High Pressure

Don’t dilly-dally on the way to the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 1 in Newmarket, for there could be early blockbusters.

Lot 15 is a Frankel full-brother to last year’s 4,400,000gns sale-topping filly out of Group 2 winner Aljazzi, while Lot 20 is another son of Juddmonte’s mighty stallion out of Alwilda, the dam of  Arc winner Alpinista (also by Frankel) and whose 2024 yearling filly changed hands for 2,500,000gns. Staff from Newsells Park Stud and Staffordstown respectively will be at the Park Paddocks complex from first light to ready this pair of potential stars.

They are but two yearlings of intrigue in a catalogue containing 537 lots, an increase of 88 on last year’s record breaking sale at which turnover reached nearly 128 million guineas, up a third on the  previous year and complemented by average and median prices which soared  into new territory at 370,000gns and 250,000gns.

Meanwhile, at Goffs in Ireland, this year’s Orby Sale comprises 466 yearlings, 53 fewer than 12 months ago when turnover of just over €51 million was down five per cent, yet some heavy hitting  transactions saw the average price rise four per cent to €128,000. Not that the Orby and October Sales are purely about statistics. They are an opportunity to see some strikingly good- looking future racehorses, to spot some of racing’s most influential players and to analyse their buying preferences. The bidding jousts which ensue are rarely dull.

Book 1’s turnover figure could be toppled this year given the catalogue’s added bulk, albeit the size is merely returning to that offered in the first four years of this decade, and with siblings to 50 Classic or Group/Grade 1 winners and 264 Group or Listed winners there is plenty for buyers, not to mention pedigree connoisseurs, to digest. Horses offered at the auction are eligible for the Tattersalls Book 1 bonus.  Twelve months ago, eight Book 1 yearlings made 2,000,000gns or more, and five have full-siblings in this year’s catalogue. In addition to Aljazzi’s and Alwilda’s yearlings, there is a colt (Lot 157) out of Futoon whose Dark Angel filly sold for 2,900,000gns last year, and a Camelot filly (Lot 406) whose full-sister out of Sense Of Style reached the same valuation. Ace racemare Lady Bowthorpe, whose Dubawi colt made 2,000,000gns last year, is represented by his brother (Lot 218) this year.

Orby graduates from its Book 1 and 2 auctions can also chase a handy sweetener in the form of the Goffs Two Millions Series. Last year, the Orby contained two horses who made a seven figure sum, namely a Frankel colt from Croom House Stud, who was knocked down for €2,000,000, and a daughter of the same sire who left the Staffordstown draft valued at €1,000,000. Godolphin bought both lots, and, while neither has a sibling in this year’s catalogue, two mares who produced top-six horses are represented. Bloomfield, whose Blue Point filly made €850,000, is the dam of a full-brother (Lot 51) consigned by Church View Stables, while Falling Petals’ New Bay filly (Lot 130) from Ballylinch Stud is a half-sister to a Lope De Vega colt who sold for €750,000 in 2024.

New sires, new interest

Stock from proven mares and stallions will command peak prices, but there will be no less interest in the progeny of first-season sires. If a new sire’s stock is deemed good-looking and athletic, it will fuel interest in their foals who will be offered later in the year.

With just 12 Britain or Ireland-based sires to choose from, getting around their stock will not be as arduous as in the past, and it is likely that Shadwell’s Baaeed will top more lists than any other freshman when it comes to viewing their yearlings. He sired 23 catalogued lots in Book 1 – the other newcomers have 26 between them – and 22 in Book 2, plus three in the Orby.

Top sprinter Minzaal, also from the Shadwell roster, has six in Book 1, 29 in Book 2, 12 in the Orby and seven in Orby’s Book 2, while Coolmore Stud’s fast and early two-year-old Blackbeard is also well represented with nine and 15 in Books 1 and 2, and 13 and 4 in Orby’s two catalogues. Yearlings by the adored stayer Stradivarius will attract fans, and with two Book 1 lots, three in Book 2 and one at the Orby, his stock will have a rarity value which could help their valuations.

