Aureum Leads the Way for Start of Tattersalls July Sale

Breeders were busy replenishing their broodmare bands on day one of the Tattersalls July Sale on July 7, where top-lot honors went the way of the Godolphin-consigned Aureum at 220,000 guineas ($318,826.20).

Aureum was making her second appearance at public auction having joined the Godolphin fold at $800,000 when purchased as a yearling at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2018. She opened her account at the fifth time of asking when landing a Chelmsford novice stakes on her latest outing for John Gosden in March.

However, it was her pedigree and covering that made most appeal to her purchaser Tom Goff of Blandford Bloodstock, as she is a Medaglia d'Oro   half sister to Nemoralia , winner of the Sky Bet City of York Stakes (G3) and placed in three top-level contests. Consigned as Lot 125, she was offered in foal to Invincible Spirit.

"She's been bought for an old breeder client of ours," said Goff. "It's a fantastic page and obviously she made $800,000 as a yearling. She's a lovely filly and her sister, who we all know, was a top-class race filly over here.

"She's in foal to a great stallion too so we knew she wasn't going to be given away as she was one of the standouts of the whole draft. Fingers crossed she's carrying a good foal and that she can go on to be a good broodmare."

Aureum was one of 30 Lots offered by Godolphin during the opening session, with the draft generating receipts totaling 1,522,700 guineas ($2,212,388) at an average of 50,757 guineas ($73,747).

Those 30 names featured five six-figure lots, including Desert Star, a winning Dubawi  full sister to listed scorer Duneflower  who made 150,000 guineas ($217,941) to the online bid of John Dance's Manor House Stud. 

Gordon-Watson Gets Three for Price of One

Plenty of the session's more eye-catching purchases will continue their breeding careers overseas, with a notable exception being Excellent View after the daughter of Shamardal  was knocked down to Charlie Gordon-Watson, acting on behalf of an unnamed British owner/breeder, at 200,000 guineas ($290,588).

The grey was offered by Barton Sales with her Mehmas  filly foal at foot and is back in foal to Tally-Ho Stud's rising star stallion.

"I've been looking for a pretty Shamardal mare for this owner/breeder for a long time, but finding a nice quality mare like this is hard," said Gordon-Watson.

"She's got a very nice foal at foot and I love Mehmas; he's a stallion who does it with fillies and colts, any distance, any ground, any trainer, and in any country. He's a serious stallion.

"It's nice to see that she can produce a foal like that when she's back in foal to the same stallion. She ticks all the boxes."

The 10-year-old, who is out of the listed-winning Gone West mare Pearl Grey , has produced one winner from as many runners, with her first foal being the smart four-time scorer Mutaraffa. The mare's price had appreciated markedly since her previous sales ring appearance, having been picked up by Marygate Bloodstock for just €11,000 (US$12,524) at Goffs in 2018.

Houldsworth Catches the Bird

Matthew Houldsworth of Howson and Houldsworth was another buyer to dip into the Godolphin draft when going to 160,000 guineas ($232,470) for the well-related Birdwatcher.

The daughter of Uncle Mo  —who is out of the grade 3-winning Bizzy Caroline, an Afleet Alex half sister to the remarkable Lady Eli —was offered in foal to Blue Point . The unraced Birdwatcher was another making her second appearance at public auction having been sourced in the U.S. as she fetched $1.1 million at Keeneland in 2018.

"I thought she was a very good physical and obviously she cost a lot of money as a yearling," said Houldsworth. "She's got a good covering too—I'm a big fan of Blue Point—and it's a lovely, deep family as well. Hopefully she can be a nice mare going forward. She's heading to America."

The Godolphin draft also contained Subella, an unraced daughter of Teofilo (IRE) carrying to Invincible Spirit who went the way of Highclere's Jake Warren at 150,000 guineas ($217,941).

The 4-year-old is a half sister to Pivotique , dam of listed winner and QIPCO One Thousand Guineas (G1) runner-up Cloak of Spirits , while the pair are out of Suba, a close relation to none other than Dubawi.

"She's been bought for an Australian client who we've bought for previously and we're thrilled to buy her," said Warren. "She's a beautiful-looking mare with a lovely cover and her pedigree needs no introduction.

"She's going to come back to Highclere but we haven't made any firm decisions (as to whether she will head to Australia in the future). We're excited about her, and we'll make a plan once we've got her home and we've seen what the foal is like."

Cormac Collects

Cormac McCormack was the busiest buyer at Park Paddocks yesterday, with seven lots secured for an outlay of 463,500 guineas ($673,437). His haul included the first lot to break the six-figure barrier in Dubai Fashion , who fetched 140,000 guineas ($203,411) after Blandford Bloodstock's Richard Brown had been seen off.

Consigned by Shadwell, the 8-year-old daughter of Dubawi won two races during her time on the track with Saeed bin Suroor and gained black type when runner-up in a brace of listed events. She was another offered in foal to Kildangan Stud resident Blue Point, who stood the 2021 season at a fee of €40,000.

There is plenty of back class in Dubai Fashion's pedigree as she descends from Hamdan Al Maktoum's blue hen Height of Fashion , meaning the likes of Nayef , Nashwan , and Unfuwain  appear on the page.

"She's a nice quality mare with a good step to her; it's all there so we live in hope," said McCormack. "She's been bought for a long-standing client from Ireland."

The Tattersalls July Sale continues July 8 at 9:30 a.m.