By Brian Sheerin
More records were sent tumbling at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale on Wednesday when Amo Racing out-muscled Godolphin at 1.75 million gns for a Havana Grey (GB) colt that was consigned by Malcolm Bastard.
Part of the allure of the Havana Grey colt came from the fact that he was consigned by a man who seldom has a horse feature among the top 15 or 20 per cent on the timing sheets at the breeze-up sales.
So, when Bastard, who ought to consider changing his first name to Jammy, sent out lot 143 to breeze faster than anything up the Rowley Mile on Monday, tongues were rightly sent wagging.
Alex Elliott, who signed for the colt on behalf of Amo Racing, explained, “When one of Malcolm's rocks up there number one, we all had to get a time slot to go and see his horse! The queue was out the door.”
He added, “Malcolm has been doing this a long time and he is brilliant at his job. He has pre-trained some of the best horses in Europe. This horse was produced beautifully and, for it to do what it did for Malcolm, who doesn't put the gun to their heads, it tells you that you've got a good horse.”
It was just 24 hours previously when Willie Browne's Acclamation (GB) colt set a new record for the Craven when selling to Godolphin for 1.4 million gns. Godolphin had to settle for second-best behind Amo Racing in what is now becoming a regular tug of war for the top bloodstock at Park Paddocks between the two powerhouse operations.
“Havana Grey needs no explanation,” Elliott continued. “If you were to have asked me last night what the best horse in the sale was, I'd have said the Acclamation and this fella, but I didn't have them [valued] anywhere near that. This is a performance-based sale and, when those horses perform, you get that premium.”
He added, “The market has become quite like America. After the Acclamation made 1.4 million last night, we had to realign and say, 'what could this horse make?' Acclamation is a superstar stallion but he is not with us anymore. Havana Grey is new and he's fresh. I didn't think he could make what the horse made last night because the market got very strong. But it's just happened again. The whole breeze-up community has put this product on and, when the horses perform, the guys get well paid.
“I felt them [Godolphin] slow at 1.5 million. Usually it's bang, bang, bang but I felt them think about it. I said to Kia [Joorabchian], 'they thought about that.' And they really did think about it. Maybe it's not the wisest thing to do to out-bid them.”
The man responsible for sending out the new record-breaker remained completely unflustered and even described his heart-rate to be steady despite the seven-figure sum being netted on behalf of an unnamed client.
Bastard said, “He's been pre-trained and has just done normal work. He has been away twice, just to have a little spin away from the farm to see what he was like in a different environment, and he's just a very nice, classy horse. [He has a] very good head. Lovely mover, just a really, really nice horse.”
Asked if he had many other Havana Greys through his hands, Bastard replied, “Not like him. He's just very straightforward and easy to train–that's Havana Greys. They've got quality and they've good minds. You can feed them and train them.”
Another day, another record price at the #TattsCraven Breeze Up 🤩😮@amoracingltd's Kia Joorabchian comes out on top at 1,750,000gns for Malcolm Bastard's Havana Grey colt. pic.twitter.com/pti5VDB5zp
— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) April 16, 2025
Multiple Craven Sale Records Broken
Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony paid tribute to the wide range of international buyers who played their role in the record-breaking Craven Breeze-Up Sale trade. Along with the record-high price netted by the sale-topping Havana Grey, there was also a record turnover and average posted this week. Turnover climbed by 29% to 18,804,000gns, the median was up by 25% to 100,000gns while the average was up 15% to 158,017gns. The clearance rate was also up by a healthy 15% to 83%.
Commenting on the trade, Mahony said, “The Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale has enjoyed a remarkable run of success over the last three years with five individual Group 1 winners including two Classic winners and this year's Classic prospect Hotazhell. They have provided the perfect advertisement for the Craven Breeze-Up Sale and this year's renewal has attracted international buyers in abundance, all of whom have contributed to a record turnover and average along with the two highest prices in the sale's history.
“Year after year, consignors continue to support the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up with many of the finest breeze-up two-year-olds in Europe, and it has been fantastic to see their professionalism and confidence in the sale rewarded over the past two days. Special mention must go to Willie Browne and Malcolm Bastard whose Acclamation and Havana Grey colts sold for 1,400,000 guineas and 1,750,000 guineas respectively. The pair are pioneers of the European breeze-up scene and it was wonderful to see them so well rewarded.”
He added, “As always, we've been delighted to welcome a wide-ranging and international group of buyers to Park Paddocks, including representation from Australia, China, Hong Kong, and the Gulf region. Their interest reflects the exceptional results achieved by graduates of the sale at the highest level of competition.
“We now turn our attention to the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up and Horses in Training Sale which has also delivered outstanding racecourse success in recent years with 42 individual Group/Listed winners since 2022.”
Yulong Spends Over 1 Million Under Dullingham Banner
Fresh from taking out the opening race at Newmarket on Wednesday through homebred Double Rush (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), Yulong's Yuesheng Zhang made a short but significant visit to Park Paddocks by signing for two colts by elite stallions Too Darn Hot (GB) and Mehmas (Ire) for a combined 1.05 million gns within the space of about 10 minutes.
