Godolphin tops the buyer chart at strong Tattersalls October Yearlings

Cover image courtesy of Tattersalls

Three of the most expensive yearlings in the world this year were sold in the first two days of Book 1, and as that section of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale drew to a close on Thursday, there were still several more millionaire lots to come.

Ace Stud buys the top lot for Day 3

South African champion owner Nick Jonsson put in a championship turn as a breeder during the final session, providing lot 409, a colt by Night Of Thunder who brought a bid of 2.2 million gns (AU$4.39 million) from Ace Stud.

But as Jonsson, who has “a lot of horses” in training in his native country, rightly said, “I'm not sure this is a success, is it? I mean, that's a lot of money, but winning races is a much better feeling. Winning Group 1s is a way better feeling than selling a horse or buying a horse.”

Amen to that.

However, this is a small triumph in itself in that Jonsson bought the colt's unraced dam Capture The Heart (Sea The Stars) through Sam Haggas's Hurworth Bloodstock as a 2-year-old for 175,000gns (AU$349,000), and she has, from a commercial perspective for now at least, hit the jackpot with this colt, her first foal, consigned by Luca and Sara Cumani's Fittocks Stud.

Jonsson, who has won South Africa's G1 Met for the last four years with four different horses, admitted that he was a “very unwilling seller”.

“I was very happy to keep the horse,” he said. “I happen to have got lucky and had a nicely bred filly who didn't get to the racecourse. We got lucky with Night Of Thunder, thanks mostly to Luca and Sara.

“I was planning to send her back to South Africa, the mare, and Sara said I'd be mad to do that, and she was quite right. She gave me very good advice. So, it's a good result.”

Capture The Heart is a full-sister to G3 Bronte Fillies' Cup winner and Group 1 runner-up River Of Stars and from the family of G2 Coventry Stakes winner Rashabar (Holy Roman Emperor). Her granddam is the Gestut Schlenderhan-bred G1 Preis der Diana winner Amarette (Monsun).

Jonsson, who also has horses in training in Britain with William Haggas, has owned horses in his homeland for 35 years and has a long family history with the sport, his great-grandfather Frederick Lennard Jonsson having founded the Durban Turf Club in 1897.

Ace Stud spent 4,575,000gns (AU$9.1 million) on five yearlings this week. Racing and bloodstock manager Paul Curran said of their latest acquisition, who will go into training with Andrew Balding, “He is obviously a very good first foal. As I said yesterday, we were in the market for Night Of Thunder colts, and he was probably the best of them for us, he was a standout.

“With a pedigree like that – he comes from the same family as River Of Stars, a mare we bought two years ago. She went to Australia, and she's been racing there.”

River Of Stars was second in the 2025 G1 Caulfield Cup to Half Yours.

Godolphin spends close to 27 million gns At Book 1

With 26,910,000gns (AU$53.8 million) spent on 25 yearlings, Godolphin broke its own Book 1 record by a considerable margin, and the concluding session spend was headed by a 2 million gns (AU$3.99 million) Frankel colt from Eugene Daly's Longview Stud. Out of Crystal Zvezda (Dubawi), the colt's unraced Sea The Stars half-brother topped Book 1 12 months ago when selling to Godolphin for 3.7 million gns (AU$7.4 million).

Anthony Stroud commented, “It's a very good cross that's worked before and we have the two-year-old who was purchased here last year and is one we like. It is a wonderful Rothschild-developed family and, providing everything goes according to plan, he should be a very interesting horse with the capability of becoming a stallion.”

He added, “Last year's colt was bigger and stronger – a real mile-and-a-half horse. This horse to me looks like a neat, quality type. You could see him running over seven furlongs and he looks like a horse who will run as a 2-year-old.”

Not only was Stroud active on behalf of Godolphin all week, but he bought at every level on behalf of other clients, including Peter Harris. In other words, he is uniquely qualified to comment on the strength of this year's Book 1 sale.

He summarised, “Overall, I think it's been a good sale, all things being considered. I think it should be a two-day sale. That's just my opinion. Over three days, you get lulls. I think the start and finishing times are excellent but I think the better horses warrant a two-day sale.”

'Big relief' for Cloney with 1.3m gns Justify colt

Clara Stud's James Cloney hailed Entreat “a wondermare” after her Justify half-brother to Camille Pissarro sold to Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock for 1.3 million gns (AU$2.59 million) late in the session.

