Frankel Half to Sea The Moon Sells for €550K at Goffs

A Frankel  half sister to German Derby (G1) hero and Lanwades Stud stallion Sea The Moon  proved the headline act on day three of the Goffs November Foal Sale Nov. 17 when selling to Juddmonte Farms for €550,000 (US$622,528).

An opening bid of €100,000 ($113,187) suggested the filly was in a different league to the other foals on offer, and Barry Mahon, general manager of Juddmonte Ireland and European racing, was duly forced to push the price from €500,000 ($565,935) to €550,000 in one fell swoop to seal the deal.

"It's an outstanding pedigree with group 1 horses throughout," said Mahon. "Obviously she's by Frankel, who's the champion stallion this year, and is an outstanding physical; she's been very well prepared by Newtown Stud. She's just a lovely filly that Prince Khalid's family were very keen to acquire.

"It's not too often that a filly of this caliber comes on the market so the family were keen to add a filly with such an outstanding pedigree to the broodmare band. Hopefully she'll join the broodmare band in time and go on to breed good horses of her own."

While Juddmonte's public auction purchases have tended to be few and far between, the operation has been a notable presence at sales on both sides of the Atlantic in recent months.

They secured the $1.7 million Nay Lady Nay  at The November Sale, Fasig-Tipton's marquee breeding stock sale, earlier in the month, and also took home an 800,000 guineas ($1,191,840) Dubawi filly from Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Banstead Manor Stud resident Frankel has enjoyed a sensational season on the track and will soon be crowned champion sire of Britain and Ireland for the first time, an accolade that doubtless contributed to his fee rising from £175,000 ($236,117) to £200,000 ($269,848) for 2022.

Mahon added: "Frankel has had a phenomenal season. He's been threatening to deliver something like this for a while now and the stars aligned this year. It's been great to see."

The filly was offered by Newtown Stud on behalf of breeders Niko Lafrentz and Heike Bischoff of Gestut Gorlsdorf, who bred the filly from Sanwa, a Monsun full sister to group 1 winners Schiaparelli and Salve Regina. The mare has not only bred Sea The Moon and his stakes-placed half sister Sansiwa, but has also enjoyed some stunning results in the sales ring.

Last year a sister to Sea The Moon topped the BBAG Yearling Sale when bought by Gestut Ammerland at €820,000 ($971,850). Since named Sea The Sky, the daughter of Sea The Stars made a winning debut for Andre Fabre at Chantilly earlier in the month.

"I nearly cried!" said an emotional Bischoff. "I will save my tears for the first time she enters the racecourse though. It's great to have Juddmonte buy her; they're such lucky owners and it's fantastic to have part of the family with them.

"Of course you'd love to keep such a fabulous filly but the stud has to earn some money, so if the price came to more than half a million then we had to part. I'm very happy with the result though.

"Cathy (Grassick, Newtown Stud) is doing a brilliant job with the horses and they have a lovely stud farm and are very well cared for there. Normally I don't sell foals but she was a foal share so we had to part. Bringing the filly here seemed the obvious thing to do because Cathy is only 10 minutes away from Goffs."

The stallion career of Gestut Gorlsdorf's homebred Sea The Moon continues to go from strength to strength at Kirsten Rausing's Lanwades Stud, with the group 1 winner-producing stallion set to stand for a career-high fee of £25,000 ($33,731) in 2022.

"Sea The Moon is oversubscribed so we can really pick which good mares are coming to him," said Bischoff. "This season was his best book and the lovely thing was that the Queen sent two mares to him.

"I was so honored and so happy about that. The Aga Khan is using him too, so it really is the best breeders using him now. I'm really looking forward to his coming foals."

The Frankel filly was the most expensive of 162 foals who found a new home on Wednesday, with the premier session of the November Foal Sale generating a clearance rate of 82%.

In turn, those transactions brought turnover of €11,756,000 ($13,307,086), a 13% year-on-year increase, an average of €72,568 ($82,142), which was down by 6%, and a median of €52,000 ($58,860), which was on par with last year.

Woods Eyes Pedigree Updates with €270,000 Pinhook

High-rolling pinhookers continued to dominate the upper echelons of the market, including Frannie Woods of Abbeylands Farm who gave €270,000 ($305,623) for the Sea The Stars colt out of Newton's Angel offered by Jockey Hall Stud.

The colt is the second foal out of the unraced daughter of Dark Angel, meaning the first dam is free of black type. However, Woods said he was hopeful of some pedigree updates in the coming year as a number of near relatives had sold for big money in recent times, including the full sibling who made 170,000 guineas to Bridlewood Farm and Madaket Stables at Book 1.

"He's a lovely colt and he's for resale next year," said Woods. "We've been trying to buy a Sea The Stars for a few years now and we finally got one. I'd like to have had him a little bit cheaper, of course, and the family needs to improve a bit as it's a little light up top but if things fall into place he could be well bought for a big sale next year.

"The relatives all seem to be in the right place so we'll just hope for a bit of luck. That's what these good colts are costing now; the market seems strong and there's nice stock out there so you just have to get stuck in if you want to play at that level. We didn't have that many yearlings but we had a good year with the ones we pinhooked. It's all about luck though."

Clarke Family Dreams Realized With Sea The Stars Colt

While there were plenty of hard-nosed commercial decisions being made as pinhookers continued to restock for next year, the foal sales represent the culmination of months, if not years, of hard work for those selling.

No vendor seemed more delighted with the fruits of their labor than the Clarke family of Wardstown Stud, who saw their Sea The Stars colt out of Holda go the way of Camas Park Stud's Timmy Hyde at €270,000.

"I've dreamt of this moment for a long time," said Mark Clarke after he had finished leading up duties. "I've always wanted to breed a top horse for the sales ring and that day is finally here. It's a very special moment, especially to have all the family here.

"Obviously he was bred on a foal share, so I'm fully aware of the finances, but when it got to €210,000 ($237,707), then €220,000 ($249,026), I was thinking this is just great. But to go beyond a quarter of a million, it was into an area I've never been before. It's a lovely feeling."

Holda, a Ballymacoll Stud-bred daughter of Docksider, is one of just 13 mares residing at Wardstown in Athboy, County Meath, and is best known as the dam of 2017 E.P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) heroine Blond Me.

Her Sea The Stars colt has the rare distinction of boasting a top-level winner under each of his first three dams, as Holda is a half sister to Longines Mackinnon Stakes (G1) victor Glass Harmonium, while the third dam bred Conduit, a champion 3-year-old in Europe and a dual winner of the Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) for Ballymacoll Stud.

Holda has been a fine servant for the Clarkes since she joined the Wardstown broodmare band at a cost of just 30,000 guineas ($61,035) in 2006, with Blond Me one of four winners.

Clarke added of the Sea The Stars colt: "He's a lovely horse and I think he'll make up into a lovely yearling and has a chance of being a serious racehorse; he has all the right attributes as he's by a phenomenal stallion and out of a very good broodmare.

"Holda is still with us and we also have a daughter of hers called My Brunette. It's a wonderful family and what I like about it is that it's a group 1 taproot, because of that you can rely on it to produce good horses. She's barren at the moment but we have several options for next year's covering and she'd be desirable for a range of stallions."