Speculators Accumulate At BBAG

South Africa's Mayfair Speculators have already made their presence felt this summer at Arqana's August Sale and they were the dominant buying force at the BBAG Yearling Sale at Iffezheim when signing for eight lots, including the sale-topper at €500,000. Sea The Stars (Ire) has already been responsible for a German Derby winner in Sea The Moon (Ger) and his sole yearling in the auction lot 173 – a half-sister to G1 Preis von Europa winner Empoli (Ger) (Halling) – stole the show when offered through Ronald Rauscher's draft for breeder Gestut Ebbesloh.

“I love coming to this sale, it's the best-kept secret,” said Mayfair Speculators' Markus Jooste, who, as usual when buying in Europe, had engaged the services of agents Peter and Ross Doyle. “We were pleased to be able to buy some nice horses here – the last time we bought at Baden-Baden was four years ago, when we bought [Listed winner and Group 2 runner-up] Simba (GB) – so it's good to be back.” He added, “I'll be going to Goffs' Orby Sale in Ireland for the first time later this month. We have so many friends in Ireland so I'm interested to see that that sale is like, then it will be on to Tattersalls in October.”
Jooste and his buying partners have previously had horses in training in Germany with Andreas Wohler, while they also use Andre Fabre and Nicolas Clement in France, Aidan O'Brien in Ireland and William Haggas in Britain.

Ronald Rauscher, who prepared the sales-topping filly said, “It's been a good day. It started a little slowly but has picked up now. I've been tracking this filly since she was weaned and she's from a slow-maturing family so we didn't want to push her but she has taken the sales prep really well and came to hand quite quickly. She has a lovely positive attitude and was well looked after at the farm before she came to us.”

Mayfair Speculators also added two Exceed And Excel colts, lots 80 and 160, to its European team for 2017 and beyond, paying €180,000 for a son of Listed winner Nianga (Ger) (Lomitas {GB}) form the Fahrhof draft and €140,000 for Gestut Schlenderhan's colt out of G1 Preis der Diana winner Amarette (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}). As well as an existing partnership with Coolmore, which was reinforced with the purchase of two Galileo fillies at Arqana last month, Mayfair has also entered into a partnership with Gestut Fahrhof for lot 151, the only yearling by Siyouni (Fr) in the catalogue, which had travelled to Germany from Normandy's Haras de Grancamp. The second foal of the unraced Doyen (GB) mare Sassicaia (Ger), a half-sister to G2 Premio Ribot winner Santiago (Ger) (Highest Honor {Fr}), sold for €110,000.

An improved clearance rate of 79%, up from 71% last year, with 185 of the 235 horses offered finding a buyer, helped the turnover for the sale shoot up to €8,426,500, an improvement of 31%. The average also improved, by 10.5%, to €45,458.

Soldier a fighting force…
Soldier Hollow (GB) (In The Wings {GB}) reaffirmed his position as Germany's leading sire as three of his yearlings filled the next three slots on the leader board with price tags of €300,000, €250,000 and €240,000. Atop the pile was Jamie Railton's selection, lot 171 , Gestut Rottgen's half-sister to the black-type earners El Loco (Ger) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and Elora Princess (Ger) (Desert Prince {Ire}) whose dam Elora (Ger) (Alkalde {Ger}) is a winning half-sister to G1 Preis der Diana winner Enora (Ger) (Noverre). “She's a really good walker with a nice wide forehead. I expected to have to pay a bit more,” said the filly's new owner Manfred Ostermann, sitting with Peter Schiergen, who will train her. The combination of Rottgen and Soldier Hollow was also to the fore for the third-most expensive yearling of the session, lot 157 who was bought by Jeremy Brummitt on behalf of an unnamed client for €250,000. “He's the nicest Soldier Hollow I've ever seen so if I'm right he should be very good,” said the agent, who confirmed that the colt would be exported to be trained in England. The yearling in question is from one of Rottgen's most successful families and, named Winston (Ger), he is the first foal of the multiple Group-placed winner Wilddrossel (Ger), a Dalakhani half-sister to G2 Park Hill S. victrix Wild Coco (Ger) (Shirocco {Ger}).

The trio of best-selling Soldier Hollows was completed by lot 161, consigned by Ronald Rauscher on behalf of breeder Gestut Schlenderhan. Mark Richards signed the ticket at €240,000 for the colt by a stallion who has continued to impress the Hong Kong Jockey Club buyer.

