Opportunity knocks for Aussie buyers at Tattersalls December Mares Sale

Cover image courtesy of Tattersalls

Having sold Marsha (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) for 6,000,000gns (AU$12 million) in 2017, the Tattersalls December Mares Sale still holds the record for the highest-priced horse ever sold at a European auction, and last year’s edition of the four-day extravaganza saw more records tumble.

The inaugural Sceptre Sessions propelled the auction to achieve the highest-grossing day in European sales history, with a number of Australian-based buyers - spearheaded by Yulong’s purchase of the 5,400,000gns (AU$10.8 million) top lot Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never {USA}) - helping to generate a record turnover of over 54,000,000gns (AU$108 million) on the second day of trade.

Even after a year which has seen the progeny of mares purchased at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale win an astonishing 34 Group 1 races worldwide, Singh feels that it will be almost impossible to match last year’s record-breaking figures, despite having assembled another star-studded catalogue for 2023.

“I think it would be optimistic in the extreme to think that we were able to match a day like we had last year, just because it was so extraordinary,” Singh told The Thoroughbred Report.

“All that said, I do think that we have a very good catalogue this year. The number of Sceptre lots this year is a little bit smaller, but the quality at the top is still very good.

“Like always going into a sale like this, we are cautiously optimistic.”

Rarest of offerings

There wasn’t a spare seat in the house when the first lot entered the Tattersalls sale ring during last year’s inaugural Sceptre Session, and with another stellar lineup headlining this year’s catalogue, it is likely to be a similar scenario this time around.

The late addition of wildcard offering Kensea (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) will go a long way to ensuring that happens, with the Listed-winning mare having already produced French Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Sealiway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) and his fellow Group 1-winning brother Sunway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}), the latter of which ended his juvenile season with victory in last month’s G1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud.

The only dam of two Group 1 winners to be offered for sale anywhere in the world this year, the remarkable Kensea will be offered in foal to the Aga Khan Studs' blue-blooded Group 1-producing sire Zarak (Fr) as Lot 1825 and will be consigned by Ballyhimikin Stud on behalf of Haras de Colleville.

In addition to a host of well-credentialled proven mares, of which Kensea is undoubtedly the highlight, the two Sceptre Sessions are packed to the rafters with high-class racing and breeding prospects, spearheaded by no less than six individual Group 1 winners off the track.

That sextet, which includes G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Lezoo (GB) (Zoustar), G1 1000 Guineas heroine Cachet (Ire) (Acclaim {Ire}) and G1 Pretty Polly S. winner Via Sistina (Ire) (Fastnet Rock), all of whom have obvious appeal to the Australian market, presents buyers with opportunity to source some of the brightest young broodmare prospects in Europe, an opportunity that shouldn’t be passed up in the eyes of Singh.

“Cachet is the first 1000 Guineas winner to be sold as a filly in training at the December Sale for about 35 years, so that is a unique opportunity for people to secure such a high-class filly,” he said.

“You only have to look at the history of 1000 Guineas winners and see what an important role they have played in the broodmare and pedigree sphere down the years to realise that a filly like this coming on the market is a rare opportunity indeed.

“Then we’ve got a mare like Via Sistina, who won her Group 1 during the year and probably only enhanced her value when finishing second in the Champions Stakes on Champions Day, with the jockey having dropped the whip a furlong and a half from home.

“All of these horses are not only great broodmare prospects, but great racing prospects as well.”

With that in mind, Singh was quick to urge Australian trainers, as well as breeders, to give the Tattersalls December Mares Sale catalogue serious consideration.

You need only look at the deeds of Rogue Millennium (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), this year’s G2 Duke Of Cambridge S. winner at Royal Ascot, who was purchased at this auction in 2021 by J S Bloodstock for just 35,000gns (AU$70,300) from the Shadwell draft as a horse out of training.

“What is interesting is that, whilst it is a breeding stock sale, there are 450 fillies in and out of training catalogued, of which 85 are Group or Listed performers,” Singh said.

“When you look at the amount of horses that Australian buyers bought at the recent Autumn Horses in Training Sale, they accounted for 45 lots for approximately six million guineas, so there is no reason why Australian trainers shouldn’t be looking at this sale with a view to just buying a horse in training, as opposed to something just to breed from.

“A lot of those fillies from some of the larger Maktoum families are often offered out of training, just as a matter of cause, but that doesn't mean they aren’t able to be raced on, and Rogue Millennium, one of the poster horses from this sale two years ago, is a perfect example of that.

“She’s going through again this year in the Sceptre Sessions having won the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot and she is by Dubawi, so I imagine she will be very popular.”

Growing influence

Dubawi (Ire) mares sourced from the Tattersalls December Mares Sale have already shown their prowess Down Under this season, a factor which is likely to create huge interest from Australasian breeders in the 33 fillies and mares by Darley’s flagship stallion in this year’s catalogue.

Amerindia (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), the dam of three-time Group 1-winning colt Militarize (NZ) (Dundeel {NZ}), was sourced from the Tattersalls December Mares Sale for 150,000gns (AU$301,000) by Dean Hawthorne Bloodstock in 2017, while Khor Sheed (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), the dam of this year’s dual Group 1-winning star of the spring Without A Fight (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), was also purchased from this sale for just 26,000gns (AU$52,000) back in 2019. BBA Ireland (for Yulong) subsequently purchased her for 28,000gns (AU$56,000) at Tattersalls Febuary earlier this year.

