STRONG demand for quality foals, and in particular for well-bred fillies, was the key positive to be taken from the recent Tattersalls December Foal Sale which concluded last Saturday with a number of new records. Seven of the top nine lots were fillies.

On the downside, the gulf between the best and the rest widened as stock at the lower end of the market failed to find buyers, increasing the percentage of unsold lots to 30% of those offered for sale. This contraction mirrored the trade at earlier yearling sales and is a cause for concern for breeders in this sector of the market.

The fact was not lost on Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony in his summing up: “While we can reflect on the positive aspects of this week’s December Foal Sale and also the record breaking Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, we should not overlook the challenges that currently exist in certain sectors of the bloodstock market.

“The overall clearance rate this week has fallen and it is abundantly clear that the current imbalance between supply and demand at the lower end of the market is an issue for all concerned.”

RECORD NUMBERS

Nonetheless, it was a week of trade that most observers would have not predicated in the lead up to the sale. The four-day aggregate of just short of 35 million guineas was a record, as was the average of 51,285gns. The median was a record-equalling 25,000gns.

These achievements were an obvious source of pleasure for Mahony. “The world’s highest priced filly foal in 2018, new record December foal turnover, as well as an unprecedented number of foals selling for 500,000gns or more [nine] and also for 100,000gns or more [82] are all heartening statistics to be able to take from this week’s Tattersalls December Foal Sale.

“Above all, the sale has confirmed that the demand for quality stock remains robust and we must thank the consignors who have presented some truly outstanding foals this week for their confidence in Europe’s premier foal sale. All week the buyers have commented on the quality of the foals on offer here at Park Paddocks and despite uncertainties in the market place, the cream of the British and Irish foal crop has been met with enthusiasm by pinhookers and end users alike.

“As ever, the pinhookers have worked tirelessly all week and we look forward to seeing a large number of this week’s purchases returning to Tattersalls as yearlings next October. The sale has also been targeted by a large number of the world’s leading owners with international buyers from Australia, Dubai, France, Japan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the USA all making significant contributions to a sale which has produced the 16 highest priced foals sold in Britain and Ireland this year.”

RECORD-BREAKING

Friday’s session was a remarkable day of selling. It produced the highest-priced filly foal in the world in 2018, the 12 highest-priced foals of the week, and a record-breaking turnover for a foal session at Tattersalls. A total of 172 lots sold for 21,136,500gns, an average of 122,887gns and a median of 70,000gns. Turnover for the day was up 24% on last year’s corresponding session, and the average and median rose 22% and 8% respectively.

Some of the highlights on the day, in addition to those reported last week, were a pair of Frankel fillies who each brought the hammer down at 700,000gns. First to the mark was the daughter of the Group 3 winner Middle Club who was knocked down to Hugo Lascelles. Consigned by Jeanette McCreery’s Stowell Hill Stud, the filly’s dam was sold at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale in 2010 for 280,000gns.

McCreery explained: “She was bred at Stowell and raced by my late husband Bob. We sold her at the December Mare Sale to race in the US, and she visited Distorted Humor and Medaglia D’Oro in the States. She came up for sale and Bob bought her back – we put together a group of five people to own her.”

The pedigree has received some significant updates this year, notably the dam’s sibling Coplow being the dam of the 1000 Guineas winner Billesdon Brook.

The second of his daughters to realise 700,000gns was the filly out of the Group 3 Ballyogan Stakes winner Divine. The Voute Sales-consigned filly was knocked down to Juddmonte Farms’ stud director Simon Mockridge. “She will be a lovely addition to come back to the farm eventually,” he said. “She is out of a fast six-furlong mare and we are looking to go down the ‘Galileo’ route a little with Frankel – send him some speedy mares.”

Yet another daughter of Frankel to excite the ring was New England Stud’s half-sister to listed winner Gobi Desert, and they are out of a half-sister to Group 1 winner Reefscape and Group 2 winners Coastal Path and Martaline. One Agency signed for the beautifully related daughter of Banstead Manor Stud’s stalwart at 500,000gns.

Derek and Gay Veitch’s Ringfort Stud had a memorable foal sale in 2017 and this year was no different. They sold a Lope De Vega colt out of the stakes winning Sir Percy mare Indigo Lady for 500,000gns to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock. He was the second Lope De Vega in the session to realise 500,000gns.