Shrewd Connections Snap Up Shadwell's Albasheer

Buyers continue to be drawn to stock bred by the late Hamdan Al Maktoum, as clearly evidenced by the 540,000 guineas (US$676,471) Rihaam  setting a Tattersalls July Sale record July 6. 

And that trend was maintained Thursday as Blandford Bloodstock's Tom Biggs went to 130,000gns ($162,854) for Albasheer , who was bred by Shadwell and sold by the operation during the morning session.

The lightly raced 4-year-old (Lot 453) doesn't appear to have been the easiest to train, having made just five starts over two seasons with Owen Burrows, but he has shown a high-class level of form nonetheless.

His racing career began with a 6 1/2-length romp at Doncaster on his debut before he finished a length second to Chindit  in the 2020 Bet365 Champagne Stakes (G2), when a short head in front of subsequent four-time group/grade 1 winner State of Rest .

He also finished sixth, beaten 4 1/2 lengths, to St Mark's Basilica  in the Darley Dewhurst Stakes (G1) on the last of his three juvenile outings. He will now continue his career under the care of Archie Watson for owner Taylor's Bloodstock.

"He's been bought for Andy Taylor of Taylor's Bloodstock," said Biggs. "He's had a couple of horses with Archie recently and we'd been looking for a horse with this sort of profile for a while. We wanted something rated over 100 that's capable of being a stakes horse, which hopefully he can be if he runs to his form.

"He's a lovely looking horse, he's had his little issues recently, but hopefully they're behind him. We might try running him over six furlongs rather than seven, that might be an angle. He was the only one in the sale who fit that profile; we had to go a little bit over what we thought but that's often the way.

"It's been a while since his last run but he's the type we've done well with previously so hopefully Archie can get him back to his best."

Albasheer is by Shamardal  and out of Mutebah , a winning daughter of Marju  who was also third in the listed Prix des Tourelles in 2015. The pedigree traces back to Sheikh Hamdan's influential blue hen Height of Fashion, meaning the further reaches of his page include Shadwell celebrities such as Nayef, Nashwan, Ghanaati , and the unbeaten Baaeed .

Shadwell offered eight lots at this year's July Sale for receipts totaling 917,000gns ($1,148,747).

Biggs and Watson have enjoyed plenty of success with their past horse-in-training buys, with the likes of QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes (G1) scorer Glen Shiel  of 2020, Outbox , and Snowy Winter  all winning major prizes after being picked up for bargain sums. 

Australian Interests Hit the Target

The 130,000gns mark was hit for a second time once the evening session got underway with Will Johnson, bidding over the phone via Jason Singh, landing the progressive Grenoble, who was offered as Lot 540 by William Haggas's Somerville Lodge on behalf of Newsells Park Stud.

The son of Siyouni  won one of his seven starts for Haggas and was last seen finishing a luckless second, beaten just a head, by Swilcan Bridge in the Cazoo Handicap Stakes at Epsom on Derby (G1) day.

The well-bred 3-year-old is now set to continue his career in Australia, as Johnson explained, saying: "He's a lightly raced horse and comes into Australia with a rating that enables him to work through the grades. He falls straight into Saturday class in Australia and with prize money continuing to improve there are plenty of options for him over a mile to a mile and a half.

"Rather than always spending the big dollars on a horse who will land you straight into a group 1, you can have a lot of fun working through the Saturday races and the listed and group contests down the line.

"He's for Darren Thomas of Seymour Bloodstock who, along with his racing manager Mark Pilkington, identified the horse. I've helped them on the ground with inspections and organizing the vetting and the finer details. We will have a bit more of a plan as regards to the trainer when they wake up with the news they have bought the horse!"

Grenoble is out of the grade 2-winning Giants Play , a daughter of Playful Act  and Giant's Causeway  who has bred three black-type performers, most notably the dual group 3 scorer Ispolini .

Johnson added: "Siyouni is an extremely good stallion and he goes well in Australia. His horses bred on southern hemisphere time, their stakes winners to runners ratio is extremely strong, and he's got Amelia's Jewel in western Australia.

"Sottsass  and St Mark's Basilica are standing at Coolmore Australia this year; it ensures everyone knows the stallion. It always helps whatever horse you buy if they have a bit of a pedigree and are by the right stallion."

Clearance Rate Rockets

While overall prices may have been a little cooler than during Day one's red-hot session of breeding prospects, there was no let-up in the strength of trade Thursday, and unquestionably the most striking market metric was the clearance rate of 99% as 155 lots sold from an offering of 157.

In turn that brought aggregate sales of 3,834,000gns ($4,802,942), an 11% increase on the corresponding session from 2021. That total means the 2022 July Sale has already surpassed last year's turnover with Friday's session still to come. The day two average was up by 3% at 24,735gns ($30,986), while the median rose by 7% to 15,000gns ($18,790).

The July Sale concludes Friday, with the morning session beginning at 9:30 a.m. (local time).