A marathon bidding duel kicked off at round 7 p.m on day two of the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Coaching Sale in Newmarket Oct. 26, and the end result was Grocer Jack (Lot 378) bringing the highest price of a remarkably strong session at 700,000 guineas (US$1,011,940).
Matters boiled down to a back and forth between the team from the big-spending Saudi Arabian operation Najd Stud and Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland, who began bidding down the back stairs before swiftly relocating to behind the partition, and finally the entrance by a packed gangway.
After what appeared to be some deliberation, it was Saad bin Mishraf of Najd Stud who struck the decisive blow for the Ronald Rauscher-consigned offering.
“I’m shaking!” joked Bin Mishraf after signing the docket. “His target will be the Saudi Cup (G1), which is the most valuable race in the world. He’s by Oasis Dream and hopefully he can improve more and do the job for Prince Faisal bin Khaled. We thought we could get him for 400,000 guineas but we had tough competition as some people have the same target as us.
“The prize money in Saudi has grown very much, there are a lot of races with big prizes now, and this horse deserves to be there. If there was no Saudi Cup I wouldn’t have paid 300,000 guineas for him.”
Bin Mishraf added: “It doesn’t matter what you spend, typically it really works, typically it will not work. You’ll be able to spend three million on a yearling and it will not break its maiden, and that is the identical in every single place.”
Grocer Jack within the ring
The son of Oasis Dream has gained a brace of group 3 races for German coach Waldemar Hickst, and was final seen touchdown the pferdewetten.de Preis der Deutschen Einheit (G3) at Hoppegarten.
Homebred by earlier proprietor Dr. Christoph Berglar, Grocer Jack is a half brother to the listed scorer Ghislaine and out of the group 3 winner Good Donna, a daughter Doyen from the additional household of Fame And Glory and Legatissimo.
Grocer Jack headed an eight-lot haul for Najd Stud, which introduced a mixed spend of 1,481,000 guineas ($2,140,980) and likewise included the 310,000 guineas ($448,146) My Frankel (Lot 680), who was consigned by Sir Michael Stoute’s Freemason Lodge Stables.
Turnover of 11,262,500 guineas ($16,281,400) was not solely a 71% year-on-year enhance, however was a file for a single session of the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Coaching Sale. The median was additionally up by 71% to twenty,500 guineas ($29,635), whereas the common rose by 61% to 43,994 guineas ($63,599).
The fevered demand was additionally mirrored within the clearance fee, which noticed 256 of 275 provided tons change palms at a clip of 93%.
Basic Hopeful Hannibal Barca Shines
Hannibal Barca (Lot 577) introduced a gaggle 1 replace to the desk throughout the second session, and after a whirlwind spherical of bidding the gavel got here down on the Brian Meehan-trained 2-year-old at a cool 500,000 guineas ($722,746).
Hannibal Barca on the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Coaching Sale
The son of Zoffany , plucked from the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale by Sam Sangster for just £55,000 ($70,705), was cataloged as having placed on his only start to date. However, he had not only broken his maiden in taking style at Salisbury but was last seen finishing fourth, beaten just two lengths, by Cazoo Derby (G1) favorite Luxembourg in the Oct. 23 Vertem Futurity Trophy Stakes (G1) at Doncaster.
A throng of interested onlookers packed out the Park Paddocks gangway and an opening play of 100,000 guineas immediately sent the bid board into six-figure territory.
Richard Fitzsimons, sitting high and to the left of the rostrum, Alex Elliott, standing at the top of the back steps, and U.S.-based agent Kelsey Lupo, leaning against the back wall behind the partition, helped send the price on a steep upwards trajectory.
However, Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland, who secured the 325,000 guineas ($469,407) Horoscope on the opening day of the sale, joined in late from his position by the exit and sealed the deal with a final bid of 500,000 guineas.
“He looks very progressive,” said Donohoe. “His maiden victory was very impressive and I thought it was a superb run on soft ground the other day. I don’t think he handled it all that well but his guts and determination got him through.
“I thought he was still quite green and he’s a big, scopey horse, he’s 16.1 (hands high) so we think there’s lots more to come. He’s been bought for a client who has horses in Ireland, Britain and France so he’ll probably stay in Europe. The first part of the plan was to get him bought and I’m not exactly sure where he’ll go.
“Obviously he could be a horse for the classics next year, I think he’ll have the speed for a mile but in time he might stay a mile and a half. I’m thrilled to get him. He’s rated 111 and come next June he might just look good value.”
Hannibal Barca, who was bred by the late Peter Magnier’s Brittas House Stud, once fetched just €16,000 ($17,726) from Castlehyde Stud when sold as a foal, and Sangster explained that it was only serendipity that had meant the colt had raced in his own colors before greatly enhancing his value.
“I’m still buzzing!” said Sangster in the aftermath of the sale. “It was emotional watching that. Brian and I buy a lot of horses together on spec and put them in the shop window. He was one of them, we loved him at Goffs, but because of (the COVID-19 pandemic) we struggled to get people down to the yard and he was one of the horses we couldn’t get sold.
“We have a lot of confidence in the horses we buy so we raced him ourselves and full credit to Brian, who believed in the horse enough to take him to the group 1. He’s got such a bright future ahead of him that we’re gutted to see him go, but it was good business all round. You enter for the Vertem Futurity early on and that was always his target.”
Sangster, son of the racing pioneer Robert Sangster, a key player in the emergence of the Coolmore empire alongside John Magnier and Vincent O’Brien, continued: “All the lads in the yard loved him, including my nephew, Ollie Sangster, who rode him early on and rang me straight away to say he thought this was a really nice horse.”
Hannibal Barca at Tattersalls
Hannibal Barca is out of Innocent Air, a daughter of Galileo bred and raced by Juddmonte. She won two races while under the care of John Gosden, the Washington Singer and Lanwades Stud Severals Stakes, and joined the Brittas House broodmare band at a cost of 65,000 guineas ($84,753) in 2016.
Innocent Air is a sibling to two stakes performers, including the listed-winning Skipping, while another half sister is the dam of E.P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) heroine Folk Opera. She last changed hands in March when signed for by Margaret O’Toole at 25,000 guineas ($36,398) at Tattersalls’ online sale.
“He was exactly the same today as he was the day we bought him, a gorgeous, free-moving horse,” added Sangster. “He’s by Zoffany and out of a Galileo mare so it’s a beautiful, proven cross. When we bought him I thought we’d bought well, but never did I think he’d come here and make half a million.
“He had seven vets from all over the world and that’s why you come here, because you know you’re going to get the biggest bidders. When Mick (Donohoe) called me this morning I said, ‘I can’t recommend him more because he’s got such a lovely temperament and stride, and I think he’ll be a serious horse next year.'”
