No Nay Never Filly Draws Attention at OBS March Sale

Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables at Barn 5 was a busy place the morning of March 11 as buyers inspected the stock cataloged in the Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.

Of the juveniles remaining in Wavertree's offerings after withdrawals, one that was drawing significant attention was Hip 24, a striking daughter of No Nay Never, a son of the late sire sensation Scat Daddy who is off to a great start at stud for Coolmore Stud. From his first crop 3-year-olds, No Nay Never, who stands for €100,000 (US$112,297), has been represented by seven stakes winners, including one at the group 1 level.

While No Nay Never achieved his biggest success in Europe and stands at stud in Ireland, Dunne said the filly in his consignment has the unique potential for top-level American racing.

Bred in Ireland by Minch & Fullbury Bloodstock the filly is out of the Anabaa mare Anestasia, a half sister to group 1 winner Amonita and Cox Orange, a multiple group/grade 3 winner in France and North America.

The filly was purchased by Rabbah Bloodstock for the U.S. equivalent of $173,670 at the 2018 Goffs Orby sale.

"She's everything you would want in a filly—a big strong filly with a good hind end," Dunne said. "She is a very American-type horse, which was a pleasant surprise to me when she got here from Europe in November. She's been straightforward in her training."

Dunne said the filly's attributes appear to have attracted a large buyer base.

"She's been well-received, but I've been wrong before," the consignor said, wary of the correlation between attention in the barn and success in the sale ring.

Overall, Dunne said he believes the Wavertree group on offer will prove attractive to buyers, although he acknowledged his juveniles did not show themselves as well as he would have liked during the all-important pre-sale under tack show workouts.

"I think we have a solid bunch, but we were a little disappointed with the breeze show. But that goes with the territory. At the end of the day, they will stand up to anybody else's. They performed well on the track, just not as well as we expected."

Dunne said he's looking forward to the OBS launch of the 2019 2-year-old sale season and hopes to replicate his 2018 success when Wavertree was the second-leading North American consignor with 97 horses sold for $14,238,500.

"We have a lot of horses this year, which is nice. Last year, we had some high end horses that helped the ledger, but we were solid in the middle," said Dunne, whose top-priced juvenile of 2018 was eventual multiple grade 1 winner Bellafina, sold for $800,000 at The Gulfstream Sale, Fasig-Tipton's selected 2-year-olds in training sale.