Tattersalls on top of the world as two most expensive yearlings in 2025 launch Book 1

Cover image courtesy Tattersalls

At A Glance

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The opening session of the October Yearling Sale provided the two most expensive yearlings sold anywhere in the world this year at 3,700,000gns (AU$7.92 million) and 3,600,000gns (AU$7.71 million). This compares to a top price of $4.1m (AU$6.23 million) at the Saratoga Sale, $3.3m (AU$5.01 million) at Keeneland September, and the equivalent of $2.83m (AU$4.3 million)at Japan's JRHA Select Sale.

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Godolphin dominated the buyers' list on Tuesday, signing up 10 yearlings for 9,300,000gns (AUS$19.92 million), including the top lot and four of the top ten.

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Next on the list was Amo Racing, whose three purchases totalled 4,600,000gns (AUS$9.86 million). The Coolmore partners were notable absentees from the first-day buyers' sheet.

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A third of the way through Book 1, Frankel is the leading sire with six yearlings sold at an average of 939,167gns (AUS$2.01 million).

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From a larger catalogue this year (537 compared to 448 in 2024), the key figures took a dip during the opening session, with the clearance rate of 79 per cent being down from 92 per cent 12 months ago.

Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum makes his mark

Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum rarely misses Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, and when the ruler of Dubai is present at Park Paddocks it is a safe bet that he will make a major contribution to the top end of the market. This he did once more, buying the day's top lot for 3,700,000gns (AU$7.92 million) – the most expensive yearling sold anywhere in the world this year – as well as three of the five seven-figure lots of the session.

By the day's end, Sheikh Mohammed and his team of representatives, which included Anthony Stroud, David Loder and trainers Charlie Appleby and Saeed Bin Suroor, had recruited another 10 yearlings to the Godolphin fold for a first-day outlay of 9,300,000gns (AUS$19.92 million).

Leading the session, but only narrowly, was Lot 90, an exquisitely-bred son of Sea The Stars whose close relation Crystal Ocean, by the same stallion, had been champion older horse in England in 2019. Bred by Ed's Stud and consigned by Eugene Daly's Longview Stud, the colt is out of the late Sir Evelyn de Rothschild's Listed winner Crystal Zvezda (Dubawi), who was bought from the dispersal of Southcourt Stud for 775,000gns (AU$1.66 million) in 2022. His appearance in the ring sparked a bidding duel between the Godolphin team outside the ring and Kia Joorabchian and the Amo Racing posse inside.

“He was exceptional-looking and (comes) from a very good stud farm,” said Stroud. “It's a Rothschild family so he was majestic in the way that he moved and walked. He was a lovely horse.”

He continued, “Obviously the family works well with Sea The Stars and he really stood out for us. You have to pay for the ones you really want and he was the one we wanted.”

With a sentence that may be music to the ears of those vendors with horses still to come, Stroud added, “Godolphin has supported this sale hugely. It's only the first day and we have two more days to go.”

Stroud later also signed for Lot 95, Airlie Stud's half-brother to former champion Irish 2-year-old filly Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy). The son of Too Darn Hot finally brought the hammer down at 1,000,000gns (AU$2.14 million).

Airlie's Anthony Rogers said, “It is a great price – he is a lovely horse. You can never believe that you are going to get a million for a horse. Dane Street has been an amazing mare for us and we failed to sell her here about 15 years ago. She is still breeding, but she has had a rest this year.”

Also on the Godolphin list was a Blue Point colt out of the G3 Ballyogan Stakes second Boston Rocker (Acclamation), who is the dam of six winners from as many runners to date, including the G2 Zabeel Mile scorer and G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains third San Donato (Lope De Vega), as well as this year's G2 Gimcrack Stakes runner-up Rock On Thunder (Night Of Thunder). Sold as Lot 67, he continued the annus mirabilis for James Hanly and his Ballyhimikin Stud when selling for 1,000,000gns (AU$2.14 million).

“He was a cracking colt,” said Hanly. “He was always a super horse. He never turned a hair from the day he got here.”

The Godolphin team will be hoping that Lot 67, who was bred in partnership by Hanly, Anthony Stroud and Skymarc Farm, can emulate another previous Tattersalls October graduate from Ballyhimikin in Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder), the winner of this year's G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes and G1 Juddmonte International, who was bought by Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for 340,000gns (AU$728,300million) at Book 2 back in 2022.