Summer sales a good omen

Record-shattering yearling trade at Fasig-Tipton’s Saratoga Sale in early August and Arqana’s subsequent August auction in Deauville were good omens for forthcoming sales offering the cream of Britain and Ireland’s embryonic racers, and with US buyers active in France, the fear of American tariffs affecting trade have been quelled.

American buyers do not scrape the barrel to buy a horse, and so an additional ten or 15 per cent tariff on a choice lot is unlikely to prove a major game-changer.

Asked if tariffs and general shipping costs impact trade at auctions such as Books 1, 2 and Orby, BBA Managing Director Kevin Needham says: “At that level, no. It probably affects trade at a lower level.” Regarding the ructions over red tape and costs that arose out of Brexit, Needham says: “It’s stabilised. We’ve sorted the VAT situation in the UK and Ireland has fallen into line. However, we’re stuck with health certificates imposed by the EU – and that hasn’t improved in the past five years – and the French still require carnets [document that allows temporary export and import
of goods] which cost £500 minimum.”

He adds: “The important thing is to place the right horse in the right sale, and if that means bringing a yearling from Ireland to sell at Tattersalls, that is what vendors will do.”

 

Time for more Partying

Newsells Park Stud, which led consignors at Book 1 last year, offers a Frankel full-brother out of Aljazzi to the 4,400,000gns top lot at that sale. He is among a draft of 29 from the stud at Book 1 and 31 at Book 2.

The mare’s 2024 sale-topper was sold to Amo Racing and has been named Partying, but at the time of going to press had yet to race. Julian Dollar, Newsells Park’s general manager and on the  cusp of his 20th year of selling yearlings from the Hertfordshire-based farm, acknowledges he is in the happy position of being able to offer some lovely lots, yet he sounds a note of caution, when saying: “I’m hoping the market is going to remain buoyant, but I can’t help thinking the comments of Mike Repole will have had some resonance.”

Speaking after making some heavy investments at Saratoga, leading US racehorse owner Repole said his country’s racing structure was failing, leading to “an overpriced, exclusive game where the rich get richer and the middle and lower markets die”.

In the same vein, but in connection  with forthcoming elite yearling sales, Dollar says: “One senses trade will be strong at the top, with new investors, especially from the Middle East, helping to keep momentum going, but it could be soft in the middle to lower end of the market. You have to have top-end horses, and as I say to Graham [Smith-Bernal,the owner of Newsells Park Stud], trade is like a round of golf with some bogeys and some birdies and you hope to finish under par and in front.

“In December of the weanling year I make a rough valuation of what I think the horses might make as yearlings, and I’ve learned that the really good ones will make more than you expect and the okay ones will make less.

“Last year we had a really strong consignment for Book 1 and the figures were very good, but we take nothing for granted.”

That “strong consignment” enabled Newsells Park to trade 26 lots at Book 1 for 17,185,000gns at an average price of nearly 661,000gns, stellar stuff by a stud which has a top-class broodmare band of its own in addition to mares owned by clients. Those patrons include the father-daughter team of John and Tanya Gunther, who last year sold a colt at Book 2 by their stallion Without Parole – one of four sires standing at Newsells Park – who has turned out to be a rather special two-year-old. Bought for 35,000gns by Mick and Janice Mariscotti through Anthony Bromley of  Highflyer Bloodstock and named Zavateri, he is unbeaten in three starts at up to Group 2 level for Eve Johnson Houghton’s stable.

This year, the Gunthers are offering Zavateri’s half-sister by Ghaiyyath (Lot 534) at Book 1, and Dollar says: “Ghaiyyath is a solid young stallion whose horses are going to get better with age, as he did. Zavateri’s dam, Zeroua [a granddaughter of brilliant Zarkava], was an inspired purchase by Tanya with help from Mark McStay.”