“I still have goosebumps,” the breeder said. “Brilliant result once again for the wondermare Entreat – she just left it behind her in the ring again. The amount of pacing I have done over the past two hours! Great individual and, to break the million mark again, it's a huge thing for us.”

It was in this ring three years ago that subsequent G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Camille Pissarro left Cloney beaming with pride when selling to Coolmore for 1.25 million gns (AU$2.49 million). The achievement of breaking the seven-figure marker once again was not lost on the Irishman.

He said, “It was a big relief when he was loaded up and passed over to the lads' hands – Johnny, James and Shane who do all the work at home on a daily basis. It's nice to have it converted now. The pressure is off. It's a big worry sending the mare [to be covered by Justify in America]. You are worried about foaling and worried about getting him here – it's constant worry but, by Jesus, that's a good reward for it all.”

Asked how Justify came on Cloney's radar for Entreat, he replied, “There's a good story behind that. It happened over a couple of bottles of Heineken! We wanted to bring her to a sire who would be a little bit unique here. At the time, Justify's stud fee wasn't announced and I was trying to buy a nomination. Luckily, Mr Magnier allowed us to breed to him so we loaded up the mare and sent her over. I blame Heineken for that one!”

'Can't get any better' for Forenaghts

Tony Smurfit's Forenaghts Stud has enjoyed a season to remember as the breeder of G2 Mill Reef Stakes winner Nabati (Night Of Thunder) and breeder/consignor of the top lot at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale – a Study Of Man colt sold for €330,000 (AU$532,000). But the year just keeps getting better and Forenaghts enjoyed further success with Night Of Thunder on Thursday when selling the first foal of Cadeau Belle (Harry Angel) for 1 million gns (AU$1.99 million) to Nabati's owner Godolphin.

“I thought it couldn't get better after the Mill Reef,” said stud manager Caoimhe Doherty. “And then Fairyhouse was unbelievable. And then we had a good time in Goffs, and now this is insane. I'm going to retire at the end of the year. It can't get any better.”

Forenaghts also sold another Night Of Thunder filly at the Goffs Orby Sale for €360,000 (AU$580,000).

“We had only planned to offer six yearlings this year and only four of them made it to the sales,” Doherty explained.

“Tony has been in the business for 40 years and he's rowed in again and again and again. And now I just think finally it's all come to fruition for him. I'm so happy for him and Sharon and the Irish industry. We need people like Tony. I'm just so pleased that he's being richly rewarded.”

She added, “And I'm so pleased that Godolphin have her. I owe so much to Godolphin in terms of the Flying Start (programme), working in Kildangan and now this. I just can't believe it.”

Cadeau Belle won the Listed Kooyonga Stakes at Navan for Johnny Murtagh, who had purchased the mare as a yearling.

“Fair play to Johnny,” Doherty said. “She won her maiden. We bought her then. Then she won the Kooyonga Stakes in Tony's colours, the old Smurfit colours, the yellow with the blue. And look what she's done now! That's a fair result for us all.

“The mare is dynamite. And again, it all goes back to Godolphin – she's out of a Harry Angel mare, (her granddam is by) New Approach. And Night Of Thunder has been so, so good to us.”

Flay already dreaming of Ascot with Alcohol Free's first foal

Bobby Flay has shared dreams of one day popping the champagne in the winner's enclosure at Royal Ascot with his latest Book 1 purchase at Tattersalls – and the filly in question is certainly bred to make that dream a reality being the first foal out of outstanding racemare Alcohol Free and by Frankel.

Bred by Yulong Investments, the Frankel filly was originally unsold at 900,000gns (AU$1.79 million). However, Flay swooped in to seize the opportunity to secure the daughter of the four-time Group 1 winner from Baroda Stud at 800,000gns (AU$1.6 million). That purchase brings the American native's total spend this week to 1,625,000gns (AU$3.19 million) on two yearlings.

Like the Blue Point filly purchased on Tuesday, the Frankel filly will be trained by Andrew Balding, who sent out Alcohol Free to win the July Cup, Sussex Stakes, Coronation Stakes and Cheveley Park Stakes before shooting the lights out at 5.4 million gns (AU$10.8 million) at the Tattersalls Sceptre Sessions to BBA Ireland on behalf of Yulong in 2022.

Flay told TDN Europe, “I have bred to Frankel a number of times – I bred The Euphrates, who is going for the Melbourne Cup. This filly is exactly the kind of thing I am interested in, right? You have one of the best fillies in the past decade and her first foal is by the best sire in the world. I mean, I don't know what else to say. Physically, Andrew Balding absolutely loved her, so it's exactly my kind of play.”

