Click here to add us to your Google preferred sources or find out more here
There was a sense of deja vu when the top lot on day two of the Tattersalls July Sale was bought online. Twenty four hours earlier it was Ace Stud who dropped 500,000gns on the blue-blooded Renaissance Lady.
Plenty of those at Park Paddocks expected the same name to appear when the talented Aegina fetched 240,000gns, but on this occasion it was Nick Turnbull’s County Durham-based Elwick Stud who claimed the spoils.
Aegina ran four times for Donnacha O’Brien and Skara Glen Stables. She finished runner-up on her first two outings and then picked up valuable black type when third to Ipanema Queen in the Listed Legacy Stakes. She landed short odds on her fourth and most recent outing, clearing away with a Dundalk maiden by three and a half lengths.
She has not been seen on the racecourse since last October, but Elwick’s stud manager Gary Moore said the team hoped to send the three-year-old daughter of Havana Grey back into training in due course.
“She’s a lovely filly,” said Moore. “She was the only one we wanted to buy and she’ll come back to us for a rest before we make any plans. She’s got a bit of a quarter crack [to her hoof], so we’ll fix that and see what she’s like.
“We’ll do what’s best by her, we don’t want to do anything daft, but we’ll aim to send her back into training, whether that’s this year or next year. Hopefully she can pick up some more black type. We bought her to be a broodmare really, the racing bit is just an added bonus to be honest.”
The stakes-placed Aegina in the Park Paddocks ringCredit: Tattersalls/Laura Green
He added: “Nick picked her out, I went down and saw her and loved her straight away. She’s not over big but she’s strong, she’s a really strong filly. He’ll want to see her himself before he decides who might train her. We’re always trying to upgrade our mares though and she looked like an ideal candidate.”
Aegina, who was presented by The Castlebridge Consignment, was making her second appearance at the sales. The first saw her bring £240,000 from Mark McStay’s Avenue Bloodstock at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale.
She is the first foal out of the Showcasing mare Twist Of Hay, meaning she is bred on the same cross as exciting Norfolk Stakes scorer Orthodox. There is plenty of talent high up in the pedigree as the dam is a winning half-sister to Group 3 Athasi Stakes winner Twilight Spinner.
Horse-in-training buys have served the Elwick Stud team well down the years, with Lord Glitters and Mondialiste both landing top-level laurels in the Turnbull silks.
A new name makes his mark
Plenty of familiar faces were in action at Park Paddocks on Wednesday. However, a new name appeared on the buyers’ sheet when owner Raj Singh made a couple of noteworthy purchases, led by the 215,000gns acquisition of the smart Capall Rasa.
The progressive three-year-old won twice for Tom Dascombe, with back-to-back victories coming in a novice event at Southwell and a Class 4 nursery at the same venue. The son of Footstepsinthesand produced a career-best effort on the figures last time out when fifth, beaten just two lengths by the winner Moonfall, in the Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot. That effort was given a Racing Post Rating (RPR) of 95.
Singh signed the ticket himself before delegating press duties to his trainer, Ed Bethell.
The progressive Capall Rasa sells to Raj Singh for 215,000gnsCredit: Tattersalls
“He looks like a fun horse and ran a big race in the Britannia,” said Bethell from his ringside seat. “He’s really very progressive and he’s got a nice profile. His new owner, Mr Singh, is new to the game and wants some horses to take him to the good days. Fingers crossed he’s that type. He’ll come back to us, we’ll see where we’re at with him and train him for some of the big days.”
This was Capall Rasa’s second spin around the sales ring. His first came at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, when he made €68,000 to the bid of Dascombe and Sackville Donald.
“When you bring them to a sale, you’ve got to be happy when you sell them,” said Dascombe. “I wish the horse and the owner all the best. I’ll give him a discount if he’ll send the horse back to me! I’m happy enough though, you always hope for more but he sold and that’s it.”
Singh also spent 90,000gns on Juddmonte’s Chantilly scorer Firefall.
Sharkey goes into a six-figure Realm
There was no shortage of interested parties when Juddmonte’s Guardian Of Realm came on the market. Grant ‘Badger’ Pritchard-Gordon and Alastair Donald helped to force the issue, but matters eventually boiled down to Fernando Laffon Lomba and Colm Sharkey.
Laffon Lomba raised his hand to signal a bid of 205,000gns from his position by the gangway, but quickly gave a dejected shake of the head when Sharkey returned in kind to take the price to 210,000gns.
Guardian Of Realm made five starts for Ger Lyons, with her best effort coming last time out. She showed a chunk of improvement to claim a Fairyhouse maiden by six lengths. That performance, her first over a mile and a quarter, saw her achieve an RPR of 90.
Colm Sharkey: “I wasn’t going to lose her for a bid.”Credit: Tattersalls
“Black type is the aim, obviously,” said Sharkey, who delivered the winning bid from down the back stairs. “She looks progressive. She vetted very well and came highly recommended. She’s been bought for an Irish client. I had 200,000gns in my head, but I wasn’t going to lose her for a bid.”