Despite his years of experience, Dollar says: “I learned a lot about horses from Zavateri last year. He was a Christian as a yearling and willing to do everything we asked, but when he arrived at the pre-sale ring he became very stressed and upset. I’ve not seen a horse be so badly affected, and it probably cost him a few potential bidders, but look what he’s done on the racecourse.”

Has Aljazzi produced a second consecutive Book 1 sale-topper? Dollar says of her Frankel yearling colt: “He’s a big strong horse with an athletic walk, but he’s a later developing type who, to my eye, will be a ten- to 12-furlong horse. It will be interesting to see how he develops in the lead-up to the sale.”

Two other Newsells Park yearlings to note – although you could add plenty more – include a Dubawi half-sister to six winners headed by Arc hero Waldgeist (Lot 508) out of Waldlerche – “one of our best mares” – and a daughter of Frankel (Lot 411) out of She’s Got You, a stakes winning half-sister to Without Parole and Tarmarkuz. Without Parole’s full-brother Rebel Red finished second in August’s Grade 1 Sword Dancer Stakes.

Other Book 1 yearlings related to high achievers of 2025 include Roundhill Stud’s Ghaiyyath half-sister to Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes winner Field Of Gold (Lot 341), and the
Baroda Stud-consigned Too Darn Hot colt (Lot 302), who is a half-brother to nine-time Group 1 winner Via Sistina.

Ten years ago, Bobby and Honora Donworth attempted to sell Field Of Gold’s homebred dam Princess De Lune at Book 1, but the daughter of Shamardal was returned to her vendor at  300,000gns, a twist of fate with profitable consequences.

Princess De Lune has since become a top-quality breeder, the Donworths having sold three offspring for six-figure sums, headed by Field Of Gold, who made €530,000 as a foal.

More ammo from Amo?

While Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin was leading buyer at last year’s Book 1 (18 lots for 22 million guineas) and Orby (seven lots for €5.27 million), that was not unexpected. Few could have foreseen the impact that Kia Joorabchian of Amo Racing, working in partnerships, would have, for he invested nearly 20 million guineas on 17 horses at Book 1 and was a key underbidder on other lots.

He maintained momentum at the recent Arqana August Sale when buying the €3,000,000 top lot, a filly by Night Of Thunder.

Bloodstock agent Alex Elliott has become Amo’s front man at auction rings, although he emphasises: “I am just part of a team who buys horses for Amo, and there is important input from Robson [Aguiar], Ben McElroy and Kia himself. This year has been a new start for Amo, which until recently was synonymous with early two-year-olds. At last year’s yearling sales we bought later-developing types, and Kia is realistic about that, while there has been a trainer switch at [Amo Racing’s] Freemason Lodge with Kevin [Philippart De Foy] taking over and getting to know the
place.

“We didn’t hit the mark with two year-olds at Royal Ascot, but Amo won the first Group 1 two-year-old race of the season, the Phoenix Stakes [with Goffs Premier Yearling purchase Power Blue], and we’re in a good position.”

Elliott, whose clients also include Valmont and Ralph Beckett, says of his pre-yearling sales season plans: “I’ll look through the catalogues, but when you knuckle down it’s about the physical – a  piece of paper doesn’t run – and I always like to find the horse before I start speaking to people, be they owners or trainers. Hopefully a lot of horses are going to be bought, but after last year’s Book 1, we have to expect the market to be strong.”

Amo Racing has hopes of more to come from two-year-old winner Ancient Egypt, who was bred by Zhang Yuesheng’s Yulong Investments and consigned last year by David and Tamso Cox’s  Baroda Stud. In 2024, it finished second on the list of consignors at both Orby (23 sold for €2,900,000) and Book 1 (16 for close to 6,500,000gns).

Manager Padraic Gahan says excellent yearling trade at Saratoga was a good omen for sales that lie ahead, as is success on the track for those owners who will be potential buyers at Tattersalls and Goffs. Speaking ahead of Arqana’s August Yearling Sale in Deauville, he said it too would have a bearing.

