World leading prices of 4,800,000 guineas and 4,500,000 guineas for fillies sold in training were realised by Group 1 winners BARNAVARA and PORTA FORTUNA at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale on a day which saw turnover of 57,695,415 guineas exceed the previous record for the highest grossing day in European auction history, set at the December Mares Sale last year. 11 lots were sold for a million guineas or more, a record equalling number for the sale.
World Leading 4.8m Guineas for Group 1 Winner Barnavara
BARNAVARA became the highest priced filly in training sold in the world this year when realising 4.8m guineas to Sugar Whiskey Trading, bidding online, who saw off a determined effort by bloodstock agent Henry Lascelles to secure the Prix de l’Opera winner.
The three-year-old was offered by Baroda Stud on behalf of trainer Jessie Harrington and owners Alpha Racing for whom the daughter of CALYX won three Group races this year, culminating in a brilliant win at Longchamp on Arc day.
“Jeepers! That was more than my wildest dreams, we sort of thought in our excitement that she might make three million guineas,” said Harrington. “The bidding sort of stopped at 1.5 million, and I was a little worried but then it went on and on and on and on. I promise you it is amazing.
“We thought she was only just growing into herself. She went on improving all year, she is a very big filly, but she is amazing. She actually won her maiden in May, then we ran her in Listed and Group races and she was getting placed and she was not finishing out her races, and I think she was going through a little bit of a weak stage. Her first run this year was not good, but then it just all came together and from then it has been brilliant.”
Of Alpha Racing, Harrington added: “Alpha Racing was set up by Richie Galway my son-in-law, Patrick Cooper and Legs Lawlor. The idea is to buy yearlings, race them, have fun, and then hopefully let it wash its face every year, they are sold at the end of their three-year-old season. Everyone has had fun doing it and a lot of the syndicate are here today, three people have come from the US! There are twelve shares in this group…. I think for the yearlings we have bought for the syndicate this year we are rather oversubscribed!”
Baroda Stud’s David Cox commented: “She looked amazing, she has an amazing race record and she is on the up. There is a lot of racing left in her, and Jessica and her team have done a great job with her. It is great for the syndicate, I have two friends in it myself – they love racing, their dad had not been too well and so I told them to get involved and have some fun – they have had the time of their lives and they can’t believe it! The win in France is number one for them, and they are delighted with tonight.
“Everyone has got a big kick out of it – Patrick [Cooper] and Richie [Galway] buying her, Adrian at home who rides her out, it is big team. It is the biggest result for Baroda in the ring too, it is a great result.”
BARNAVARA is out of the KENTUCKY DYNAMITE mare ALFEA from the deep European family of dual Classic winner and leading stallion LOPE DE VEGA and was bought as a yearling for €70,000 by BBA Ireland.
Champion Filly Porta Fortuna to M V Magnier for 4.5m Guineas
“Practically perfect in every way” was how auctioneer John O’Kelly introduced PORTA FORTUNA to a packed Tattersalls sales ring and the dual Royal Ascot and four-time Group 1 winner lived up to expectations when selling for 4,500,000 guineas to M V Magnier, the second highest priced filly in training sold in the world this year.
Consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency and trained by Donnacha O’Brien for a partnership of Medallion Racing, Steve Weston, Dean Reeves and Barry Fowler, PORTA FORTUNA was the outstanding filly of her generation winning the Group 3 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at two, before a historic treble of Group 1 races in the Coronation Stakes, the Falmouth Stakes and the Matron Stakes at three.
M V Magnier commented: “Donnacha has done an incredible job with her. She is a very good filly, she is very talented. She is a lovely filly, loads of quality and hopefully she can breed one as good as her. Coming here we put a good bit of thought to it, and there is a good chance she could go to Starspangledbanner.”
“This is why everyone tries to be in the game, to have horses like this,” said an emotional Phillip Shelton, racing manager of Medallion Racing. “For our partnership and for me personally she has taken us to a stratosphere we could never have dreamed about, it is a huge honour and privilege to be a part of the journey. You are more nervous before a race, but I was pacing back there!
“But at the end of the day she does not owe us anything. She is going to a great home, it will be fun to get to watch and she is going to be just down the road from Donnacha. It is not often you have this unbelievable race record and then you pull the filly out of the stall and they are nice as her. She has unbelievable presence and an unbelievable mind, and I think that was part of the reason she was so successful on the track.
“I think there was the pressure coming in – this was the end of our chapter, our story, it has been an incredible journey and we wanted this to go well more for her than anything, we are so far ahead financially that we just wanted her to have this moment. She has been a queen every step of the way. Horses are just amazing, they can take you to places and experiences that you can never dream about, when you look back you realise how fortunate you are.
“We were lucky enough to buy into her, it has been a great start of a journey with Donnacha and we have a bunch more horses with him. We have five yearlings, six two-year-olds, we sold Sharpen well here yesterday. It has been an incredible run – we have enjoyed all of it and it comes back to the horse, we are just along for the ride. We just pay the bills and get out the top hat! And I put it on before coming here to reminisce!”
By SCAT DADDY’s brilliant juvenile CARAVAGGIO, PORTA FORTUNA is out of a HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR own-sister to the three-time Group 2 winner and multiple Group 1 runner up NUMERIAN from the Classic Aga Khan family of European Champion MILAN, Yorkshire Oaks heroine KEY CHANGE and the brilliant dual Derby winner KAHYASI.
