Frenzied Bidding for Godolphin Castoffs at Ascot

A bumper Godolphin draft had buyers out in force at the Tattersalls Ascot March Sale March 22 and a particularly buoyant market duly produced five six-figure lots and a record price of £150,000 (US$183,531, £1=US$1.2235). 

Billy Jackson-Stops, taking on an online player, bid the sales-topping sum for the once-raced Isle of Jura (Lot 64), who became the most expensive lot sold under the Tattersalls Ascot horses-in-training banner. 

The 3-year-old son of New Approach  finished fifth, beaten nine and a half lengths, on debut at Wolverhampton back in Nov., but connections can take plenty of confidence from his blue-chip pedigree. He is the fifth foal out of Falls of Lora , winner of the U.A.E. Oaks (G3) during her time on the track, and an even more promising producer at paddocks. 

The daughter of Street Cry has bred four winners from five runners, headed by Isle of Jura's dual group 1-winning brother Cascadian , who annexed the Doncaster Mile (G1) and All Aged Stakes (G1) in Australia. Another sibling is their half brother Albahr , who was successful in the Summer Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine. 

"He's going to George Scott for an owner of George's," said Jackson-Stops. "George has had a humongous last 18 months and we're excited to have this horse. He's going to take a bit of time, but George will give him all the time he needs. He's a big, beautiful horse. He was very green in that run, but the form is very good, so let's hope he's as good as we want him to be." 

There is plenty of black type further back in the page too, as Falls of Lora is out of the listed-winning Firth of Lorne, who finished second to Kingman 's dam Zenda in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (G1) in 2002 and later produced the stakes winners Master of The Seas , Latharnach , and Etive . 

"The mare has been amazing, they have all been rated 95 plus and she has produced two group 1 winners," continued Jackson-Stops. "If this horse is anything like his brothers, then we'll be okay. That price is a little bit more than we expected, but we think we know who the underbidder was and we knew they'd be strong. We spoke to Charlie Appleby and James Doyle and those guys recommended him, so fingers crossed." 

The Godolphin draft contained the 14 most expensive lots on the day and the operation's 34-strong draft contributed £1,298,000 ($1,588,155) to whole-sale turnover of £1,661,100 ($2,032,422), which equates to 78%. 

The strength of trade generated by the Godolphin draft was highlighted by some massive year-on-year gains across the key market indexes. Aggregate sales rose by 135% while the session finished with an average price of £17,485 ($21,393), a 140% increase, and a median of £6,500 ($7,953), which was up 71% from £3,800 in 2022. The clearance rate was 90% as 95 of 106 offered lots found a new home.