FROM a 500,000gns opening sale on Tuesday morning to a closing 900,000gns sale on Thursday evening, a spellbinding Book 1 edition of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale had everything.

All the usual players were in place and active, with Amo Racing’s Kia Joorabchian proving to be a formidable participant, spending an incredible 19,575,000gns on 17 lots, and just failing to displace the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed, as the leading purchaser over the three days. Godolphin, so often the leading buyers at the sale, acquired 18 yearlings for an aggregate of 20,020,000gns. Between the two buyers, they spent one-third of the sale’s turnover.

Global uncertainty and conflict dominate the news, and has done for some time, but in the rarified world of bloodstock, and in particular yearling sales, there was no evidence that these problems were having a negative impact.

Quality always commands a premium, and from Tuesday to Thursday this was most certainly the case. The final figures would not have been predicted, even by the most optimistic of analysts, and it was a very happy Edmond Mahony who offered his take on the week at the close of business on Thursday.

“All in all, it has been an extraordinary yearling sale,” he said. “The statistics tell a remarkable story, with massive year on year rises in average, median and turnover. The sale turnover has risen by around 30 million guineas, the average price well in excess of 300,000gns is unprecedented, as is a median which has surpassed the previous record of 200,000gns by a very significant margin, and all of this has been accomplished alongside an enviable clearance rate in excess of 85%.

“Newsells Park Stud’s sale-topping Frankel filly is the highest-priced yearling sold in the northern hemisphere this year, and Lodge Park Stud’s Wootton Bassett colt is not only the highest price for a yearling colt in the world this year, but also a new European record for a yearling colt. The very top of the market has been outlandish, with an unprecedented eight yearlings selling for 2,000,000gns or more, 16 selling for seven-figure sums, and almost 70 yearlings realising 500,000gns or more.

Never underestimate

“The contribution from throughout the Gulf region has been such a feature of sales at Tattersalls for a very long time, and their continued support should never be underestimated. This year they have been joined by an almost overwhelming number of overseas buyers, with the large contingent of American buyers making a massive contribution alongside buyers from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Europe, all of whom have been competing with strong domestic demand, most notably from Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing, which has become such a force on the global racing scene.

“There are so many people that can take an enormous amount of satisfaction from this sale, and to see so many being richly rewarded has been a huge boost to the British and Irish breeding industries.

“Every breeder, consignor, handler and all the teams back at the farms throughout Britain, Ireland and further afield who have raised these yearling have all played their part and they should be proud of the collective achievement which is phenomenal. We can reflect on a week which has shone a bright light on a great industry.”

A REMARKABLE opening session to Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale saw two daughters and a son of Frankel all make it into millionaire territory.

Newsells Park Stud’s daughter of the Banstead Manor superstar sold for 4,400,000gns, the second highest price for a yearling in European auction history. The filly, out of the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes winner Aljazzi, was knocked down to Kia Joorabchian of Amo Racing, standing with bloodstock agent Alex Elliott, after they saw off a determined effort from Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida.

A near breathless Elliott said: “Phew! Kia and partners wanted the filly very badly - a Frankel filly from that family and with that physical, she was always going to be a collectors’ item. It is a deep price tag and, though we had discussed her at length, obviously I did not see her making that.”

Revealing that the filly will be trained by Ralph Beckett, Elliott added: “It is great that she is staying here, it is great for British racing that these people are around to buy these horses as we all understand how difficult the product is to promote at the minute.

“Kia knows you have got to buy them at the top level to compete at the top level.”

The Shamardal dam Aljazzi was purchased by Newsells Park at the 2018 Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale for a record-breaking one million guineas.

Alpinista’s sister

One of the anticipated stars of the sale was the Frankel full-sister to the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Stakes winner Alpinista, and she did not disappoint when selling for 2,500,000gns. The daughter of the stakes-winning Hernando mare Alwilda was consigned from her breeder Kirsten Rausing’s Staffordstown, and was another high-profile purchase by Amo Racing.

“That pedigree, a sister to an Arc winner, there is not a lot to tell you that we don’t all know!” said Elliott. “Kia has been in the game for a number of years now, and to compete at the top table you have to have the best pedigrees. Amo has got to a level now that it is ready to try and do that, and that filly has just about the best pedigree in the book. It doesn’t get any better than that.” It was later revealed that the filly will join Sir Mark Prescott.

Joorabchian added: “We need strong-pedigreed fillies and we have a lot of horses going to stud in the next few years, such as Bucanero Fuerte and King Of Steel, and we have Persian Force already at stud. We need to back them otherwise we are just going to get left behind - we have to back our stallions to have a chance of winning.

“It is very difficult to buy such mares because the likes of Juddmonte, Coolmore, Shadwell, all the big guys own all the big mares. So, we have to come out here and hope that what we are buying in terms of pedigrees will make us competitive. It is very hard to buy such pedigrees after the yearling stage. Once a filly has won a Group 1 you are in very high prices, so you have got to try and get them earlier and hope that they go on well.”