He said, “This is the third yearling by Soldier Hollow we've bought. The first was the champion Griffin in Hong Kong in his year and was able to win over 1000 and 1200 metres, and the one we bought here last year is going along nicely. He seems to get horses who are not just sound of limb but also sound of mind, which is of course important. He's obviously not a speed sire as such but his stock appear to be able to cope with being trained early and have a turn of foot. We've been really encouraged by him.” Richards later added lot 235, Gestur Fahrhof's colt by Iffraaj (GB) out of the Listed-placed Neuquen (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), to his purchases when going to €200,000.

Rising son…
For years, Monsun (Ger) has been a dominant force in European bloodstock and nowhere more so than in his native country. His death almost exactly four years ago robbed the German stallion ranks of its star performer but Monsun's name lives on through his exciting young son Maxios (GB), whose first-crop yearlings made an explosive debut at BBAG. Three made it into the top ten while a total of 16 sold for an average just shy of €74,000.

A colt named Woodmax (Ger), lot 156, a half-brother to last year's €400,000 BBAG sale-topper Woodkid (Ger) (New Approach {Ire}) was the leading light at €240,000 and was one of a number of purchases by Mayfair Speculators and Peter Doyle & Ross Doyle Bloodstock. The son of the Listed-winning Oasis Dream (GB) mare Waldtraut (Ger) was the highlight of another good draft from Gestut Brummerhof, which also included lot 56, a son of Maxios from another branch of the same family.

Named Wild Max (Ger), the colt is out of a Group 3-placed half-sister to GI Man O'War S. winner Wake Forest (Ger) (Sir Percy {GB}) and was bought to race for the syndicate which owns G1 Melbourne Cup winner Protectionist (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}). Ronald Rauscher had the final say at €220,000 and commented, “He's been bought for Australian Bloodstock and will stay in Germany to be trained by Andreas Wohler. It's a family Andreas knows well and I thought he was the most outstanding Maxios here at this sale.”

Rauscher switched back from buyer to consignor seven lots later when offering a Pivotal (GB) filly lot 63 out of the Listed winner Chantra (Ger) (Lando {Ger}) on behalf of breeder Janet Ostermann of Gestut Haus Itlingen.“She's been bought for Stall Perlan and will be trained by Norway's champion trainer Wido Neuroth,” said agent Peter Doyle as he signed for the full-sister to G3 Hamburger Meile winner Calyxa (GB). He added, “We bought a very good filly by Pivotal here two years ago called Angel Love and she's now the top filly in Scandinavia.”
Power partnership…
A partnership between Maxios's owner-breeder, the Niarchos family's Flaxman Holdings, and Andreas Jacobs's Gestut Fahrhof, which stands the stallion, was responsible for two noteworthy purchases of Maxios yearlings, with Alan Cooper leading the bidding to claim lot 133 Mystic Sunshine (Ger), a filly out of the winning Sholokhov (Ire) mare Ma Coeur (Fr) at €130,000.
“We had a bit of a battle for her but she's a nice-moving filly from a very good breeder,” said Cooper of the Gestut Etzean consignee. “We've bought her in partnership with Andreas, who is a great believer in Maxios, as is Maria [Niarchos]. We've sent him a lot of mares and will be putting plenty into training. We've been thrilled to hear from a number of breeders that he seems to be betting horses with very good temperaments and they are all good walkers. Jonathan Pease, who trained Maxios, is here with us selecting some horses and he says that he can see a lot of Maxios in his offspring.”

Pease, who guided Maxios to five Group wins, including the G1 Prix du Moulin and G1 Prix d'Ispahan, and also trained his G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe-winning half-brother Bago (Fr) (Nashwan), concurred with Cooper's comments, saying, “He really does seem to be stamping his stock. Some of them are on the smaller side, as he was as a young horse, but he has sired some lovely yearlings. Andreas Jacobs confirmed that Maxios was sent 110 mares this season and has covered more than 100 in each of his first three seasons at stud.
The same partnership also bought lot 126 , Stauffenberg Bloodstock's colt out of La Reine Noir (Ger), a Rainbow Quest (GB) half-sister to G1 Prix de l'Opera winner Lady Marian (Ger) (Nayef) for €80,000.