At A Glance
Turnover soared by 32 per cent to 9,225,000 gns (AU$17.8 million) from 7,014,800 gns (AU$13.6 million), also eclipsing the 8,532,700 gns (AU$16.5 million) banked in 2019.
With a bigger catalogue for this session, however, that translated into an average 39,225 gns (AU$76,000), up 16 per cent from 33,888 gns (AU$66,000) last year while just shy of 40,826 gns (AU$79,000) in 2019.
The median rallied to 30,000 gns (AU$58,000) from 25,000 gns (AU$48,000), not quite matching 33,000 gns (AU$64,000) in 2019.
A Sea The Stars (Ire) filly topped the day's trade at 225,000 gns (AU$420,000) purchased by Blandford Bloodstock's Richard Brown.
The Thought That Counts
It's not often that the top price of the day looks equally good business for buyer and vendor alike, but that was arguably the case with the Sea The Stars (Ire) filly who topped the day's trade at 225,000 gns (AU$420,000).
After all, her sire stands at €150,000 (AU$236,000) and you can put an additional premium on foaling and raising a healthy foal to stride out as purposefully as did Lot 691. To that extent, the clients of purchaser Richard Brown are entitled to feel that their investment looks very fair value as things stand. For Whatton Manor Stud, even so, this was an authentic “touch”, as the foal-share launch of a very young mare.
“It's quite a good story,” explained Ed Player. “We'd had a good yearling sale, and we always say to Richard that if he sees a future broodmare prospect anywhere, that we are always in the market.
“We'd had a good yearling sale, and we always say to Richard that if he sees a future broodmare prospect anywhere, that we are always in the market." - Ed Player
"And he found this lovely filly in Book 3 from Newsells, and he immediately thought, 'I'll have some of that money back off the Players!' So we bought her for 20,000 gns (AU$37,000) and sent her to Mark Johnston. He thought she was quite useful, but she got injured after one run. We retired her, and it has now all come full circle.”
Reflecting on her elite maiden cover, Player noted that Best Terms (GB) (Exceed And Excel) had promptly produced Star Terms (GB) by Sea The Stars to become a Group 1-placed Listed winner, among plenty of other stakes action.
“The pedigree was very current,” he reasoned. “Things were happening in the family, and she's a lovely individual, so we thought we had better give her the best chance we could. Obviously the Sea The Stars filly out of Best Terms topped Book 1 at 1,500,000 gns (AU$2.8 million), so other people are thinking that works pretty nicely as well.
Ed Player | Image courtesy of Tattersalls
“Sadly, the mare is not in foal, but we'll enjoy the moment. We're absolutely over the moon, flabbergasted. She'd been very popular, vetted a lot of times, and we hoped she'd make up to the 200,000 gns (AU$373,000) mark. But to actually get it, we couldn't be happier.”
French Target Petches Draft
This auction owes much of its impetus to pinhookers but this was a day when plenty of end-users saw the merit of “cutting out the middle man”. Among them was a familiar face to the Australian market, Arthur Hoyeau, who gave 110,000 gns (AU$213,000) for a filly from the first crop of Magna Grecia (Ire) (Lot 595). This is a new strategy for the French agent, whose clients have clearly decided that a year's keep will ultimately represent a saving.
Arthur Hoyeau | Image courtesy of Tattersalls
“She is to race, she'll go to the owner's farm in France,” Hoyeau explained. “We were looking for fillies, it's been tough to buy yearlings this year so we're trying to find a bit of value, to buy some foals and get them into the system.
"They may eventually be bred from, we'll have to see how good they are, but buying as foals is really a response to the strength of the yearling market more than anything. This is a lovely, scopey filly, a good mover, with a good mix of (grandsire) Invincible Spirit and (damsire) Fastnet Rock.”
Consigned by Petches Farm, all three of the farm's draft in this session will cross the Channel, as Hoyeau also gave 45,000 gns (AU$84,000) for its Calyx (GB) filly (Lot 597) while Fairway Partners went to 80,000 gns (AU$150,000) for the colt offered in between, a Masar (Ire) half-brother (Lot 596) to the stakes-placed dam of those hardy stayers Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) and Sir Ron Priestley (GB) (Australia {GB}).
Lot 595 - Magna Grecia (Ire) x She's So Flawless (Ire) (filly) purchased by Arthur Hoyeau | Image courtesy of Tattersalls
Simon Venner, whose father Paul owns the farm, was delighted with their export trade. “The Magna Grecia filly has been stunning since day one, knockout, very straightforward,” he said. “We got her into prep and she never put a foot wrong. Every time she came out of the box, she just marched around.
“The Calyx has a lovely temperament, again she just came out and walked, just lovely and relaxed.”
“The Calyx (Lot 597) has a lovely temperament, again she just came out and walked, just lovely and relaxed.” - Simon Venner
Magna Grecia, incidentally, returned another handsome yield on his €22,500 (AU$35,500) start-up fee when Tom Malone gave 100,000 gns (AU$187,000) for Lot 649, a March colt from Glashare House Stud.
Another playing a longer game was Harry Fowler in giving 105,000 gns (AU$196,000) for the first foal, a filly by Coolmore's soaraway Wootton Bassett (GB), out of Italian Listed winner Lorelei Rock (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) on behalf of Alex Frost's Ladyswood Stud.
“Ladyswood is looking for some fillies to race, and we loved this one, she has a great action,” Fowler said after signing the docket for Lot 668.
Lot 668 - Wootton Bassett (GB) x Lorelei Rock (Ire) (filly) purchased by Harry Fowler | Image courtesy of Tattersalls
“The mare was fourth in a Group 2 in Ireland, she was class, and she was early type: she won on her debut, in the May of her 2-year-old season. Alex is looking for a couple of fillies to go back and join the broodmare band, if they are good enough.”
