A Tattersalls Winter Wonderland

A cheeky smattering of artistic licence may have been applied to the banner currently in rotation on the Tattersalls website which proclaims 'Winter is coming.'

Taken literally, winter is indeed on the way in Newmarket, but the four-time Group 1 winner of the same name is not in the catalogue for this year's December Mares' Sale, though Tattersalls can indeed lay claim to her dam, Laddies Poker Two (Ire) (Choisir {Aus}), a graduate of the 2008 sale.

Instead of Winter (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the December Sale offers some extremely enticing recent retirees from the track backed up by a gallimaufry of broodmares, the odd stallion prospect, four days of foals and the final chance to buy a yearling in Europe on the opening day of Nov. 27.

Tattersalls' annual finale is always a heady affair. Last year, just shy of 80-million gns changed hands throughout the fortnight and this year promises to be extra special, featuring as it does the final section of the complete dispersal of the stock of Ballymacoll Stud. Only those with a truly hardened heart will be able to look upon the final nine foals, 14 mares, and eight fillies to be offered by the Weinstock family without a tinge of sadness at the culmination of such a successful breeding empire.

Over the last 40 years, and from select numbers, Ballymacoll has bred the winners of the Derby, Oaks, 2000 Guineas, St Leger, Irish Derby, Irish Oaks, Irish 2000 Guineas, Melbourne Cup, Hong Kong Derby and the Japan Cup, not to mention the Breeders' Cup winners Conduit (Ire) (Dalakhani {Ire}) and Islington (Ire) (Sadler's Wells).

Hailed by Tattersalls' Chairman Edmond Mahony as, “The most important dispersal sale of a generation,” two of the yearlings from Ballymacoll offered at Park Paddocks in October brought sums of 1.7-million gns and 550,000gns, and the mares will add further lustre to what is already the standout session of the December Sale on the evening of Tuesday, Dec. 5.

“It is the first major dispersal of the work of two generations of the same family and also it is the first dispersal that is a complete dispersal of the stock since the Joel Dispersal of the mid 1980s, and for that reason it is pretty special,” emphasises Mahony in a short film commissioned to mark the achievements of Ballymacoll Stud. Incidentally, fans of the Weinstock horses should sit through the full eight minutes of the film for wonderful flashbacks of some of the stud's best performers, including charming footage of Pilsudski (Ire) at home at Sir Michael Stoute's Freemason Lodge.

The outstanding racemare Islington, now 18, has produced 11 fillies in a row at Ballymacoll and sells alongside three of her daughters as lot 1826, carrying to Kingman (GB), while a younger highlight from the draft could well be the multiple listed winner Abingdon (Street Cry {Ire}), who could yet race on and, as a grand-daughter of Hellenic (GB) (Darshaan {GB}), is an appealing addition to any broodmare band. The 4-year-old, whose yearling half-sister by Kingman sold for 1.7-million gns during Book 1 of the October sale, is catalogued as lot 1876, while another half-sister, the smart juvenile Aim Of Artemis (Ire) (Leroidesanimaux {BRZ}), immediately precedes her at 1875.

Outside the Ballymacoll draft there is a wealth of talent to choose from. This season's star names Marsha (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) (lot 1848), Quiet Refection (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) (lot 1861) and Different League (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) (lot 1836) should each ensure that it's standing-room only in the sales ring on Tuesday evening, while Chantal Regalado Gonzalez and John Murrell have elected to sell their top-level winners Zhukova (Ire) and Intricately (Ire)–both bred on the Fastnet Rock (Aus)-Galileo (Ire) cross–through the Castlebridge Consignment as lots 1868 and 1549. Juddmonte's much sought-after draft is a traditional highlight of Wednesday's session.

“To have four Group 1-winning fillies in the catalogue is fantastic and the 2-year-old filly Different League, who was so spectacular at Royal Ascot and has twice been Group 1-placed since then, is the highest-rated 2-year-old filly we've catalogued this century. It's rare to get a juvenile filly of her calibre going through a public auction,” says Tattersalls' Marketing Director Jimmy George. “The Ballymacoll Stud Dispersal is of course heading what we think is a very exciting December catalogue–the dispersal has been very eagerly anticipated and we've already seen the impact it is having during the October Sale. The yearling sales at Tattersalls this year have been encouraging and we'd expect that to drive demand in December.”

He continues, “It's the number one breeding stock sale and the key to it is the diversity on offer. There are always significant drafts from major owner-breeders and buyers come to the sale from all over the world to buy into the finest families that you just can't get into elsewhere. Right now the covering sires in Europe are as good as they've been in living memory and we're offering the only mares on the market in foal to Dubawi and Frankel.”

Among the young mares selling in foal, lot 1661 is The Paris Shrug (GB), a Manduro (Ger) half-sister to top stayer Big Orange (GB) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}) being offered in foal to young Coolmore stallion Pride Of Dubai by Kilcarn Park Stud.

A pair of mares in foal to the in-demand Dark Angel (Ire) are lot 1710, Cup Cake (Ire) (Singspiel {Ire}), the dam of G1 Shadwell Turf Mile winner Suedois (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), and lot 1761, Swiss Kiss (GB), a Dansili (GB) daughter of the Lordship Stud matriarch Swiss Lake (Indian Ridge {GB}).