He added, “I absolutely love the No Nay Never influence because he provides so much speed. Then with Frankel, he has everything so it's super exciting. I have a dream of winning the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot and this filly could have that as a long-term target. No pressure, Andrew! We've done the easy part, but now the hard work begins. Alcohol Free won the Coronation Stakes for Andrew at Royal Ascot and I'd love to try and win it with her daughter. It's one of my favourite races.”

US-based Antonacci spends over £1m on two fillies

It wasn't just Godolphin, Coolmore or Ace Stud that the American buyers had to contend with at Tattersalls this week – the recent strengthening of sterling made looking up at the exchange rate on the bidding board a little harder to digest. However, American-based trainer Philip Antonacci explained that saving a buck or two on the exchange would be the least of your worries in a decade's time if you managed to bag yourself the right type of filly in the ring. And that's exactly what Antonacci hopes to have achieved with his fillies by Frankel and Wootton Bassett that were purchased for a combined sum of 955,000gns (AU$1.9 million).

He said, “We targeted mostly fillies this week. We came here with the main goal of finding well-bred fillies to bring back to the States to train there and eventually have in the broodmare band. We try to buy quality that's going to stand the test of time. Five or ten years from now, when you're breeding from them, you won't worry about the exchange rate today. The sterling being strong definitely doesn't help us, but I think we've bought some quality horses. If you're happy with what you're buying, it could be value.”

Antonacci added, “I have been coming to Tattersalls for five or six years now. We've had some good success. Originally, we'd buy horses and leave them with Joseph O'Brien in Ireland, before then bringing them over to the States. Queen Of Hawaii was a good one. We had another filly called Queenship with Joseph. We've had a good run with it. It depends on the horse and the pedigree whether they stay here or come back to the States initially. We've had some good luck – a couple of stakes winners and a couple of Graded stakes winners – and they're training on in the States, which has been good.”

Antonacci has a well-known partner in lot 324, the Wootton Bassett filly who, being a grey, will be shared with Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy, who has a penchant for horses of that colour.

The trainer continued, “We target well-made horses. We have to be very mindful of soundness in the States so you've got to have a well-made, pretty correct horse with good action. Other than that, we're just looking for athletes. The Frankel filly, for example, was beautiful from the first time I saw her. She looked strong and robust, like you could go to war with her. Her page had a bunch of American, solid stakes horses on the bottom. She'd probably be the type that, if you breed from her in the States in the future, you don't have to explain the relevant horses on the page to buyers. Stay Thirsty, Without Parole and Tamarkuz are all horses that people know and they are on the page. This filly could even throw a dirt horse in the future so we were comfortable going to 580,000gns on her.”

He added, “The Wootton Bassett filly is obviously a good physical and a good mover. The stallion is one that everybody's a fan of, and they're not making any more of them. The page underneath is obviously the family of Galileo and Urban Sea. We're big believers in pedigrees coming back, so if we can get a bit of black type on her and that pedigree comes back, we'll be in good shape. Dave Portnoy is involved with us. He's one for the grey horses, so we're training a couple of horses for him.”

No Nay Never colt turns a profit for Pier House

By and large, pinhookers have fared pretty well this week, with 80 of 120 yearlings being sold for higher than their foal price and plenty having turned a tidy profit.

One of the biggest of its kind on the final day came with the sale of lot 332, Pier House Stud's colt by No Nay Never out of the Group 3-placed Woody Creek (Zoffany).

The colt had been bought from the foal draft of Norelands for the tidy sum of 250,000gns (AU$498,000) last November but, after a Grade 2 placing for his half-brother Jordi Bear (St Lark's Basilica) and a stellar year for No Nay Never – whose Group winners in 2026 have included True Love, Mission Central, Amusingly, Libertango and Lake Forest – his sale price jumped to 900,000gns (AU$1.79 million), with MV Magnier the successful bidder.

Buying in partnership with Peter Brant's White Birch Farm, Magnier signed for six Book 1 yearlings for a total of 8.15 million gns (AU$16.3 million).

Lloyd Webbers buy Estrange's half-sister

The Blue Point half-sister to Group 1 winner Estrange (Night Of Thunder) changed hands from one good breeder to another, with the Lloyd Webbers' Watership Down Stud going to 800,000gns (AU$1.59 million) though Charlie Gordon-Watson to buy the filly from James Hanly's Ballyhimikin Stud.

