By Emma Berry
For Sun Bloodstock and Kodiac (GB) it was a case of one out, one in. On Monday the Australian operation topped the December Yearling Sale with a daughter of the Tally-Ho Stud stallion at 400,000gns and their representative David O'Callaghan returned to the ring on Thursday to buy lot 646, the full-brother to GIII Providencia S. winner Spirit Of Xian (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}).
The team had to fend off a strong challenge from the French Cheval Invest syndicate but finally secured the colt from Brian Kennedy's Northern Irish-based Meadowlands Stud at 210,000gns.
“He had everything going for him,” said O'Callaghan, who added that the colt will be retained to race.
Kennedy's homebred was far from the only Kodiac weanling to find favour with buyers during the second session of foals at Tattersalls. A perennial pinhookers' darling, the 16-year-old stallion had five pass through the ring for an average price of 109,000gns, including the Derek Veitch-bred colt out of dual winner Sassy Gal (Ire) (King's Best) (lot 648), who brought 140,000gns for the Ringfort Stud draft.
As snow started to fall heavily at Park Paddocks, the last of the 259 foals offered on the day took their turn in the ring. A buoyant clearance rate of 83% was achieved on another day of manic trade when 216 found new homes at an average price of 42,863gns (+7%) and median of 33,500gns (+12%), The day's turnover of 9,258,500gns brought another clean sweep of improved figures was up by 10%.
Cheveley Park Boosts Bloodlines
Cheveley Park Stud has been a big purchaser of bloodstock of varying ages this year and added a filly by Acclamation (GB) to its future string of racehorses and eventually broodmare ranks for 200,000gns.
“She is a beautiful filly and we are looking to invest in some new families,” explained Chris Richardson of his purchase of lot 664. “She's very athletic, has a very good page and we're very pleased to have bought her.”
The half-sister to the G3 Sweet Solera S. winner Nations Alexander out of Party Whip (Ire) (Whipper) was sold by Trickledown Stud on behalf of breeders Bridgetown Stud, Chris Mills and T Jennings. Party Whip's current 2-year-old by Kodiac was bought as a yearling by Shadwell for £150,000 and she is back in foal to Kodiac.
Late in the day, Castledillon's Acclamation colt (lot 774), a brother to G3 John of Gaunt S. winner Absolutely So (Ire), brought the hammer down at 130,000gns. Lambourn trainer Joe Tuite signed the ticket on behalf of an unnamed client, who could either race the colt or bring him back to the sales as a yearling.
Woods Returns To Stringston
At last year's foal sale, Franny Woods went to 165,000gns to buy an Australia (GB) colt from Stringston Farm and enjoyed a considerable update when his half-brother Rekindling (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}) won a pair of Group races for Joseph O'Brien. The colt came back to the ring to make 525,000gns as a yearling, while Rekindling went on to Australia to become this year's G1 Emirates Melbourne Cup winner.
It was no surprise then to see Woods return to a happy hunting ground to buy Stringston Farm's Bated Breath (GB) colt (lot 511) for 150,000gns.
“We've had a bit of luck with the farm before and we're planning a repeat. This was an obvious foal by a very good sire but I loved him when I saw him and was always going to have a play for him,” said Woods after signing in the name of his Abbeylands Farm.
Sold early in the session, the first foal of Lifting Me Higher (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) hails from the family of Group 1-winning juvenile and popular stallion Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) (Danehill), who is a full-brother to his grandam Centreofattention (Aus). He sparked a good day for Robert and Nick Pocock's Stringston Farm which sold three foals for 260,000gns and later today offers a Gleaneagles (Ire) half-sister to Rekindling as lot 886.
Le Havre For Shadwell
Only two foals by Le Havre (Ire) will be offered for sale this week and the first of them, lot 558, made the list of Shadwell purchases when being bought from The National Stud draft by Angus Gold for 140,000gns. The son of Adjudicate (GB) (Dansili {GB}), an unraced sister to Australian Group 2 winner Permit (GB), was bred by Andrew Black's Chasemore Farm.
The Le Havre colt followed a son of the recently retired Cheveley Park stallion Kyllachy (GB) (lot 557), who continued a good sale for David and Trish Brown of Furnace Mill Stud when selling to Neil Gilchrist of Capital Bloodstock for 100,000gns.
The colt's dam Mabinia (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) has already produced the winning 3-year-old Blue Rocks (GB) (Indesatchel {Ire}), which was her first foal, and she is from a family which has been with the Browns over the last two decades.
“We bought his grandam Pretty Sharp for £1,600 in 1997 and she produced Group 2 winner Twilight Blues for us,” said Trish Brown.
“Through no fault of her own, Mabinia didn't race. We were going to move her on as we had her half-sister Incise, but a friend wanted a field companion for a National Hunt store and we ended up keeping her. We had a share in Indesatchel and decided to use it on her and she produced this year's winner Blue Rocks.
She added, “It's a fast family which is why David decided on the covering with Kyllachy, who is a proven sire.”
More Success For First-Season Sires
During Wednesday's session plenty of new sires rose to prominence with some decent returns, and on Thursday the first foal by dual 2000 Guineas winner Gleneagles to be offered in Britain hit the leader board with a 150,000gns purchase price.
Lot 594, a colt from Anthony Phelan's Glashare House Stud out of the dual Group 3 winner Eastern Appeal (Ire) (Shinko Forest {Ire}), found favour with Amanda Skiffington and was the leading light among six horses sold by the stud for an average of 41,667gns.
Like Gleneagles, the first foals of Shadwell's Muhaarar (GB) proved popular at Goffs' November Sale, and another highlight for the champion sprinter came on Thursday when Tally-Ho Stud bought lot 719, the first foal of the Exceed And Excel (Aus) mare Xceedingly Xcited (Ire), for 125,000gns.
Likewise, Dark Angel's son Gutaifan (Ire) has carried his good run through from Goffs to Tattersalls and among his 12 to sell for a near-45,000gns average was lot 666, the Trickledown-consigned first foal of the Listed Bosra Sham S. winner Cape Factor (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}), who was knocked down for 125,000gns to Yeomanstown Stud.
The same buyers also plumped for lot 578, the Exceed And Excel half-brother to Listed Dragon S. winner Riflescope (Ire) (Raven's Pass) joins the Yeomanstown Stud team after being bought for 130,000gns from Selwood Bloodstock.
The son of Red Intrigue (Ire) (Selkirk), a half-sister to two black-type winners, was bred by Jeremy Gompertz, who said, “The mare was bought for me by Adrian Nicoll when she was carrying to Dark Angel. Riflescope, her 2013 foal, has emerged as a good horse since then. I have retained her yearling by Toronado and the mare is now in foal to Muhaarar.”
Yeomanstown is currently the leading buyer at the sale and has so far signed for eight weanlings during the two days for a total of 754,000gns.
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