The latter’s win in this year’s G1 Melbourne Cup enhanced the already incredible influence of the Tattersalls December Mares Sale on the race that stops the nation, with the dams of other Cup winners Twilight Payment (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), Rekindling (GB), Protectionist (Ger), Green Moon (Ire) and the great Makybe Diva (GB) (Desert King {Ire}) all having emerged from the auction house’s premier breeding stock sale.

“We did a little bit of research into Melbourne Cup winners and came up with the amazing stat that of the last 20 Melbourne Cups, eight of the winners are out of mares bought at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale, which is quite a remarkable feat,” Singh revealed.

“It’s one of those things that you kind of take for granted a little bit and then you go and have a look at the details and you think oh my god, that is impressive.

“But not everybody is trying to breed a Melbourne Cup winner, so the great thing is you’ve got horses like Militarize, whose dam Amerindia was bought for 150,000 by Dean Hawthorne on behalf of Jonathan Munz, and you’ve also got Giga Kick, whose dam Rekindled Applause was also bought here for 57,000, so it’s not just the stayers.

“If you’re crossing those good quality European bloodlines with Australian speed stallions, that works as well.”

Singh was also quick to point out that the influence of the Tattersalls December Mares Sale, and European bloodstock in general, is by no means a new trend Down Under, with some of Australia’s most decorated racehorses, broodmares and sires all having originated from the Northern Hemisphere.

“A lot of the great horses in Australian racing folklore still have their roots in England,” he added. “Buying breeding stock here is not a new phenomenon, it goes back half a century or more.

“Eight Carat went through the December Mares Sale. Benediction, the dam of Might And Power, also went through the December Mares Sale. You even go back to the stalwart of the Australian racing industry in Star Kingdom, he was sourced from England.

“Whilst there is a strong domestic element to the bloodlines in Australia now, the influence from Europe is something that you can’t ignore.”

Huge incentive

The likes of Yulong, Cambridge Stud, John Foote Bloodstock (FBAA), Kia Ora Stud, Jim Clarke, Dean Hawthorne, Harry McAlpine, Paul Moroney and Twin Hills Stud were all active to varying degrees during last year’s Tattersalls December Mares Sale, and Singh revealed that the auction house is anticipating the strongest representation from Australia post-COVID at this year’s auction.

A huge part of the incentive for Southern Hemisphere breeders at this sale is the access to Europe’s elite sires, and this year’s list of covering sires reads like a who’s who of the Northern Hemisphere’s premier stallions, with mares in foal to the likes of Frankel (GB), Justify (USA), Kingman (GB), Lope De Vega (Ire), No Nay Never (USA), Night Of Thunder (Ire), Sea The Stars (Ire) and Wootton Bassett (GB).

Gallery: Some of the high-class stallions mares will be offered in foal to

Another incentive is the rare opportunity to access stock from some of the world’s premier breeders like Godolphin and Juddmonte. The former’s draft this year includes Youngest (GB), a daughter of Dubawi and Grade 1 winner Sheikha Reika (Fr) (Shamardal {USA}), while the latter's includes sisters to stallions Calyx (GB), New Bay (GB) and Workforce (GB), to name but a few.

“Godolphin and Juddmonte are both outstanding nurseries and the great thing is you know those bloodlines are going to keep getting the chance to improve,” Singh said. “If you buy one of those fillies, there is every chance that you are going to have a pedigree update at some point further down the line.

“There’s a reason that people keep coming back to buy those families and that is because of the success that they get from them. It offers people a great opportunity to buy into families that they typically have never had the opportunity to do before.”

The Godolphin draft was the source of the dams of both Militarize and Without A Fight, while other drafts have produced the dams of a number of other Group 1 winners around the world in 2023, including 2000 Guineas winner Chaldean (GB), French Classic winner Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) and recent G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Unquestionable (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), all of whose dams were purchased at this sale for 110,000gns (AU$221,000) or less.

Results like those leave no doubt that the impact of the Tattersalls December Mares Sale has been felt far and wide this year, but Singh is adamant that 2023 is no anomaly.

“If you go back and have a look at how many Group 1 races worldwide have come out of mares bought at the December Sale over the last decade, you’ll find that that sort of thing is fairly commonplace,” he said.

“It has been, and still is, the premier source for people to source breedings stock from all over the world.

“Just scanning through this year’s Group 1 winners, you had Al Husn, who won the Nassau (Stakes) here in England, you had Alfareeq, who won a Group 1 in Dubai, you had Anisette, who won the Del Mar Oaks in America, and it’s not only Group 1 races, it’s Classic races all over the world.

“I guess it’s not a surprise that people keep coming back to the sale and if any Australian breeders want to make any last-minute decisions, it’s still not too late to hop on a plane. We hope to see lots of Australians on the buyers' sheet.”

Selling at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale will begin at 9.30am GMT (8.30pm AEDT) on Monday, December 4 and will continue through to Thursday, December 7, with the coveted Sceptre Sessions taking place during the opening two days of the auction.