THE breeze-up sales have experienced an influx of young consignors in recent years, but Willie Browne still held the record price at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale, and bettered that high on Tuesday.

The Master of Mocklershill sold a War Front colt to Jamie McCalmont for 1,150,000gns in 2014, and that same buyer, joined by Paul Shanahan, made a strong play for 2025’s star, a colt by Acclamation. Richard Ryan drove the early place, and Amo’s Kia Joorabchian went close, but the final bid of 1.4 million guineas came courtesy of Anthony Stroud, accompanied by David Loder.

The May-born bay was bought on behalf of Godolphin and will be trained by Charlie Appleby. On whether he expected to pay such a price, Stroud said: “No, definitely not!

“He did a very good breeze, a very good gallop out. He’s a lovely horse and it just shows you how vibrant the breeze-up sales are; this wasn’t just two people bidding, I think there were about four or five. It just shows you the appetite to buy horses at this sale.

“It’s great for Willie Browne because he’s been doing it a long time. It keeps everything ticking over.”

Between accepting congratulations from well-wishers, an emotional Browne said: “I can't believe it! He is a special horse. He has hardly been in his stable since he was here; he has had 13 or 14 vets. I believed he would sell well, but I thought he might make 500,000gns or 600,000gns."

Browne had bought the colt for €70,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale from Corduff Stud – breeders of Acclamation’s best son, Romantic Warrior. On when he first realised the colt’s potential, he replied: “On the 1st of February when we started doing a bit of work, straightaway he started to stand out. But he is also so sound, so easy to train, he has a great mind. I do believe he is a very special horse.”

Hey, big spender

The top price occurred in the first hour, by which time Godolphin had spent 2,050,000gns. The operation had purchased the three highest-priced lots 12 months prior. The 1,000,000gns top lot was subsequently named Royal Officer and after three starts, was sold on for 75,000 UAE earlier this month.

The others, each costing 800,000gns, are debut scorer Corolla Point and the 90-rated Treasure Fleet, who is three from three. All three are now geldings.

Godolphin’s first purchase on Tuesday was also secured by Stroud, who like many, is a big fan of the colt’s sire Havana Grey. “He was a lovely horse,” Stroud said of Bansha House Stables’ offering.

“We’ve bought a lot of good horses off Con and he sells a lot of very good horses. Of course, it’s a great deal of money; it was more than we expected to pay, but the cream comes to the top in this market.

It marked a successful switch to Plan B for Con Marnane, who was joined by daughters Amy and Olivia, both key cogs in the family business. Amy had bought the bay as a weanling at the Goffs February Sale for €46,000, but retained him at 50,000gns at the Somerville Sale.

On what brought about such a transformation, Con Marnane joked: “We fed him! He turned into an absolutely smashing horse. We had him here [as a yearling] but couldn’t raffle him, even though he was a gorgeous horse.”

“I think Anthony has bought six individual Group 1 winners off me, so I hope this will be number seven!

Sire power

Anthony Stroud and Havana Grey were back in the limelight later in the session when the agent spent 375,000gns on behalf of KHK Racing. It represented a sizeable return for Shane and Alex Power of Tradewinds Stud, who had bought the grey filly at Tattersalls Book 1 for 51,000gns from Castledillon Stud, whose Timmy Hillman kept a third for breezing.

The price bettered Tradewinds’ previous high by 5,000gns, the young operation having sold a Teofilo colt at Book 1 for 370,000gns. Since named Raafedd, the William Haggas-trained bay holds an entry in the 2000 Guineas.

On their latest success story, Shane Power commented: “From a very early stage, she looked tailormade for this sale – an early type who would win a race and hopefully go on to Royal Ascot. Anthony Stroud bought two yearlings off us last year and we’re delighted to have him back – hopefully we’ve sold him a good one.

“Havana Grey is just phenomenal. We’ve two of them this year and neither of them have missed a day’s work; they just eat, sleep, gallop. They’re just an easy sell to anyone.”

The result also brought a sense of relief for Power, who added: “It’s great to get a result like this at the first sale of the season, because she’ll carry some of the lesser ones. The process of getting to the breeze-ups is very enjoyable, but the sales themselves can be ruthless, as everyone knows.

“If you don’t stack up on the data analysis, it can be a very lonely place, so it’s a big relief to get one on the board early on. Hopefully, everything else just falls into place now.”

Tradewinds Stud entered the breeze-up market in 2022 with Bright Diamond. Sold to Blandford Bloodstock for €52,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale, she went on to finish third in the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile. They sold Beautiful Diamond to the same buyer at Goffs UK the following year, and she is now a dual listed winner and multiple group-placed.

Joey Logan becomes dual-purpose

Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing was outbid on some of the more expensive lots of the evening, but his patience was rewarded when securing a first crop son of St Mark’s Basilica for 750,000gns.

It marked a terrific start for vendor Joey Logan of Grangeclare. Better known as a buyer of National Hunt horses, including Caldwell Potter, Logan made his intentions known when spending sizeable sums at the yearling sales, including this particular colt sourced for 200,000gns.

“We’re over the moon, we didn’t expect that to be honest.,” Logan said outside the ring. “He breezed very well and vetted well and every time he came out, he showed very well. Alex [Butler] and all the team at home have done a brilliant job.

On switching codes, he continued: “Obviously, we’re big in National Hunt, but we’re going to try mix it a bit. It’s a great buzz to be selling any good horses, and hopefully he’ll go on to be very good on the racetrack.”

When asked if he was now ‘a flat man’, he replied: “I’m on the fence.”

Hot run continues for Lackendarra

The Craven catalogue was graced by Futurity Trophy hero Hotazhell, who was sold by Lackendarra Stables for 200,000gns, and Eddie Linehan’s continued their success with his sire Too Darn Hot on Tuesday evening.

Lot 58 was a punchy pinhook for the operation at 90,000gns, but they were rewarded when Highflyer Bloodstock’s Anthony Bromley and trainer Alan King stretched to 280,000gns.

On his earlier expectations, Linehan revealed: “I thought he deserved to make that kind of money, but I just didn’t think he was going to. It was a lot more than we reserved him for, so we couldn’t be happier.”

Once again, the sale brought a sense of relief for the consignor. “He was quite pricey,” Linehan admitted. “We spent a lot of money on two horses last year, both by Too Darn Hot. It’s nice that it’s paid off – he takes the sting out of a lot of them, so it’s great.

“He’s a mile-plus horse, and even further next year probably on pedigree. It’s nice that you can do that at a breeze-up; it’s not all about those fast sires. I really thought he would test that market.”

Change of fortune

Anthony Bromley got on the buyers' sheet early, when purchasing a filly from the first crop of Starman for 260,000gns. Phil Cunningham co-signed for the bay, who was consigned by Tally-Ho Stud. She had previously been retained for €26,000 at Part II of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale.

Another filly who was vendored, albeit on Tuesday, resold for significantly more outside the ring. Lot 40, a Havana Grey filly from Glending Stables, was vendored at 210,000gns, only for Nick Bell to strike a deal for 275,000gns later that evening.

Strong trade for the choicest lots returned an average price of 147,719gns - higher than any returned by previous renewals of the sale, while the median of 91,000gns had only been bettered once before. The 64 lots sold produced a turnover of 9,454,000gns, which was a record for a single session.

Though there appeared to be a lull halfway through the night, the clearance rate was strong at 84%. Of course, half the catalogue is yet to go through the ring, but it is an undeniably strong start.

Selling returns from 5.45pm on Wednesday evening, beginning with Lot 93, a Blue Point filly from Mark Grant Racing.

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