Lodge Park Stud snatched triumph from the jaws of disaster when the farm’s blue-blooded Dubawi filly went the way of Godolphin for 725,000gns (US$931,138, 1gns=US$1.2843) during the opening stages of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Oct. 9.
The youngster, the sole lot by Dubawi in Europe’s largest yearling sale, had been due to appear at last week’s Book 1 only to meet with a last-minute setback. The wildcard offering had been set to travel from County Kilkenny to Newmarket during the week of the Goffs Orby Sale, but the arrival of Storm Agnes meant her journey was brought forward 24 hours, only for things to go awry once she was on the move.
Explaining the circumstances behind the filly’s appearance at Park Paddocks a few days late, Lodge Park’s Damian Burns said: “She got on to the lorry and was doing just a little bit of jumping around, nothing a normal yearling wouldn’t do, and our best guess—we have the video from the next door stall—is the head collar got caught on something and when she released herself, she cut her jaw.
“She was literally just out of the yard, but had a laceration so went back to her stable. She was fine and eating up, but went down to Fethard as a precaution and they stitched her up. Everything was fine and when she was at home she was out in her paddock and we had her walking up and down.”
With the filly none the worse for her encounter, the Lodge Park team began to formulate a plan B.
Burns continued: “The Friday evening before Book 1 we got in touch with our transporters and Tattersalls to say this filly might be okay and set the wheels in motion to sell this week.”
The filly is the second foal out of Park Bloom, a winning Galileo sister to Epsom Oaks (G1) heroine Was , Curragh Cup (G2) scorer Amhran Na Bhfiann , and the Derby Trial (G3) winner Douglas Macarthur . The family is no stranger to success in the Park Paddocks ring as another sibling, the winning and group 3-placed Al Naamah , holds the Book 1 record having been bought by Al Shaqab for 5,000,000gns in 2013. The Dubawi filly becomes the joint sixth most expensive lot sold at Book 2.
There are plenty of headline names a further generation back too, as the filly’s third dam is the champion 2- and 3-year-old Park Express, whose five black-type performers include the top-class runner and influential sire New Approach .
“She’s quite a typical Dubawi but probably has a bit more action than some, which I’d say she gets from her dam line,” said Burns. “And she vetted very well—the family tends to vet very well, those hidden genetics that you don’t see. It’s been very good to us.”