Another flagbearer for Ballyhimikin this year has been the high-class filly Estrange (Night Of Thunder), who was a Book 1 yearling, also in 2022, when going the way of Cheveley Park Stud for 425,000gns (AU$910,350 million).

Asked if selling is any less nerve-wracking after his stellar year on the track as a breeder, Hanly replied, “I just take each day as it comes. Each day is a new day, so just enjoy it and do your best. Some days it doesn't work out, so you've got to put up with those days.”

Metrics down on last year's records

The extraordinary highs of last year were always going to be hard to match, but the returns on Tuesday were strong by most standards, even though they represented a reduction when it comes to year-on-year comparisons.

From a staggering 92 per cent clearance rate in 2025, 79 per cent of the first-day yearlings were marked as sold. The turnover of 40,533,000gns (AU$86.82 million). from the sale of 125 yearlings (eight more than last year's opener) represented a drop of six per cent, while the average of 323,352gns (AU$692,320 million)was down by 11 per cent and the median by 19 per cent at 210,000gns (AU$449,890 million)..

Amo Racing remains active

While Amo Racing had filled the role of underbidder to Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation on the day's top lot, it hadn't taken long for Kia Joorabchain to make presence felt again at Book 1 when outbidding MV Magnier of Coolmore at 3,600,000gns (AU$7.71 million) for Lot 15. The brother to last year's sale-topper, by Frankel out of the G2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes winner Aljazzi (Shamardal), was bred and consigned by Graham Smith-Bernal's Newsells Park Stud.

“The boys love him,” Joorabchian said. “We have a lot of people that really liked him around us and we couldn't really let him go. We want to keep the family tight. We want to be able to see how the family works out.”

The colt's 2-year-old sister, who fetched 4,400,000gns (AU$9.42 million) 12 months ago, is now named Partying and is with Amo Racing's new trainer Kevin Philippart de Foy at Freemason Lodge in Newmarket.

He continued, “If he's a very good horse he's going to be a stallion but if he's not, he's not going to be a stallion. Obviously we like the filly (Partying) otherwise we wouldn't have gone for the brother. But who knows, right? She still hasn't run, but it's a completely different project because if the filly runs or doesn't run, she's still got a huge residual value and she can be a broodmare, and we have five stallions so it's important.

“I thought we paid a little bit more than what we were expecting to but we're up against Coolmore, and they've got five (partners) versus one. So we've got to give them a crack.”

Julian Dollar, general manager of Newsells Park Stud, said, “He just blossomed during the summer. Particularly during yearling prep, he just came into himself. What he has always had is a really lovely attitude – a great temperament. (He has) always been very athletic. Six or nine months ago, I thought he was just one of those gangly babies but he just started to come. He's still not where I'd like him to be now but he's a lovely horse.”

Of the 12-year-old Aljazzi, he added, “Unfortunately she lost a pregnancy to Too Darn Hot back in January and we failed to get her back in foal. She's had two blank years but we will regroup and go again. I think she should go back to Frankel, don't you?

“When I did the budget last December, I put him in at a measly half-a-million. I said half-a-million because some of these big, raw Frankels can still make half-a-million even if they are just legs. He really came together all year, especially during his prep. And I suppose coming in here, I thought maybe there is a chance he might make seven figures, a bit like I felt with the filly last year. But when you get two big-hitters locking horns, there's always a chance they can go and make unbelievable amounts.”

Americans make their presence felt

There was no shortage of American buyers through the opening session of Book 1, with Repole Stable, Justin Casse, Chad Brown, Liz Crow, Mike Ryan, Andrew Cary and Alex Solis all signing for yearlings, but perhaps the most prominent so far is Matt Dorman of Determined Stables, who bought four fillies through David Ingordo. While Ingordo is a Tattersalls regular, this was a first visit to Park Paddocks for Matt Dorman.

“We've purchased remotely before but we definitely wanted to be here in person,” Dorman said. “Everything has been great. I commend Tattersalls (for the) wonderful grounds, good people, and it's been very easy to look at horses and go through the process we need to go through.”

The quartet of yearlings was bought for a total of 1,500,000gns (AU$3.21 million). and included a Bjorn Nielsen-bred No Nay Never half-sister to French Listed winner Chartreuse (Lawman) for 540,000gns (AU$1.16 million) from the draft of Brian O'Rourke (Lot 69).