Baroda is selling the Too Darn Hot half-brother to Via Sistina (Lot 302) on behalf of Yulong, and Gahan said of the colt: “He’s here on the farm and a very obvious one to talk about. The physical matches the pedigree and Too Darn Hot is in a rich vein of form.”

Qirat’s 150-1 success in the Sussex Stakes will long be remembered for its shock value, but it will have done no harm to the value of a Baroda-consigned Camelot filly (Lot 40) at Tattersalls from his family. The stud also gets an early feel for the market at the Orby when offering a Teofilo filly as the second lot, and at Book 1 where it consigns a daughter of Frankel as Lot 3.

Gahan says of the Frankel: “She’s a half-sister to Derby runner-up Madhmoon and hopefully she will get our sale off to a good start.

“We have plenty of sire power among the horses we’re consigning with stallions such as Frankel, Justify, Night Of Thunder, Mehmas, Havana Grey and Wootton Bassett. Their progeny are in such demand. At Orby, we have a filly by Wootton Bassett out of the Irish 1000 Guineas winner Hermosa – the dam of this year’s Grand Prix de Paris runner up Trinity College – and we are also offering two yearlings from the first crop of Baaeed. Our Book 2 consignment includes a Ghaiyyath half-brother to Derby runner-up Ambiente Friendly (Lot 1152) and a Calyx filly (Lot 824) who is a half-sister to Shes Perfect, who was first past the post in the French Guineas.”

Believing in Book 2

Top racing performances reflect well on a consignor, and in that regard Believing has been a fine advertisement for Baroda Stud, which sold the now five-year-old mare for 70,000gns at Book 2 in 2021.

Victory at the top level in this year’s Al Quoz Sprint put a seal on Believing’s career and makes her a poster girl for the auction at which she made her public debut, while Ombudsman, Dubai  Honour and Romantic Warrior (the earner of a mere £21 million in prize-money) have been other Group 1 winners this year who entered racing via Book 2.

The aforementioned unbeaten two year-old Zavateri – a 35,000gns Book 2 buy – is doing his bit to maintain the sale’s profile, although he was never going to feature on the top-ten board. A yearling had to make 500,000gns to appear on that list, and there was also a first Book 2 seven-figure sale involving a Kameko colt bought by Godolphin. High priced horses pushed the average  price into six figures for the first time, while a 92 per cent clearance rate was just what vendors wanted.

A total of 812 yearlings have been lined up for Book 2, 39 more than a year ago, and they include full or half-siblings to 206 Group or Listed winners, plus the offspring of 119 Group and Listed-winning mares. At Orby’s Book 2, a cast of 433 lots has been catalogued.

Bryans enter new world

Willie and Mandy Bryan of Shropshire’s Worthen Hall Stables can walk into Doncaster and be a familiar face to staff, other vendors and buyers.

Their domain has been the National Hunt game and they are no strangers to a six-figure horse, but in October they join first-time vendors at the October Sales when offering a single yearling at each of the three books. A Mehmas half-sister to top sprinter Oxted out of Charlotte Rosina (Lot 80) is being consigned at Book 1 on behalf of breeder Barry Greening and friends, while at Book 2 they offer a Starman colt (Lot 1338) who was bought as a pinhook for a syndicate run from Worthen Hall.

The Bryans did much of the prep work on Charlotte Rosina’s 2024 Blue Point yearling, but he was sent to WH Bloodstock for his appearance at Book 1 where he was sold for 420,000gns. This year the Bryans will take the mare’s latest yearling all the way to the ring – which will include a fairly lengthy walk up from Tattersalls’ EE yard.

Willie Bryan, uncle to jockeys Sean and James Bowen, says his own jockey son Josh was a factor in this move into consigning Flat horses. He says: “Josh was with Andrew Balding for seven years
and he would tell us which stallions were coming through and which were popular with trainers. Then we started going to sales to match that up with seeing stallions’ progeny.

“As with the National Hunt side of our business we didn’t want to do something just to keep us busy, and while this is a new venture we have long specialised in producing foals straight off the are and conditioning them mentally and physically until they are ready to be sold or go to a trainer.”