Park Paddocks was notably quieter Dec. 4 than it had been 24 hours earlier during the headline session of the Tattersalls December Mare Sale.
That was apart from the barns around the Somerville Paddock yard, which saw plenty of footfall as breeders and buyers from around the world descended to inspect the highly anticipated draft of fillies from Juddmonte Farms.
There was a notable spike in bidding activity when Khalid Abdullah's operation offered the 24 fillies without reserve, and the well-related group duly supplied the four priciest lots of the session.
The draft brought receipts totaling 2,809,000 guineas (US$3,833,099) at an average of 117,040 guineas ($159,712) and a median of 62,500 guineas.
After a head-to-head between Demi O'Byrne, standing with veterinarian Mathilde Texier by the exit, and Timmy Hyde, stationed behind the rope with Coolmore's Paul Shanahan, Juddmonte's Time Saver topped the session, with the former camp coming out on top at 750,000 guineas ($1,023,434) on behalf of Australian operation Aquis Farm.
"She's for Aquis Farm," O'Byrne said. "She's a very good-looking filly. I think she'll be bred in Europe, but nothing has been fully decided yet."
By Frankel, the unraced 3-year-old is out of Clepsydra, meaning she is a half sister to Etihad Airways Falmouth Stakes (G1) winner Timepiece, Criterium de Saint-Cloud (G1) heroine Passage of Time, King Edward VII Stakes (G2) winner Father Time, and listed-winning Continuum. Twice Over and Crossed Baton appear beneath the second dam.
The session topper is also inbred 3x2 to Sadler's Wells, the same pattern responsible for the mighty Enable.
Brown's Brace
Richard Brown was also among the underbidders on Time Saver, and the Blandford Bloodstock man made amends in no uncertain terms when he went on to land the next two lots for six-figure sums.
First came Time Tunnel, a placed daughter of Invincible Spirit and the aforementioned Timepiece, who was secured at 260,000 guineas ($354,791).
"It's exactly the same pedigree, so, with the benefit of hindsight, I'm absolutely delighted to get her for 260,000 guineas compared with how far we went on Time Saver," Brown said. "There's a lot to come, and you're obviously buying into a young part of the family.
"She's for an established English client. Buying into Juddmonte families makes a lot of sense as you know they're as good a breeder as there is."
Brown was back into action on the next offering, Wild Rye, and, having seen off the attentions of Hugo Lascelles and Jono Mills, the gavel came down in his favor at 300,000 guineas ($409,374).
The blue-blooded youngster is a Bated Breath sibling to seven winners, including Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris (G1) hero Zambezi Sun, group 2-winning Kalabar, and listed scorer Zero Gravity. The pedigree received a further boost when Pocket Square, who is out of Wild Rye's three-parts sister Shared Account, landed the Prix des Reservoirs (G3) last month.
"She's for a different client," Brown said. "She's for another owner/breeder and will stay in England, too. Again, there's huge amounts happening on the page—there was a group 3 winner on there not long ago.
"The first dam (Imbabala) nearly fills the whole page, and I don't think it would take a huge leap of faith to think she'll fill it entirely in the next five years' time. I haven't had the chance to think about matings for either filly yet."
After missing out on some choice offerings during Tuesday's session, Brown was relieved to get his name on the buyers' sheet. He said: "Last night was extremely frustrating as trade was just so strong."
Reilly Returns
After securing Big Brothers Pride for 975,000 guineas ($1,324,909) during the frenetic session Tuesday, BBA Ireland's Eamonn Reilly returned to his usual position against the wall behind the partition and went to 290,000 guineas for Oboe, an elegant gray daughter of Mizzen Mast and Kentucky Oaks (G1) heroine Flute.
"She'll stay here to be covered and will go to Maurice Regan's Newtown Anner Stud," Reilly said. "They already own the half sister Entwine, who is the dam of Qabala. There's a lot going on in the pedigree. She'll be easy to mate as her pedigree is completely free of Northern Dancer."
Flute has, remarkably, bred no fewer than 12 fillies for Juddmonte, and with plenty of those now producing, there should be plenty of updates in the pipeline. Oboe also shares her page with Brian Boru, Workforce, and Qualify.
Options Open for McStay
Avenue Bloodstock's Mark McStay was another agent who acquired a Juddmonte jewel, striking the winning bid of 175,000 guineas ($237,802) for D'oro Diva. The winning daughter of Medaglia d'Oro is a half sister to Lanwades Stud Ridgewood Pearl Stakes (G2) scorer Brooch and listed-winning Caponata.
McStay said plans remained fluid but suggested a covering with one of the stallion rank's rising stars could be in the offing.
"She's a lovely mare," McStay said. "Medaglia d'Oro is a world-class international sire and is shaping up to be a very good broodmare sire. I'm not sure where she'll go yet, but she could suit something like No Nay Never. I'm delighted to get her."
Bell Back in Action
It was during last year's December Mare Sale that Michael Bell went to 10,000 guineas ($13,356) to secure Plait, and the daughter of Bated Breath and Aston Upthorpe Yorkshire Oaks (G1) heroine Quiff duly landed two races for the trainer.
The master of Fitzroy House dipped back into the Juddmonte draft Wednesday to secure another filly by Bated Breath, with Inhale purchased on a bid of 115,000 guineas ($156,927).
"She's been bought for a collection of Irish owners," Bell said. "She's a very attractive filly and still relatively unexposed. Obviously, she's got potential, so hopefully she can fulfill it."
The 3-year-old is the seventh foal out of Innocent Air, who became Galileo's first black-type winner when she landed the 2005 Washington Singer Stakes.
She has since gone on to produce four winners, including Inhale, who won twice from four starts for Juddmonte and Amanda Perrett, achieving a peak Racing Post Rating of 87 in the process.
Clematis Kicks Things Off
After a more sedate session of selling, the Juddmonte draft began with a bang as Stuart Thom of Galloway Stud in Woburn went to 110,000 guineas ($150,104) for Clematis, who ran out an impressive winner of a Kempton novice on debut at 2.
Now 3, the daughter of First Defence is out of a sibling to the high-class Barsanti and Bird Flown, the dam of Keeneland Phoenix Stakes (G1) scorer Siskin.
"She'll come back to Woburn for Ronan Watts," Thom said. "She'll be bred from, but I don't know where she'll go yet. We had her half sister Sepal (five-time winner), who we bought from Juddmonte, and she did very well for us.
"Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get her in foal, so we're trying her over hurdles now. Clematis looked very good when she won as a 2-year-old, and it's a very good family—hopefully there will be a Two Thousand Guineas (G1) winner (Siskin) on the page this time next year!"
Figures
From 231 offered on the third day of trade, 196 were purchased for a clearance rate of 85%. Gross sales were up 14% to 5,991,300 guineas. The average price was up 19% to 30,570 guineas and the median up an impressive 40% to 14,000 guineas.
The Tattersalls December Mare Sale concludes Thursday with a session starting at 9:30 a.m. local time.