M V Magnier Secures Sun Chariot Winner Tamfana for 2.6m Guineas
M V Magnier struck later in the session for a second Group 1 winning filly when securing TAMFANA for 2,600,000 guineas. Quantum Leap Racing’s Sun Chariot Stakes winner was trained by David Menuisier and was a Group winner at two and twice Classic placed at three when narrowly defeated in the 1000 Guineas and the Prix de Diane.
“It is an incredible amount of money, I would have had fifty percent, and she goes to a really good home,” said Menuisier. “She will have the perfect life, they also bought the mare and so they have a full-brother to go into training next year – I am sure we will have a few boxes available if they are wanting to have a nice new venture!
“I am over the moon. I was a bit worried at the start of the bidding, she stalled at 950,000 guineas! You have to be delighted as it is a Cinderella story. You buy horses at that level to have a bit of fun, you don’t expect to have a return, you don’t expect to try and win the Guineas, which she could have done. She has taken us on a magical journey. We can only be proud of what she has done.”
Quantum Leap Racing’s Niall O’Connor said: “It is a dream. What we also dream of is running the horse and running in some big races. It is no secret we have turned down some big money for this horse over the last couple of seasons, we were bold enough, stupid enough and brave enough to keep racing her and to do what a syndicate is set up to do, race the horse, enjoy the racing. It has come to the end now and I am pleased we have got a good result, I think we deserve it.”
Eamonn O’Connor added: “It has been the biggest privilege to be on the sale ground consigning a filly like Tamfana, she has her quirks which makes it more fun but she is such a likeable horse, everyone who looked at her loved her, she came out of her box and strutted her stuff.”
The daughter of German Champion sire SOLDIER HOLLOW was bought for just €20,000 as a yearling by Jeremy Brummitt and is from the family of Grade 1 Beverley D Stakes winner SEA CALISI from a deep German family.
Oakgrove’s Saqqara Sands Bound For America at 2.1m Guineas
Oakgrove Stud enjoyed a spectacular result at the December Mares Sale with their homebred filly SAQQARA SANDS who was knocked down for 2,100,000 guineas to Stephen Hillen on behalf of M V Magnier and Michael Tabor.
“I really liked her runs at Goodwood. She’ll go to America,” revealed Hillen. “I think she’ll be good on a turning track and there’s plenty of races for her there. She’s run to a rating of 110, that’s usually good enough to win Grade 1s in America. There’s lots of money there and she’s still young. She’s for MV Magnier and Michael Tabor, that’s a bit out of my league! They’ll make training plans but I’m very lucky to be able to buy her. It was plenty of money for her but she’s got a good shot.”
Trained by Ralph Beckett for owner John Deer, the three-year-old has been first or second on seven of her eight starts including an impressive win in the Group 3 Oak Tree Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.
Oakgrove’s stud manager David Hilton commented: “I can’t believe it, it is fantastic result for the stud and the Deer family who have put a hell of a lot into the sport and massive investment over a lot of years, and they deserve a big result.
“Saqqara Sands oozes quality as a physical and has a temperament to match, she has a great race record but I think she stood out as a quality filly. We were two generations deep now, she is the first foal out of Royal Star who is a Sea The Stars mare, and she is by Oasis Dream so it is everything that everyone wants. Royal Star is a young mare too. We did not value her quite there, but Stephen Hillen loved her to go to the US. We had some very determined underbidders who we need to thank also to help to achieve that price.”
The daughter of OASIS DREAM is from the excellent Wildenstein family of multiple Gr.1 winners AQUARELLISTE, ARCANGUES and ARTISTE ROYALE and her granddam ALTESSE IMPERIALE was bought by Oakgrove from the Tattersalls December Mares Sale in 2014.
Choisya to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for 2m Guineas
The fifth filly to realise 2,000,000 guineas or more at the December Mares Sale was the Grade 1 winner CHOISYA who was purchased by Stroud Coleman Bloodstock’s Anthony Stroud, with bloodstock agent Mark McStay the underbidder.
Offered by her trainers’ Simon and Ed Crisford’s Gainsborough Thoroughbreds, the daughter of NIGHT OF THUNDER has been a star performer on the international stage winning the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes in America and the Group 2 Balanchine Stakes in Dubai this year.
“She is for an overseas client, and it is not Godolphin!” revealed Stroud. “I am delighted to have got her, we had that sort of price in mind and I think she is a good buy. She stays in Europe, and I would love to be able to talk to Juddmonte about a Frankel cover.”
Ed Crisford commented: “She is a lovely racemare and her owner Mr Nabouda was delighted with her career and felt that now was the time to sell her, we are delighted with the result. She started at a low level and worked her way up. It wasn’t really until earlier this year that she really turned the taps on and looked like a proper filly. She just took a long time to come to hand in that sense. When we took her out to Dubai and to that American style of racing, she just loved it, it was the key to her. The quick ground and the turns and the bends. That was the spark that pulled her forward.”
The five-year-old is out of the Listed placed SINGSPIEL mare FRAGRANCY from the family of Godolphin’s multiple Group 1 winning fillies HIBAAYEB and WUHEIDA and the 1985 Triple Crown winner OH SO SHARP.
The Tattersalls December Mares Sale continues with the third and final session on Wednesday, 3rd December at 9.30am.
