Juddmonte Draft A Standing Dish At Tattersalls

The sheer breadth of the Tattersalls December Mares catalogue makes it a must-not-miss event for any serious breeder in the bloodstock world and one draft that can be relied upon to have global pulling power is the annual consignment from the powerhouse that is Juddmonte.

Split into two batches—with in-foal mares selling on Monday and fillies just out of training going through the ring on Wednesday—there is ample opportunity to buy into a range of successful families. Furthermore, buyers can usually be safe in the knowledge that the family is still working for you from within the Juddmonte operation.

The dual group winner and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf runner-up Daahyeh (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) is just one example of how of a fellow breeding operation—in this case John Deer's Oakgrove Stud—has benefited from having invested in a mare from the Juddmonte draft. Her dam Affluent (GB) (Oasis Dream [GB}) was bought carrying the Roger Varian trainee for 35,000gns three years ago.

“There are plenty of stories of half-sisters to Enable (GB) and others being sold before they were famous,” says Juddmonte's racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe. “That is an added incentive to the buyer because we are intrinsically a homebred operation and the success and future success of the stud is very important.”

Even within large-scale owner-breeder operations, not every horse bred can be kept and the key to ongoing success is the selective pruning of the broodmare band. Just because a certain filly or mare is deemed surplus to requirement in the Juddmonte harvest, however, doesn't mean that she won't prove fruitful for other breeders. And the decision-making process within the Juddmonte team each year is a careful one.

Grimthorpe explains, “We consider a number factors in terms of ability, pedigree, the numbers we have already at home in the stud book and what would suit our stallions to a certain extent. In other words, when we look at all these factors we try to look at the combination together, and of course the individual herself is important if she is to be retained.

“Juddmonte needs to be kept very tight which is why we let some of the horses go to the market that might not otherwise go. And of course this is all done in discussion with Prince Khalid and the family as to what they would like to do. It's a detailed process.”

The draft kicks off with the 11-year-old Dansili (GB) mare All Time (GB), a winning sister to the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud victrix Passage Of Time (GB). The latter is also the dam of National Stud stallion Time Test (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), whose first foals have been well received at Tattersalls in the last week. All Time sells as lot 1471 in foal to another Juddmonte gradute by Dubawi, the Prix du Jockey Club winner New Bay (GB).

Seven lots later (1478) comes the 4-year-old Impede (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) from another well established Juddmonte family. Her dam Coraline (GB) (Sadler's Wells) is the dam of three stallions: Reefscape (GB), Coastal Path (GB) and Martaline (GB), the latter, who died last week, having been a successful flagbearer for Haras de Montaigu under both codes. This is also the family of Juddmonte stallions Oasis Dream (GB), Kingman (GB) and former Banstead Manor Stud resident Beat Hollow (GB). Impede has an early March 7 cover to another Juddmonte-bred, Whitsbury Manor Stud's popular stallion Showcasing (GB).

Another terrific family is represented by the next lot in the ring (1479), Treat Gently (GB) (Cape Cross [Ire}), who was a Group/Grade 2 winner in France and the U.S. and is out of a half-sister to the great Hasili (GB). To date she has produced two winners by Speightstown and she is now in foal to Juddmonte's new recruit, the GI Breeders' Cup Mile winner Expert Eye (GB).

Another to note among the in-foal mares on Monday is lot 1481, Popular (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), a winning sister to the brilliant racemare Midday (GB). The latter is already the dam of two stakes winners and Popular's runners include the dual winner and listed-placed In Favour (GB) (Frankel {GB}). She is another in the draft to have been covered by Expert Eye.

The second half of the draft on Wednesday features a close relation to one of the best juveniles of the 2019 season, Siskin (First Defence). Lot 2111 is Clematis, a winning 3-year-old daughter of First Defence out of a half-sister to Siskin's dam, while another of their half-sisters has produced the Grade I winners Close Hatches and Lockdown.

Another winning 3-year-old is Frisella (GB) (2115), by Frankel out of Panzanella (GB), a Dansili half-sister to Kingman, while Kingman himself features as the sire of Racine (GB) (2126), a 3-year-old daughter of the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner Proportional (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}) and a half-sister to the listed winner Variable (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).

Racine is followed by lot 2127, the 3-year-old Raconteuse (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) out of the Galileo (Ire) mare Galileo Always (Ire) and from the family of Urban Sea. The draft will be concluded by lot 2139, the 73-rated juvenile filly Eventful (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who was second at Wolverhampton on Saturday for Hugo Palmer, the third time she has been placed this season. Her dam Spectacle (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}) is a half-sister to the Derby and Arc winner Workforce (GB) (King's Best).

“The demand for our drafts pays a big compliment to Prince Khalid and to Juddmonte,” says Grimthorpe. “We're very aware of that and we always say that one of the great advantages of buying from Juddmonte is what is still in the pipeline in the various families.”

As well as Tattersalls providing a great trading opportunity during its final sale of the year, for the breeding community it is also presents the chance to visit the stallions and, for Juddmonte's clients, the perfect place for a spot of socialising through the week.

Grimthorpe adds, “The December sale has always been a great melting pot of international breeders and I think we have to have some horses in order to attract them but equally so you definitely want to be able to say 'come and have a nice cup of coffee or a bit more than that', and I think that the marquee that we have every year is an important part of that for us.”