 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale] was underbidder today so I hope that is testament to what they think of this year's two-year-old."
MOI MEME is not the first member of her family whose progeny have shown an aptitude for racing in the USA, her half-sister PARLE MOI is the dam of multiple Grade 2 winner PUBLIC SECTOR.
Derby Winning Team Secure New Bay Colt for 325,000 Guineas
The back cover of this year’s October Book 2 catalogue is testament to the success that Saeed Suhail and Blandford Bloodstock’s Richard Brown have enjoyed from the sale, purchasing this year’s Derby winner DESERT CROWN for 280,000 guineas from Strawberry Fields Stud in 2020, and they struck at 325,000 guineas for a NEW BAY colt consigned by Gillon Bloodstock.
Richard Brown commented: "He is smashing colt physically and I am a big fan of the stallion, I think he is going places. Any son of Dubawi you have to take very seriously, and he is doing it. We passed on a couple of horses earlier on today, he is the one we really wanted. We are delighted to get him. He is for Saeed Suhail who is here and will be here all week."
Brown continued: "We bought a couple last week and obviously this sale was very lucky for us a couple of years ago. This is the first time since I have been buying for Saeed that he has stayed for Book 2, but he was keen to be here this week. Hopefully we can get a few more nice horses and see if we can be lucky again! We will work out training plans once the week is over – Saeed makes all the decisions with racing manager Bruce Raymond. I am sure any trainer would be delighted to have this horse."
The colt is a half-brother to dual Group 3 winner PSYCHEDELIC FUNK and two-time Listed winner GALE FORCE MAYA out of the GALILEO mare PARABOLA and was consigned by Chris Gillon’s Gillon Bloodstock. Previously stud manager at the late Duke of Roxburghe’s Floors Stud, Gillon is no stranger to consigning high quality bloodstock and has established his own consignment business at Floors Castle:
"As a consignor it is fantastic to do that in only our second year and our first time at Book 2 as Gillon Bloodstock. It is extra special and just to be back here consigning good horses is what it is all about. Breeders Joanna and Malcolm Imray are just ten miles from Floors, they loved the colt and sent him to us in February. He has done nothing but improve, right up until he got into that ring. It has all come together, everyone at home has worked really hard with his prep and it has paid off.
"He was always a really nice type, strong and always looked like he was going to be a racehorse and always good to deal with. He has been very popular here, he sold himself, showed himself off and looked a million dollars."
He concluded: "When I was with the late Duke we were always here in Book 1 and Book 2, and just to be here as Gillon Bloodstock at Floors Stud is fantastic. To get back selling in the good books, consigning good quality horses, that is what it is all about. It is where we want to be. I was with the late Duke for ten years and that is where I learnt my trade."
Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale continues at 10am on Tuesday, 11th October.
