By Chris McGrath
Australian investors stepped up to the plate during Tuesday's session of the Tattersalls Horses-in-Training Sale and paid heady prices for two with clear potential to reward their confidence in their homeland this time next year. The unpredictable nature of horses-in-training sales saw all the year-on-year indices trend downwards, with the aggregate turnover of 5,552,300 guineas down 26% from 2014. The average posted a similar decline, down 25% to 22,479gns, while the median was down 16% to 13,500 gns Some 247 lots sold out of 281, representing a clearance rate of 88%. There were 19 six-figure lots on the corresponding day last year, and only seven this time round.
The Ballydoyle colt who had topped the opening session at 240,000gns will now be followed by the wildcard lot 669A, secured by a bid of 230,000gns by Louis Le Metayer.
A 3-year-old colt by Oasis Dream (GB) (Green Desert), Pilote D'Essai (GB) had won three of his six starts for Andre Fabre and attracted strong interest from Jassim Ghazali before Matt Coleman drove Le Metayer to the highest bid of the day. “He has been bought for a syndicate based in Melbourne, but we haven't decided yet who will train him,” the French émigré explained. “He was definitely one of the nicest horses in the sale, very much the right type for Australia. We'd followed this horse for a while, and know the family very well. We went to look at him in trackwork with Mr Fabre and really liked him. He's a horse with plenty more to give, and also has a great physique – he vetted extremely well – and an outstanding pedigree.” The colt is a half-brother to Planteur (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), the G1 Prix Ganay winner standing at Sheikh Joaan's Haras du Bouquetot in Normandy. Le Metayer himself moved to Australia 11 years ago after initially testing the water in America. “I worked there for a year,” he said. “But when I went to Australia I felt it was a growing industry with a lot of things that needed to be done.”
His success will no doubt have abbreviated his flight later that evening back to his adopted country for the G1 Melbourne Cup – a race in which Chris Waller, seeking his first success, could saddle four runners. Waller won the G1 Cox Plate last weekend and morale will be further boosted by the news that lot 661 McCreery (GB) (Big Bad Bob {Ire}) is on his way to his stable. Guy Mulcaster, Waller's scout here, was a man palpably on a mission, giving auctioneer Ollie Fowlston an immediate nod when forced to 200,000gns by the luckless Jassim Ghazali for the gelding. The 3-year-old, home-bred by the Rothschilds, had shown progressive form in a light career with Roger Charlton, most recently when second in a Haydock handicap off a rating of 96. “He was a horse we really wanted to have a go at,” Mulcaster confirmed. “He's a beautiful horse who looks as though he will keep on improving, and should have lots of options in Australia. He looked real good when he won at Sandown in September, and when he was beaten last time I think that was a lot to do with where he was on the track; I think he'd have been pretty competitive if he'd come from where the winner was.”
Two horses culled by Qatar Racing on the opening day had been retained by their current trainers and it was a similar story when David Simcock spent 110,000gns to keep lot 724 in his stable just round the corner on Birdcage Walk. Captain Morley (GB) (Hernando {Fr}) had impressed when winning a Doncaster handicap by four lengths on his latest start, and Simcock is delighted to have found a new owner for the gelding. “He's a lovely horse and, knowing him well, I feel there's a bit left in the tank,” he explained. “His last performance was his best one, and it was the first time trip and ground were both perfect.” He was followed immediately into the ring by another gelding discarded by Qatar Racing. Fog Of War (GB) (Azamour {Ire}) had made into a useful handicapper for Ger Lyons and, as lot 725 , had the right profile for Anthony Stroud at 125,000gns. It would be no surprise to see him resurface at the Dubai Carnival, but plans remain fluid for Sacrificial (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}), another gelding hitherto trained for Qatar Racing by Lyons, who fetched 130,000gns from Jeremy Brummitt as lot 771. Sacrificial had featured on a shortlist of two for Brummitt after finishing third in the Britannia Handicap. “We were underbidder yesterday for Flaming Spear (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), from the same draft,” he said. “We thought that they had bought two clean horses to the sale, with the scope to make very nice four-year-olds, and we're delighted to have bought one of them after they've put so much into racing.”
Master Of Irony, another surplus to Qatar Racing's requirements despite proving upwardly mobile in just four starts for Ralph Beckett, was secured for the same price after Harold Kirk, standing by the top window, and Eddie O'Leary, down on the rope, were each goaded by the auctioneer's warning that “you're going to have to look at him every Saturday.” It was Kirk who prevailed for lot 652 on behalf of Willie Mullins, though Ireland's champion jumps trainer could well deploy his latest recruit to enhance an increasing profile on the Flat. “He's a good-looking, progressive horse out of a Sadler's Wells mare and, with Makfis tending to go on soft ground, he can make up into a very useful dual-purpose horse,” Kirk reasoned. “He'll certainly stay a mile and a quarter on the Flat and those types will tend to get two over jumps, so I hope he can be a very good hurdles horse – but we'd hope he wouldn't be finished on the Flat either.”
Of all the Qatar Racing draft, Pallasator (GB) (Motivator {GB}) was the one thought most likely to be bookmarked by the top jump racing agents. Sir Mark Prescott regards the protection of his horses' residual value as a key service to his patrons, and the Heath House string as always provided a splendid spectacle as they were ridden through the town after nightfall by riders in high-visibility jackets. But the Doncaster Cup winner was unable to muster the expected interest as lot 745 and was bought in for 150,000 guineas. But the return to Richard Hannon's stable of the Classic-placed Shifting Power (GB) (Compton Place {GB}) was secured on behalf of a new owner. Ross Doyle signed a 72,000gns docket for lot 458, runner-up in the Irish 2,000 Guineas last year. “He'll be a Saturday horse, suited by the Group Twos and Threes,” Doyle said. “I thought he was good value.” It was a fairly trying session for Jassim Ghazali, who missed out on both its top lots and was also unable to match Ted Voute's offer of 120,000gns for lot 738 . Winner of his sole start at two, Peterhof (GB) (Dansili {GB}) had made the podium in four consecutive handicaps for Sir Michael Stoute this season and struck Voute as a good fit for a brief from Prince Faisal bin Khalid. “He has been bought for the King's Cup in Saudi Arabia,” Voute explained. “Horses have to be rated over 80 and he has also shown form on faster ground. He'll be shipping straight off, and will be in Saudi in 21 days.”
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