Session-Topping Creationist Headed to Condon's Barn

Ken Condon's Romanised will have a useful new work companion as he bids to add to his wins in the Tattersalls Irish Two Thousand Guineas (G1) and Jacques Le Marois (G1), after Rupert Pritchard-Gordon went to 60,000 guineas (US$82,478) Jan. 31 for dual winner Creationist during Day 2 of the Tattersalls February Sale.

The 4-year-old son of Noble Mission  was offered by Roger Charlton's Beckhampton House Stables, for whom he reached a peak Racing Post Rating of 98 when beaten just a head in a class 2 Kempton handicap.

"He's been bought to go to Ireland and to Ken Condon's, and although he will run as a dual-purpose horse, the main reason he's been bought is to be a work companion for Romanised," said Pritchard-Gordon, who is also the racing manager for Romanised's owner, Robert Ng.

"Creationist is a well-rated horse and looks as though he will do that job well. I'm sure Ken will find a few options on the track for him, too."

Friday witnessed Creationist make his third appearance at public auction, and it was a case of third time lucky as he had gone unsold at $45,000 when offered at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale and was also bought back by his vendor at €78,000 ($91,432) when offered at the Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale.

Of Condon's stable star Romanised, Pritchard-Gordon added: "He's in a really good place at the moment. He's about 12 or 14 pounds above his racing weight, and Ken is really pleased with him.

"We will probably go straight to the Lockinge without a prep race, and we'll aim to go for a racecourse gallop before he runs, if a track will be kind enough to let us use somewhere. We'd like to use an away day to get his blood up as he has not run since September."

The 60,000 guineas mark was also hit earlier in the session, however that sum was not enough to bring the gavel down as three-time winner Ginger Fox was bought back by David Loughnane Racing.

Ramsden Takes Another Quantum Leap

Jonathan Ramsden, a son of former trainer and legendary gambler Jack Ramsden, secured the session's second-top lot, with St Just set to race for his Quantum syndicate having changed hands for 55,000 guineas ($75,605).

The 3-year-old son of Golden Horn won once from five starts for William Haggas and will now continue his racing career with Jedd O'Keeffe, who trains all of Quantum's string from his Middleham base.

"This was my nap of the sale, and I'm delighted to get him," Ramsden said. "He'll go to Jedd now. We'll probably geld him—he's still quite lowly rated—but we'll take our time with him, and he's likely to have a summer turf campaign. The interesting thing will be how far he stays. The dam was basically a seven-furlong horse, but I think he'll be a nice horse however far he stays."

Bred by Saleh Al Homaizi and Imad Al Sagar, St Just is the first foal out of Alfajer, a daughter of Mount Nelson. 

Qatari Trainers' Stock up

Newmarket trainer Conrad Allen got his name among the buyers' list when he secured Arbiter for 48,000 guineas ($65,983), with the Kingman half brother to Coronet now set to continue his career in Qatar for Hamad Al Jehani.

Arbiter showed ability—albeit without winning for John Gosden—and was last seen finishing runner-up in a Newcastle novice stakes over seven furlongs.

"Obviously, he's got a very good pedigree," Allen said. "He's a handy enough horse with the right make and shape for racing in Qatar, and he vetted well. He's a keen type—he was on his mettle a bit over seven furlongs at Newcastle last time—so going 'round that tight track should suit him. He didn't run that long ago, and the quarantine is just 16 days. We can keep him ticking over, and so he should be ready to roll once he gets to Qatar."

Another lot set to continue his career in Qatar is Cape Abel, who will join the powerful stable of Gassim Mohammad Ghazali after Will Douglass of Charlie Gordon-Watson Bloodstock landed the William Haggas-consigned offering at 40,000 guineas ($54,986).

"He's a maiden, and Gassim loves to take maidens back to Qatar," Douglass said. "He's a lovely little horse, too. He should wing around the track out there. He came highly recommended by Mr. Haggas, and he looked in great nick, so he should be ready to roll."

The 3-year-old colt, who was bred and previously owned by Bernard Kantor, is the first foal out of Flippant, a daughter of Pivotal from the family of German Two Thousand Guineas (G2) winners Dupont and Pacino.

Final figures

Tattersalls offered 305 lots across the two-day February Sale, and 264 of those found a buyer for a clearance rate of 87%. The aggregate stood at 3,260,300 guineas ($4,468,315), which was up 4% compared to 2019. The average climbed 16% to 12,350 guineas ($16,925), and the median showed the biggest increase, up by 30% to 6,500 guineas ($8,935).

At the close of trade, Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said: "The first Tattersalls February Sale took place in the year 2000, and the sale is now a well-established fixture in the European bloodstock sales calendar, regularly attracting an extraordinarily diverse international cast of buyers, similar to so many sales at Tattersalls.

"The February Sale's ability to draw buyers from all corners of the world has been particularly evident over the past two days with buyers from around 30 different countries all contributing to robust trade from start to finish and a set of figures which compare favorably with last year's February Sale.

"The average and median have both risen appreciably, and the top price of 200,000 guineas ($273,400) for the stakes-winning filly I'll Have Another comfortably surpassed last year's top price at this fixture. The turnover has also risen despite a significantly smaller catalog, and a clearance rate nudging 90% is another clear indication of the enduring appeal of sales of this nature at Tattersalls.

"As ever, the quality consignments from Godolphin, Juddmonte Farms, and Shadwell have been well received, and in addition to widespread participation from throughout Europe, including Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey, buyers from the Gulf region as well as Australia, Kazakhstan, Israel, Libya, South Africa, and the USA have all made a significant contribution to a Tattersalls February Sale, which has provided a positive start to the year."