Ingordo also signed for Ballyvolane Stud's Too Darn Hot filly five lots later at 425,000gns (AU$910,200). A first foal, she is out of Caromil (Sea The Stars), a sister to the Listed winner Boerhan from the family of G1 Cheveley Park Stakes winner Millisle.

Dorman continued, “We have a broodmare band in Lexington, Kentucky, and they are producing and doing well. We wanted to shift the focus a little bit to develop more runners and create some future broodmares. We are really looking long-term, and the stallion power that is present here makes a lot of sense as we like to race on turf and dirt. These (fillies) will ship back to the States and they will go to Cherie DeVaux.”

Night Of Thunder millionaire for Juddmonte

Juddmonte has made a concerted effort to acquire speedier types at the yearling sales this year and, a week on from spending €440,000 (AU$779,340 million) on a Mehmas colt at the Goffs Orby Sale, added a Night Of Thunder colt to the roster for a cool million gns.

The Night Of Thunder colt was bred by Lodge Park Stud and hails from one of the farm's most famous families given the dam, Express Way (Dark Angel), is a daughter of Alluring Park (Green Desert), who famously produced Oaks heroine Was (Galileo).

Juddmonte's Simon Mockridge simply summed up the transaction, “He's just a super horse – a lovely horse. That's what you have to pay for them, I'm afraid. It's very expensive in there. He's a very good mover. Showed well all week. It's an amazing family as well. The stallion has been fantastic this year.”

Meanwhile, Jamie Burns of Lodge Park Stud was visibly emotional after the sale and reported his mother, Patricia, who has cultivated the family for many years, to be “thrilled to bits”.

Burns said, “He exceeded expectations greatly. He is a lovely-moving horse and he goes to a great home. Delighted to see him go to Juddmonte as he will be given every opportunity. Night Of Thunder is flying. Galileo has worked great in the pedigree so we are trying a different angle. We're absolutely thrilled to bits. Mum is delighted.”

Other interesting points

Japanese owner Tsunefumi Kusama, a first-time visitor to Tattersalls, will be racing two smartly-bred fillies in his homeland, having bought Ballyphilip Stud's Frankel half-sister to top sprinter Battaash for 600,000gns (AU$1.39 million) along with the Palace Pier filly out of Oaks winner Anapurna (Frankel) from Meon Valley Stud for 200,000gns (AU$428,510).

It should be noted that Palace Pier enjoyed a good sale. Three yearlings by Darley's young stallion sold for an average of 298,333gns (AU$639,170), which placed him in the top 10 performing stallions on that metric.

Nurlan Bizakov was in attendance at Tattersalls to secure Lot 157, a brother to his top-class miler Charyn, whose first foals will hit the ground in 2026. The Sumbe boss went to 450,000gns (AU$964,000) to secure the Grangemore Stud-consigned brother to the multiple Group 1 winner.

Bizakov said, “He is very similar to his brother, though a different colour, and he does remind me of Charyn at this stage. We were, of course, interested in the pedigree as soon as the catalogue came out – the mare has been a very good producer.” Bizakov went on to spend 300,000gns (AU$642,800 ) on Lot 176, a Wootton Bassett colt out of G3 Athasi Stakes winner Happen (War Front) from Tweenhills.

The Thompson family's Cheveley Park Stud was yet another major owner-breeder to get in on the action when spending 750,000gns on a Sea The Stars sister to the highly-rated Roi De France. Out of Bjorn Nielsen's Group 3-placed Danilovna (Dansili), who is a half-sister to multiple Group 1 scorer Lillie Langtry (Danehill Dancer), the Sea The Stars filly was consigned by Brian O'Rourke Bloodstock.

The big question coming into Book 1 was whether Amo Racing would be as strong as last year. Well, that question was answered pretty quickly when Kia Joorabchian went to 3.6 million gns (AU$7.71 million) on a Frankel colt from Newsells Park Stud. All told, Amo Racing and Godolphin spent 13.9 million gns (AU$29.79 million) between them. That worked out to almost a third of the total aggregate on Tuesday.

Newtown Anner Stud was one of the bigger spenders at Goffs last week and landed a sister to Saffron Beach (New Bay) for €500,000 (AU$885,780). Maurice Regan's operation was busy once again at Tattersalls when going to 525,000gns (AU$1.12 million) for Lot 166, Whatton Manor Stud's Dubawi half-sister to multiple Group 2 scorer Silver Knott, out of the Group 1 winner God Given (Nathaniel).