Dubawi Tops Again at Tattersalls

By James Thomas, courtesy of Racing Post

Dubawi had just the one representative in Book 2 of the Tattersalls October yearling sale and demand for the sire's progeny remained high, as the colt out of Brazilian Samba provided the Dalham Hall resident with his fourth session-topper of the sale after Godolphin chief executive John Ferguson went to 300,000 guineas ($384,410) for the Croom House Stud-consigned lot Oct. 12.

Ferguson also secured two of the sire's three top lots during Book 1, parting with 2.6 million guineas ($3,331,555) for a colt out of Fallen For You during the opening session and 2,100,000 guineas ($2,690,871) for a son of Nature Spirits the following day.

Wednesday's session-topper is a half brother to group II winner Endowing and shares his page with Irish Two Thousand Guineas winners Henrythenavigator and Magician.

"He's a May foal and we decided he'd stand out in this sale," said Croom House Stud's Denis Brosnan, who previously offered the likes of Mehmas and Zoffany in the Park Paddocks ring. "We probably placed him well and we're delighted with that result."

Brosnan added that Brazilian Samba has a Mastercraftsman colt foal at foot.

"He's from a very good farm and the sire speaks for himself," said Jono Mills, who signed the docket on behalf of Ferguson.

Holy colt for Howson

Four lots fetched 240,000 guineas ($307,528) and the latest of the quartet through the ring was a Holy Roman Emperor colt from Grove Stud. Geoffrey Howson of Howson and Houldsworth signed the docket for the February-born yearling.

"He's been bought for Ann Plummer and Tony Wechsler," revealed Howson. "He'll go into training with Jonathan Portman. I saw him on Sunday and he was one of the nicest horses in the sale. I like buying from Grove Stud. They're very good people.

"Jonathan's assistant, Matthew Harding—who looks after Mrs Danvers—has been helping Matt and me this week."

The colt is the first foal out of the Pivotal mare Brilliant Sunshine, a half sister to listed winners Brusco and Ferdoos.

The result was a good one for Brendan Holland's Grove Stud, having pinhooked the colt for 105,000 guineas from the Tattersalls December foal sale.

Stateside breeze beckons for son of Shanghai Bobby

The first major play of the session came from Willie Browne, who went to 240,000 guineas on behalf of Ciaran and Amy Dunne's Wavertree Stables for a colt from the first crop of Shanghai Bobby  .

The colt, bred and consigned by Rathbarry Stud, is the first foal out of the Giant's Causeway mare Thousandfold.

"He'll be breezed in America," revealed Browne. "I think that'll suit a big, mature horse like him. I wish I got to do that job, but there you go. I saw plenty of the sire's stock in Keeneland and this colt looked a particularly nice model. They're putting together a syndicate for him. I hope I get a piece."

Rathbarry paid $130,000 for Thousandfold while carrying the colt at Keeneland's November sale in 2014.

"We saw her in the catalogue and were drawn to the fact that it's a European family with a bit of 2-year-old form," said Niamh Woods of Rathbarry. "There aren't many of them over here too.

"He was always a nice colt—always a standout that ticked every box. We had some lads watching the sire in the U.S. and they said he was producing lovely stock.

"We just thought by bringing him here rather than sending him to the U.S. he would stand out a bit more. The mare has an Acclamation filly foal and is back in foal to Acclamation."

The colt's granddam is the listed National Stakes winner Salut D'Amour, and the likes of Jacqueline Quest also appear further back on his page.

The colt was conceived while Shanghai Bobby stood his first year at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky at a fee of $20,000.

The other two lots to generate 240,000 guineas were an Iffraaj colt out of Toquette from Corduff Stud that went the way of the Hong Kong Jockey Club and a son of Shamardal out of Boccassini consigned by Jamie Railton that was snapped up by Ferguson.

Final figures

At the close of trade, 195 of the 230 lots on offer on day three sold for a total of 12,952,000 guineas ($16,596,271), a 4% gain on last year's figure despite the catalogue being 15% smaller. The median of 50,000 guineas ($64,068) showed a 14% increase and the average was up 19% to 66,421 guineas ($85,109).

The figures for the whole of Book 2 finished returned an aggregate of 38,823,500 guineas ($49,747,171), an average of 65,359 guineas ($83,747)—a 5% gain on last year—and a median of 50,000 guineas—a 6% increase on 2015.

The clearance rate also showed improvement, finishing on 84%.

"Turnover at Book 2 was a little over 20 million guineas in 2010 and the average price was 32,000 guineas," said Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony. "This year the average price has exceeded 60,000 guineas for the third consecutive year and the turnover is not far below 40 million guineas, making Book 2 the second highest grossing European yearling sale behind October Book 1.

"Similar to last week, the feature of the sale has been the strong demand at the top of the market, with the trainers and bloodstock agents consistently remarking on the competition for the best yearlings and well over 100 lots selling for 100,000 guineas or more.

"We made a determined effort to control the numbers in Book 2 this year and cataloguing 140 fewer yearlings than in 2015 has made the sale significantly more manageable for both vendors and buyers alike, and without doubt assisted the sale."