“She is a lovely, gorgeous filly. We loved her,” said Madeleine Lloyd Webber. “She has a great page, and is going to make a wonderful broodmare one day, which is what we are looking for.”

The Pretty Polly Stakes winner Estrange was herself bought from Book 1 by Cheveley Park Stud and is one of three black-type performers for her dam Alienate (Oasis Dream), who is owned by Hanly in partnership with Trevor Stewart and Anthony Stroud.

A half-sister to Juddmonte's St Leger winner Logician (Frankel), the 12-year-old mare is also from the family of Cityscape and Bated Breath. Having foaled a filly by Lope De Vega this spring, she is now back in foal to Night Of Thunder.

Rarity value in Equinox purchase

The sole yearling by Japanese first-season sire Equinox catalogued for the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale created an early stir at Park Paddocks on Thursday morning when sold to Godolphin for 550,000gns (AU$1.09 million).

The filly, who was bred by her consignor Newsells Park Stud in partnership with Lordship Stud, is out of the G2 Prix de Malleret winner Waldlied (New Approach), a half-sister to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Waldgeist (Galileo). The mare's first foal Equitize (Kingman) is a dual winner and was Listed-placed for Chad Brown in America.

“Equinox is an unbelievable horse and it's an international market. Japan's at the highest level of international racing so the more cross-pollination between these countries – America and Japan and European countries – the better. It's very important, really,” said Anthony Stroud after signing for lot 318.

“We feel very lucky to have her. Newsells were very enterprising in sending the mare to Equinox in the first place.”

Equinox, who stands alongside his sire Kitasan Black at the Shadai Stallion Station in Hokkaido, was the highest-rated horse of the year in 2023. In a 10-race career he won eight times, finishing second on his two other starts, with his victories including a four-length triumph in the Japan Cup over the fillies' triple crown winner Liberty Island, plus an easy win over Westover in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

Churchtown Stud in clover again with Little Big Bear

A colt from the first crop of Coolmore's Little Big Bear kept the good times rolling for Michael and Anne Gaffney's Churchtown House Stud when selling to Godolphin for 750,000gns (AU$1.49 million).

A half-brother to the G1 Middle Park Stakes runner-up and Group 3 winner Castle Star (Starspangledbanner), the May 14 colt is out of Awohaam (Iffraaj), who is now in foal to Sioux Nation.

“I'm so thankful to everybody who came in and bid for him and made this a magic moment,” said Michael Gaffney, whose good run started with the sale of a homebred Starspangledbanner filly for 900,000gns, topping the Craven Breeze-up Sale in the process through consignor Egmont Stud.

Named Senorita Bonita by her new owner Victorious Forever, she went on to win the G1 Prix Morny and G2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes for Simon and Ed Crisford. Last week at the Goffs Orby Sale, Churchtown House sold her half-sister by Modern Games for €1.3 million (AU$2 million), also to Godolphin.

He added, “It has been an unbelievably brilliant year. It's just magic, and it continues to be magic.”

Prior highlights Sheikh Mohammed's 'enduring support'

Assessing the week's results at the end of his first Book 1 as managing director of Tattersalls, Matthew Prior said, “Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale is Europe's premier yearling sale, and it was fitting that Park Paddocks and Newmarket once again became the focus of the international bloodstock world, welcoming a truly global audience for the cream of the European yearling crop.

“This week we have witnessed a European record for a yearling colt, with the Norelands-consigned son of Night of Thunder realising 4,600,000gns, a figure unmatched anywhere in the world this year. He was one of a record-equalling 17 yearlings to realise one million gns or more, whilst a remarkable 63 lots sold for in excess of 500,000gns, testament to the unwavering support of vendors and consignors from Britain, Ireland, France and Germany.

“There has been a vibrant atmosphere at Park Paddocks throughout the week, underpinned by the strength and depth of international participation. Of particular note, an unprecedented number of North American buyers to Park Paddocks who purchased more than 50 yearlings between them. Their growing participation has been underpinned by the continued success on the burgeoning US turf scene, and their support of the October Yearling Sale is greatly appreciated.”

He continued, “We have also once again welcomed Godolphin's principal, Sheikh Mohammed, to Park Paddocks. His continued support of the European racing and breeding industry, and of Newmarket in particular, is hugely valued. Equally, the enduring support of the Maktoum family and their associates, together with that of so many buyers from across the Gulf region, is something for which we are enormously grateful.

“We now look forward with a degree of optimism to Books 2, 3 and 4 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale as we continue the most important fortnight in the European bloodstock calendar.”