The three-year-old filly is by Kingman and is the eighth foal out of Listed scorer Principal Role. This makes her a sibling to four winners, including Flight Leader, whose biggest success came in the Group 3 Prix Noailles.
Principal Role is a sibling of Grade 1 Charles Whittingham Handicap winner Midships, while another sibling produced the German Group 1 heroine Temida.
Guardian Of Realm is knocked down to Colm Sharkey for 210,000gnsCredit: Tattersalls
Juddmonte sold 18 lots for gross receipts of 1,045,000gns and an average price of 58,056gns.
Gordon Elliott was among the buyers to dip into the draft when signing at 120,000gns for Contador. The three-year-old son of Kingman, out of a Galileo half-sister to Special Duty, ran twice for Francis Graffard, with his best effort coming last time out when runner-up over a mile and a half at Lyon Parilly.
Swan in action for Replay
Yaupon De Replay could be set to ship back across the Atlantic after realising 200,000gns. The talented three-year-old was last seen sporting the familiar colours of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, who owned the Joseph O’Brien-trained filly with partners Middle Cow and Kevin Blake. She was knocked down to Charlie Swan, who signed BBA Ireland’s name on the ticket.
Swan was unable to shed much light on future plans, but confirmed he had not been acting on behalf of his regular client JP McManus. “She could be going to America, but I’m not 100 per cent sure yet,” he added.
This was Yaupon De Replay’s fourth visit to the sales. She first changed hands as a foal at Fasig-Tipton in November 2023, where Enfuego Stables signed the ticket at $105,000. She reappeared at the following year’s Keeneland September Sale, where she was knocked down to Miacomet Bloodstock at an improved $150,000.
She then fetched the same price at the Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale, where O’Brien’s Carriganog outfit made the signing that saw the youngster transfer from the US to County Kilkenny.
Charlie Swan was on bidding duty on WednesdayCredit: Tattersalls
Yaupon De Replay was set a stiff task on racecourse debut in the Blenheim Stakes over 6f at Fairyhouse, but passed with flying colours to claim valuable Listed honours. She soon found herself with all 11 rivals in front of her, but could be seen travelling much the best with two furlongs still to run.
She quickened up smartly to take the lead entering the final furlong, and showed a bit of grit to hold off the persistent challenge of runner-up Chicago Call.
That effort was given an RPR of 94, a figure she was not to match again until her most recent outing. She was last seen finishing a short-head second to L L Koulsty, to whom she was conceding 15lbs, in a conditions event at Naas on Saturday.
She is from the debut crop of Spendthrift Farm’s Yaupon. The son of Uncle Mo is best remembered for winning a dramatic renewal of the Grade 1 Forego Stakes in which runner-up Firenze Fire attempted to savage the winner during the business end of the seven-furlong contest.
Yaupon De Replay is the first foal out of the prolific Malibu Mischief, a daughter of Goldencents who won 11 races and was placed in stakes company.
Seagolazo swaps Ascot for Qatar
Hugo Palmer’s Seagolazo has been declared to run at Ascot on Friday, but will miss his intended target and reroute to Qatar having gone the way of leading trainer Gassim Al Ghazali at 160,000gns.
Seagolazo has won one of 18 starts and reached the podium six times, netting prize-money of £53,917. He was bought as a Book 1 yearling at 82,000gns. He reached a peak RPR of 97 for Palmer.
The four-year-old son of Havana Grey was owned by the Two Plus Three Two Plus Four partnership, which includes former England internationals James Milner and Danny Welbeck. He was sold through The Castlebridge Consignment.
Gassim Al Ghazali: “He was a little bit expensive, but I think he’s a good horse.”Credit: Alisha Meeder
“He’s a nice horse, a tough horse,” said Al Ghazali. “I think he’ll suit Qatar, where he’ll get his preferred ground. I hope he can go for some good races in Qatar, maybe something like the Amir Shalfa. I won the race this year with Basalt, who I bought at this sale last year [for 220,000gns]. I bought this horse for the same owner [Mansoor Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud]. Yes, he was a little bit expensive, but I think he’s a good horse. I like him a lot.”
Despite the sale of Seagolazo, the Two Plus Three Two Plus Four partners still have plenty to look forward to with their current flag bearer Seagulls Eleven, who is being aimed at the Group 2 Summer Mile at Ascot on Saturday.
Andrew Balding’s smart Regal Ulixes is also heading to Qatar. The three-time winner was initially unsold at 190,000gns, but was signed for by agent Will Douglass in a deal outside the ring worth 200,000gns.
While this did not look like a vintage July Sale catalogue on paper, there was still intense demand for the stock on offer. This was illustrated in the clearest terms by day two achieving a clearance rate of 95 per cent, with a remarkable 175 lots selling from 185 offered.
Turnover hit 5,579,500gns, which was down 28 per cent year-on-year. The average price was down 21 per cent against the corresponding session at 31,883gns, while the median dropped 20 per cent to 16,000gns.
The Tattersalls July Sale concludes on Thursday, with the morning session beginning at 10am.
More to read:
No need for make believe as a late winner brings the smoke in Deauville