A DAY after a colt by Sea The Stars fetched 800,000gns at Tattersalls, the elite sire who stands at Gilltown Stud was responsible for three of the seven top-priced lots on the second day of Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale.

Trainer Roger Varian outlasted BBA Ireland's Michael Donohoe for the top lot, a son of Sea The Stars out of Along Came Casey (by Oratorio), a listed winner and three-times Group 3 placed. A half-brother to Group 3 winner Feliciana De Vega, the April-born colt was sold by Eugene Daly's Longview Stud in Chester.

Varian said: "The stallion can't do much wrong at the moment, the mare was a stakes winner and has bred a very good one already. We had to dig deep to get him, but we are delighted.

"He is a late summer type, bred for middle distances at three, but you never know how quickly they will come to hand. He was quite a mature horse, although he is quite a big horse, he is quite well grown. He will have a quiet first half of the season and, hopefully, will come into things from August and September. We will see how we go.

"We saw him two or three times, and watched him closely in the ring, he has a lovely way of going. Time will tell how good he is! I thought he is one of the better horses of the week. We followed yesterday's top lot. That horse, this horse, and a few more this week have that real Book 1 quality.

"He is for an existing client, and I did not realise he would cost as much as that but he is a very nice horse," added the trainer who was on the phone through the bidding process.

Night Of Thunder

Night Of Thunder is another stallion whose stock are making huge figures and two colts by the Darley stallion figured in Tuesday's top 10 lots. Both were sold by Irish vendors.

Noel O'Callaghan's Mountarmstrong Stud sold a Night Of Thunder colt out of Asidious Alexander for 575,000gns to agent Jamie McCalmont, who was acting on behalf of Coolmore's M.V. Magnier and Peter Brant's White Birch Farm.

The mare was purchased by Mountarmstrong Stud from Rossenarra Stud as a yearling in 2015 and went on to win the Listed Prix Six Perfections and was placed in two Group 3 races.

She is a half-sister to eight winners, including the listed winner and Flying Childers Stakes third Accepted, and to May Day Queen, third in the Naas Sprint Stakes.

Earlier in the day James Hanly's Ballyhimikin Stud sold a Night Of Thunder colt out of a Dansili mare for 340,000gns to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock.

Hanly said: "He is a beauty, the sire did not do any harm either – I should put up a statue of him!

"It is a lovely result and credit to the staff and the people on the farm. He goes to John Gosden, so we can hopefully look forward to him being a good racehorse.

"The mare is in-foal to Night Of Thunder. The pedigree has really come good since we bought her. My friend John Feane trained her and won with her in England, she showed a lot of ability.

"John is a great man and a good trainer. There are a lot of very good smaller scale trainers in Ireland."

Starspangledbanner colt

A little earlier Andrew Black's Chasemore Farm sold a Starspangledbanner colt out of Wowcha for 550,000gns to the Hong Kong Jockey Club. The colt is related to Group 1 winner The Wow Signal, who was also by the same sire.

Wowcha was bought as a yearling in 2014 by Chasemore Farm for £150,000 after The Wow Signal had appeared on the racecourse. Sadly, she passed away last winter and this is her last foal. Luckily Chasemore retained her half-sister Breege who this summer finished second in the Group 3 Prestige Stakes.

Two Frankels

A colt and filly by Frankel also featured in Tuesday's top five lots.

The Andrew Rosen and Edward Easton-bred son of Frankel out of the mare September Stars (by Sea The Stars) was bought by Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock for Saeed Suhail for 450,000gns.

"He is a smashing colt," said Brown. "We tried on a load of Frankels last week and did not get close. He is an immature horse, he needs a little bit of imagination, but there is a lot of improvement to come. He is a big frame. He will be given plenty of time and hopefully will reward us as a three-year-old,"

The cross of Frankel over mares by Sea The Stars has produced the Group 1 winner Onesto, winner of this year's Grand Prix de Paris, the Group 3 winner Mohaafeth and the Group 3 placed Dubious Affair.

A little later the Cumani family's Fittocks Stud sold a Frankel filly for 425,000gns. She was bought by BBA Ireland and the underbidders were Shadwell and Juddmonte.

It was a good result for the Cumanis who bought the filly back in as a foal for 130,000gns. "She is not the biggest," said Sara Cumani. "We thought she'd change and develop over over the year, and be worth keeping for now, which she has and luckily we kept her.

"Frankel has had an amazing year, and such a strong Book 1. We put the filly in Book 2 because we thought she might be a little bit lost with the great big Frankels in Book 1. We couldn't be happier with that result. She is a real pocket rocket, we wish the new connections the best of luck."

Buyer Michael Donohoe said: "Frankel is outstanding sire, and this is a lovely, sweet filly. She looks racey and is probably a precocious type. She should come to hand early. We will send her to Ireland, get her broken in and decide on a trainer in either England or Ireland. She is for an existing client who has had some luck with the sire before."

The average price on Tuesday was over 108,000gns and the median price was 72,000gns. TUesday's clearance rate was 88%.

The sale is now at the halfway stage and the leading purchaser is Stroud Coleman Bloodstock with 12 acquisitions. Joseph O'Brien is among the top 10 buyers, having bought eight yearlings for a total of 837,000gns.

The three-day sale concludes on Wednesday.