Sea The Stars Colt Tops Tattersalls Book 2 Opener

A new week but a familiar story as Day 1 of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale saw a slew of punchy prices spent at Park Paddocks on Monday.

It took all of 17 lots for last year's high mark to be bested as Anthony Stroud and Coolmore's M.V. Magnier clashed over the Sea The Stars  colt out of Kitcarina from Fiona Marner's Windmill Farm, with the former party winning out when a bid of 800,000gns (US$928,847) was delivered from behind the partition.

The youngster is the first foal out of the winning daughter of Shamardal , whose siblings include her full sister Kitcara , dam of this colt's close relation Al Aasy , a three-time group 3 winner also by Sea The Stars, and the French listed scorer Kapour .

"Dreams do come true and this was a breeder's dream!" said an emotional Marner, who was toasting her best ever sale with her sole yearling on offer this year. "It's beyond all our expectations and it's so wonderful for the team. He's been a saint all the way through from the day he was born.

"I've got a lot to thank John Clarke (racing manager to the Tsui family) for because he very kindly said they would take this mare, whose page has improved incredibly, to Sea The Stars. He's a lovely individual and an outstanding first foal and the mare is back in foal to Sea The Stars and carrying a colt.

"I have two partners who are both superstars, they're so loyal and have been a great support to me. One is Derek James, who's in America, and the second is Peter Wollaston, who's been a huge supporter for many years and is absolutely over the moon."

Kitcarina came into Marner's ownership when she was bought through Axel Donnerstag at €90,000 ($102,483) as a horse in training at the Arqana December Sale in 2018. She won a Kempton handicap on her debut for Andrew Balding and Windmill Racing.

Stroud, whose role with Godolphin saw him sign for 25,355,000gns ($29,438,638) worth of yearlings during last week's Book 1, said of the colt: "He's a very good-looking horse with a good pedigree. The nick works quite well with the Shamardal mare, and also you have Al Aasy, by Sea The Stars, in the family too. He'll be trained by John Gosden for a long-established client."

Not only did the colt better last year's top price of 525,000gns ($749,423), given by Juddmonte for the Kingman  colt out of Reem, but he becomes the fourth most expensive lot in Book 2 history. The biggest price at Book 2 was brought by the useful three-time winner Tarhib, who cost Shadwell 1,050,000gns ($1,392,683) in 2019.

Online Action for BBA Ireland

As evening wore on an online bid of 700,000gns ($812,741) from BBA Ireland secured the Frankel  colt out of Qaws  bred by Rabbah Bloodstock and offered by Michael Swinburn's Genesis Green Stud. Will Douglass was consigned to the role of frustrated underbidder.

"The colt is by the sire of the moment," said Donohoe. "Frankel is doing everything on the racetrack and in the sale ring. The two hottest sires are top and bottom of the pedigree as he's out of a Dubawi  mare. He's a great individual and wouldn't have looked out of place in Book 1. We're surprised by the price we had to give, it was our last bid, but we are delighted to have got him."

The youngster, a sibling to one winner and out of a half sister to listed scorer Hadaatha , is bred on the same cross as group 1 winners Adayar , Dream Castle , and Homeless Songs .

Swinburn said: "He was originally in Book 1 as he's got a nice page and it's a helluva cross. He just toed in a tad, nothing extravagant, but when we had to make our mind up about which sale to put him in, the owners decided to go with Book 2.

"He was always a big horse, tall and narrow, and during prep he hasn't grown at all, but he's got stronger and turned into a Dubawi basically but with a Frankel walk. He's just a beautiful horse to deal with, as most Frankels are. We thought he'd fetch a decent price but that was very pleasing."

Brant Back for More

Peter Brant of White Birch Farm was another responsible for fueling record trade during Book 1 last week, with 16 lots bought for a combined 11,545,000gns ($13,404,420). Fourteen of those were sourced with Coolmore's M.V. Magnier, while the remaining pair were signed for individually.

The Arc-winning owner also made an eye-catching acquisition on Monday when agent Michel Zerolo of Oceanic Bloodstock went to 410,000gns ($476,034) for the Sea The Moon  colt out of Pearly Spirit from Yeomanstown Stud. Karl Burke and Joseph O'Brien were among the underbidders.

The dam is an unraced sibling to five winners, including her Invincible Spirit  sister Pearls Galore , who landed her seventh race in the Coolmore America Justify Matron Stakes (G1) just last month. Her half sisters include the listed winners Lucky Lycra  and Pearly Steph , while the siblings are out of Pearl Banks , a group 3-winning daughter of Haras de Saint Pair foundation mare Pearly Shells (GB).

"He'll go to Jean-Claude Rouget for Mr. Brant," said Zerolo, who was seated beside the trainer and directly to the left of the rostrum.

When asked to expand on what appealed about the colt, he said: "Pretty much everything, at least I hope so as he wasn't cheap! He's got a fine page and it's a pedigree we know well in France. He comes from a very good family belonging to Mr. Putsch and Sea The Moon is most definitely a serious stallion."

The colt was bred by Haddenham Stud Farm and rewarded a bold pinhook by Yeomanstown Stud, who signed for the youngster at 110,000gns ($153,945) last December. Yeomanstown's David O'Callaghan said: "He's an exceptional colt, as good a yearling as I've produced for any sale this year. He was a Book 1 horse in Book 2, but that was part of the plan."

Book 2 continues on Tuesday at 10am.