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Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Begins Oct. 4

Coolmore and Godolphin are among superpowers, ready to climb the Book 1 mountain.

Team Coolmore size up yearlings on offer at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Sale

Team Coolmore size up yearlings on offer at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Sale

www.tattersalls.com

When viewed in its entirety, the yearling sale season could be said to bear at least a passing resemblance to the Himalayan mountains. There are numerous peaks across the range, but only a select few break the fabled 8,000-meter mark.

With its three sessions comprising 550 of the world's best-bred yearlings, Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, which begins Oct. 4 at 11 a.m., can be considered the Everest of bloodstock auctions. Among those preparing for a push to the summit during the final day of inspections on Monday were plenty of those who long since had their flag planted on top of the bloodstock world.

A veritable who's who of global racing was in town and at around 2:45 p.m. two superpowers crossed paths around barn K in Highflyer Paddock. On one side of the stable block was the Coolmore team, including M.V. Magnier, Aidan O'Brien, and Michael Tabor. On the opposite side was the Godolphin entourage, headed by Sheikh Mohammed himself, as well as key members of his team in Charlie Appleby, Anthony Stroud, and David Loder.

Earlier in the day Sheikha Hissa Hamdan Al Maktoum, head of the Shadwell empire founded by her father, the late Hamdan Al Maktoum, was also scrutinizing some of the more choicely bred fillies on offer. Although Shadwell has been absent from the buyer's sheets at European auctions in recent years, last week, racing manager Angus Gold said the operation intended to end its sales hiatus in the near future.

Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 1 Scenes<br>
03/10/22
Photo: www.tattersalls.com
Sheikha Hissa Hamdan Al Maktoum and Angus Gold at the sale

Leading trainers such as John Gosden, William Haggas, Sir Michael Stoute, and Roger Varian were also working their way through the catalog, as was man of the moment Sir Mark Prescott, whose inspections were rather held up by a constant stream of well-wishers offering their congratulations for the victory of Alpinista in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) less than 24 hours earlier.

There was a strong cast of international faces too, with American Peter Brant, an Arc-winning owner,   accompanying agent Michel Zerolo, while leading US trainer Chad Brown joined Tattersalls regular Mike Ryan, who dropped 3,750,000gns on 15 lots at last year's sale. Ryan's previous Book 1 buys include In Italian and McKulick, the Brown-trained winners of this year's Diana Stakes (G1T) and Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T), respectively.

A sizeable contingent of Japanese players were also in town, including a team from Northern Farm, Grenadier Guards'  trainer Mitsumasa Nakauchida, as well as Yoshito Yahagi, who has already created an impact at this year's European yearling sales, having given an auction-topping €2.1 million for the Siyouni brother to Sottsass at Arqana in August.

This year's catalog contains the usual embarrassment of riches, with blue-chip stallions and deep black-type pedigrees in plentiful supply. A Galileo sister to Line of Duty (Lot 1), a daughter of Dubawi and Prix de la Nonnette (G2) scorer Jazzi Top (Lot 3), and a Siyouni filly out of Too Darn Hot's Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Middleton Stakes (G2)-winning sibling Lah Ti Dar (Lot 24) would be standout lots in almost any sale, but at Book 1 that is just what's in store during the opening 60 minutes.

For a further indication of the caliber of Thoroughbreds on offer, the sale is set to feature 25 lots by Dubawi, including colts out of group 1 winners Persuasive (Lot 127), Urban Fox (Lot 272), and God Given (Lot 504); 15 by Galileo, featuring a filly out of Princess Noor (Lot 147) and a colt out of Amazing Maria (Lot 336); while the reigning champion sire Frankel  has 28 cataloged, including a colt out of Watership Down Stud's So Mi Dar (Lot 221), who was subject to some big reviews.

Prior to withdrawals, there were siblings to a staggering 61 individual group 1 winners due to come under the hammer across the three days, a figure equal to 11% of the catalog. Among those is a Galileo brother to the champion Waldgeist (Lot 284) consigned by Newsells Park Stud, which has been the leading vendor by aggregate sales for the last four renewals of Book 1.

The operation is back with a typically strong draft this time around, with other standout pedigrees among the offering, including a Frankel brother to Without Parole (Lot 303), a Lope de Vega half brother to Legatissimo (Lot 310), and a Sea The Stars filly closed related to last year's 1,500,000gns top lot (Lot 493).

General manager Julian Dollar spoke candidly about the weight of expectation on those selling at Book 1, saying: "I hate the sales and love the sales all at the same time. It's a rollercoaster. You think of nothing other than the sales for a month in the lead-up to it and then it can take a long time to wind down from it.

"We've been very lucky and had some great results over the years, but sooner or later we're going to get our arses kicked and it won't feel so good. But I like the horses we've got here and the team are doing a tremendous job of showing the draft off, so I've just got to be optimistic and hope that that won't be this year."

He added: "It seems like it's on a par with other years and we've been busy showing these last few days. Everyone I expected to see here is here, and although I can't say I've seen any new faces, I think everyone's quite positive. While I don't have any clear thoughts on how our horses are going to sell at this point I feel like I've got some yearlings that anyone can see are nice horses."

Norelands Stud's six-strong draft contains two of the 26 lots by Kingman, namely the colt out of Cabaret whose siblings include the group 1 winners Magna Grecia and St Mark's Basilica (Lot 390), as well as the half brother to Golden Horn (Lot 482).

Norelands' Harry McCalmont said there was a "positive" mood across the sales ground, and added: "It's very busy and we've had a lot of people through. There's a lot of Japanese, a lot of Americans, the horses are going down well so it's been a good couple of days. The sales up to now have been very good so we're hopeful."