Tattersalls Craven Sale to Kickstart Quest for Stars

The 2023 breeze-up season gets underway with the curtain-raising Tattersalls Craven Sale April 18, followed by the other five major dates over the coming six weeks. The Craven Sale played a starring role during that extraordinary 2022 campaign, most notably as two of those three Classic winners came out of the previous year's auction. 

Cachet, a 60,000gns (US$86,589) signing by Highclere, kicked things off in the One Thousand Guineas (G1) before Godolphin's Native Trail  annexed the Irish Two Thousand Guineas (G1). The son of Oasis Dream , a 210,000gns ($303,062) purchase, had earlier claimed champion 2-year-old honors courtesy of an unbeaten season that included group 1 laurels in the National and Dewhurst Stakes. 

As if that wasn't enough, last year's Craven Sale also produced 11 stakes-performing 2-year-olds, which means an impressive 8% of offered lots went on to achieve black type. These include the top two in the market, both of whom carry the colors of Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing, namely the 525,000gns ($718,181) Walbank  and the 460,000gns ($627,979) Olivia Maralda . 

These headline results and an expanded 2023 catalog helped draw a sizeable crowd of agents, owners, and trainers to the Rowley Mile's answer to the red carpet on Monday morning as around 180 potential stars went through their paces. 

Plenty of those prospective purchasers will be shopping with one eye on Royal Ascot, and a leaf through the pedigrees on offer suggests a lot of these animals were bred with precisely that meeting in mind. 

However, the clear standout, on paper at least, promises to be more of a Classic type as a Kingman  half brother to outstanding Derby (G1) and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) hero Golden Horn  (Lot 151). The blue-blooded youngster brought 270,000gns ($351,883) from Alex Elliott and Jamie McCalmont when he passed through Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale and will be offered on Wednesday by Malcolm Bastard. 

Other eye-catchers include the Mehmas  half brother to group 2-winning and group 1-placed Insinuendo  from Oak Tree Farm (Lot 2); Glending Stables' brother to The Tin Man  (Lot 9); the Territories  half sister to Cheveley Park Stakes (G1) heroine Lezoo from Tally-Ho Stud (Lot 38); a Showcasing  colt closely related to Soldier's Call  offered by Bansha House Stables (Lot 73); Lynn Lodge Stud's Blue Point  half brother to the group 2 scorer Donnerschlag  and listed-winning Izzy Bizu  (Lot 127); Mocklershill's son of No Nay Never  and the listed-winning Easton Angel  (Lot 138); a half sister to Rumble Inthejungle  by Night of Thunder  consigned by Grove Stud (Lot 162); while Diego Dias Bloodstock offers the Ten Sovereigns  half brother to Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) scorer Obviously  (Lot 185). 

Although the catalog has grown in volume this year the strength in depth remains as, prior to withdrawals, there are siblings to 30 black type winners and a further 23 Lots whose dam won at stakes level.

The breeze ups can also be an important proving ground for stallions with their first 2-year-olds, and a host of established names are joined by the progeny of up-and-comers like Advertise , Blue Point, Calyx , Inns of Court , Invincible Army , Land Force , Magna Grecia , Masar , Ten Sovereigns, and Too Darn Hot . 

Of course the breeze up sales can't offer buyers a guarantee of success; even the most hopeful out there accept that simply isn't how public auctions work. And in much the same way pinhookers aren't assured a return on their investment, especially if their horse breezes below par or the market softens from the giddy highs of the yearling sales. 

But all available evidence points not only to the Craven getting the season off on a positive note but the wider breeze up sector continuing its upward trajectory.