Newsells Park Stud sells the classy sprinter Restiadargent (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) with an early April covering to Frankel (GB) as lot 1798, shortly after offering Valeur (GB) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) (lot 1794), a half-sister to the leading sires Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Kodiac (GB) who is in foal to Australia (GB).

There is only one mare in the catalogue offered in foal to the mighty Galileo and that's lot 1845 from Baroda & Colbinstown Studs. Modernstone (GB) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}) was a stakes winner in America and is a grand-daughter of one of Juddmonte's highly influential mares, Modena (Roberto). The same draft also offers an independent chance to tap into some Ballymacoll bloodlines through lot 1844, Auld Alliance (Ire), a Montjeu (Ire) half-sister to Golan (Ire) and Tartan Bearer (Ire) who will be sold in foal to Frankel.

Al Kazeem (GB) has had well-documented fertility issues but no fewer than eight mares in foal to him have been catalogued for December, seven of which are from his home stud, Oakgrove. They include lot 1414, Diara Angel (Ire), a Hawk Wing half-sister to GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Wrote (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}).

Young French stallion Dabirsim (Fr) has been one of the success stories of the season, and he has incurred a hefty fee hike at Haras de Grandcamp on the back of the exploits of his first-crop runners, which include the aforementioned Different League. Two mares carrying to him have been slated to sell at Tattersalls with lot 1476, Remember Me (GB) (Acclamation {GB}), featuring in the opening session for Voute Sales, while Norris Bloodstock offers Amami (Ire) (lot 1669), a young winning daughter of Peintre Celebre from the Wildenstein family of Action Francaise.

The venerable Pivotal (GB) is closing in on his first broodmare sire championship and understandably his daughters continue to be in great demand. One who represents a family which has been in the news in recent weeks is Paisley (GB) (lot 1369), who is being sold by Glebe Farm Stables in foal to Darley freshman Territories (Ire). The 11-year-old mare is a great grand-daughter of Fittocks Stud's foundation mare Souk (Ire) (Ahonoora {GB}), whose many black-type descendants include G1 Emirates Melbourne Cup winner Rekindling (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}) and Haggle (GB), another daughter of Pivotal who won last weekend's G3 Prix Fille de l'Air and was a graduate of the 2016 December Sale at 125,000gns.

December Foals and Yearlings

Rekindling himself emanated from the 2014 December Foal Sale when sold by his breeders Robert and Nick Pocock of Stringston Farm for 60,000gns to Camas Park Stud. The Pococks had bought his dam Sitara (GB) (Salse) 12 years earlier from Fittocks Stud for just 10,000gns. This year, the Stringston Farm team will no doubt be inundated with viewers for Sitara's filly foal from the first crop of Gleneagles (Ire), who will sell as lot 886 and is one of 14 foals catalogued by Coolmore's Classic winner.

Along with Gleneagles, the first foals by Derby and Arc winner Golden Horn (GB) will also be on offer this season and the 14 in the book for Newmarket include Gestut Gorlsdorf's half-sister to Sea The Moon (Ger), who is offered as lot 1015 by Stauffenberg Bloodstock, and lot 925, a Deerpark Stud-bred colt out of the young Shamardal mare Elegant Shadow (Ger), whose first foal by Sea The Stars sold for 1-million gns at Tattersalls in October.

The only Dubawi foal in the catalogue is a half-sister to the G1 Irish Derby and G1 Dubai Sheema Classic winner Jack Hobbs and is sold by her breeders Willie and Elaine Carson of Minster Stud as lot 992.

“The foal sale has become a real source of quality horses for people who want to buy foals to race down the line, not just for pinhookers,” says Jimmy George. “Rekindling was bought from the sale as a foal and never went to a yearling sale and this year we have not just his half-sister but also half-sisters to Sea The Moon and Jack Hobbs.”

Among the other first-season sires, there's good representation for shuttler Brazen Beau (Aus), who has 25 foals catalogued, while Free Eagle (Ire) has ten, Gutaifan has 24 and Hot Streak a whopping 36. Also represented by their first foals at Tattersalls are the Classic winners Make Believe (GB) and Night Of Thunder (Ire), champion sprinter Muhaarar (GB), Mustajeeb (GB) and Outstrip (GB), while there is a sole offering by the GI Breeders' Cup Mile winner Karakontie (lot 293).

For those buyers of a more National Hunt disposition, it's worth noting that Robin and Scarlett Knipe, breeders of the top-class jumper Thistlecrack (GB), offer four colts by his sire Kayf Tara (GB) through their Cobhall Court Stud.

A single day of 200 yearlings will start proceedings during the two-week stint at Tattersalls. Grove Stud's Dubawi colt Sinatra (Ger) could have the auctioneer singing when he passes through the ring as lot 155, while another appealing entry is lot 151, a Le Havre (Ire) half-brother to G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner and young sire Reliable Man (GB), who is being sold by Ballyhimikin Stud. A half-brother to another Classic winner can be found as lot 164, and is a Norris Bloodstock-consigned Dawn Approach (Ire) sibling to G1 Irish Derby winner Trading Leather (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}).