The Too Darn Hot, who fetched 550,000gns, was consigned by Johnny Collins's Brown Island Stables while Tally-Ho Stud consigned the Mehmas colt that sold for 500,000gns. Both horses were bought under the banner of Dullingham, of which Yulong recently purchased resident stallions Shaquille (GB) and Soldier's Call (GB). However, it has yet to be confirmed whether the Chinese businessman has bought the farm itself from Dullingham's Steve Parkin.
We're off and running on day two of the #TattsCraven Breeze Up as Dullingham buys Brown Island Stables' Too Darn Hot colt from the family of Islington and Fiorente for 550,000gns, bought at #TattsOctober Book 2 for 90,000gns. pic.twitter.com/eS5S2dLEiE
— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) April 16, 2025
Yulong's European representative, Paul Curran, said, “Very happy. Mr Zhang came here hoping to pick up one or two and we have fulfilled that, which is good. Two nice, early and precocious types, which is always the plan when you come here. The Too Darn Hot will go into training with Jessica Harrington, which makes sense after Hotazhell last year. We're going to wait and see what Mr Zhang wants to do with the Mehmas.”
Collins sourced the Too Darn Hot colt from Blue Diamond Stud–who also bred Group 1 winner and poster boy for this sale Hotazhell–for just 90,000gns at Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale last year.
He said, “This lad has a fair bit of Shamardal about him as well and he came well prepared from Blue Diamond Stud out of Book 2. He's been straightforward all the way through, he's very sound, hasn't missed a day and has a great mind on him. I'm delighted he's going to such a good home and I wish them all the best with him.”
Dullingham strike again, going to 500,000gns for @HoStud's Mehmas ½-brother to the Stakes winner Lady Of Spain. #TattsCraven pic.twitter.com/MZ8XwTZTxl
— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) April 16, 2025
Talking Points
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- Jim and Claire Bryce enjoyed notable success with their breeze-up purchases from last year, highlighted by narrow UAE Derby runner-up Heart Of Honor (GB) (Honor A.P.), and the husband-and-wife team made their first signing from this sphere in 2025 in the shape of lot 105, a Union Rags colt for 220,000gns. It was Heart Of Honor's trainer Jamie Osborne who signed the docket on behalf of the owners. The Union Rags colt represented a shrewd piece of business for Ballybush Stables, who sourced the juvenile for just $30,000 at the Keeneland September Sale last year. Osborne said, “The route will be much the same as Heart Of Honor. We will look to run in a maiden here in the autumn before shipping to Dubai. He can learn his trade at Meydan through December into the early part of the year. Then hopefully we can run in the Derby and go a nose better!”
- Of this year's crop of first-season sires, Starman (GB) has been quickest out of the blocks with maiden winners Lady Iman (Ire) and Green Sense (Ire) creating particularly good impressions. It is obviously early days when it comes to judging the stallion but the market reacted favourably to the progeny of the Tally-Ho Stud-based sire with seven lots selling for an average of 115,571gns. They included a colt and a filly that sold for 360,000gns and 260,000gns to Blandford Bloodstock and Highflyer Bloodstock on behalf of Phil Cunningham respectively. Both horses were consigned by Tally-Ho.
- When it comes to sourcing Royal Ascot runners, buyers really honed in on the progeny of Havana Grey this week with nine lots by Whitsbury Stud's stallion selling for an average of 421,111gns. On top of that, four Havana Grey juveniles featured among the top 10 most expensive lots sold at Tattersalls during the two-day sale.
- There was no sign of the money drying up deep into the sale when lot 170, a Too Darn Hot colt consigned by Anna Calder of Leamore Horses, sold to Jamie McCalmont for 500,000gns. The 90,000gns yearling [sourced at Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale] hails from American Grade III winner Valiant Girl (GB) (Lemon Drop Kid) and represented a massive result for Calder given it was her only horse in the sale. “I am a massive fan of the stallion,” McCalmont said. “The horse did a very nice breeze but it was the last part of the breeze that was particularly good–he galloped out very strong.”
- It is hard to draw too many conclusions from the Craven Sale but one thing is for sure, the ceiling has never been higher on what the elite horses in any given sale can make. When two major outfits go head-to-head, as we have seen time and time again with Amo and Godolphin, there is no telling how high the figures will go.
Another to hit the 500,000gns mark at the #TattsCraven Breeze Up as @LeamoreHorses's Too Darn Hot colt out of the Gr.3 winner Valiant Girl goes the way of @MccalmontJamie. pic.twitter.com/N4Xy0B0kc1
— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) April 16, 2025
Thought for the Day
It was not for a lack of trying, but Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock struggled to get in on the action at the top end of the market. Few bloodstock agents have enjoyed a better track record at sourcing top-class runners from this sphere. One would imagine that Brown still has a lot of business to carry out, particularly at the Goffs Breeze-Up Sale, which has been particularly fruitful for the agent down through the years.
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