A Book 1 for the ages concluded Oct. 6 with five more seven-figure lots and a top price of 2,000,000gns (US$2,386,692) as unprecedented trade saw previous records in all key market metrics blown clear out of the water.
A staggering 126,671,000gns ($151,162,331) was spent across the three sessions, which is not only a 47% year-on-year increase but a 19% gain on the previous best, which was set in 2018 when turnover hit 106,503,000gns ($127,094,929).
The average price was up 30% at 298,752gns ($356,515), also a new record, while the median was 200,000gns ($238,669), a 25% increase compared to 12 months ago and 19% more than the previous high mark of 167,500gns ($199,885) in 2018. The clearance rate was 87% as 424 lots sold from 489 offered.
Day 3's top lot was knocked down to Richard Knight, bidding on behalf of an undisclosed client, who went to 2,000,000gns for the Frankel colt offered by Watership Down Stud, consignor of Wednesday's 2,800,000gns ($3,367,284) headline act (Lot 221).
The blue-chip youngster was bred by Bjorn Nielsen from Bold Lass, a daughter of Sea The Stars who won four times during her own racing career. Her first foal and only runner to date is the listed-placed Speightstown filly Amniarix.
"Obviously, he's by Frankel and I underbid a filly by the stallion yesterday," said Knight after signing his second seven-figure docket of the sale. "They're as hot as anything and hard to buy, so I was well aware we were going to have to pay a good price to get him. He's a scopey, quality colt, and he's a very relaxed, athletic horse who vetted well.
"The dam has already produced a 100-rated horse and he comes from a nice family. He's just a lovely colt and we had to take on Godolphin, which was never going to be easy. That was the top of our budget, but about where we thought we'd have to go to get him."
Bold Lass is out of My Branch, who won a brace of listed contests and also finished a narrow runner-up to Blue Duster in the 1995 Shadwell Stud Cheveley Park Stakes (G1). She bred eight winners at paddocks, including Stanleybet Sprint Cup (G1) heroine Tante Rose. Another daughter, Rosie's Posey, is the dam of the group/grade 1 winners Dubawi Heights and Make Believe, who is also the sire of Mishriff.
The second session of Book 1 became the highest-grossing day in European auction history as 144 sold lots brought a turnover of 49,545,000gns ($59,124,328). A flurry of earlier activity ensured Day 3 began in a similar fashion and Knight reflected on the strength of trade by saying: "This is the best catalog of individuals we've seen at any yearling sale this year. The yearling sales have been very strong so far and we've come here and they've got the best individuals, so it's no surprise at all that it's been such an amazing sale."
He added: "Top-end bloodstock always seem to be in a slight bubble from the real world and that's always been the case. We're very fortunate as an industry that people want to have horses racing in Britain, Europe, and worldwide."
Knight was the second-biggest spender across the three sessions with 16 yearlings sourced for an outlay of 10,455,000gns ($12,476,432). Frankel ended the sale as the leading sire by aggregate, with his 25 lots bringing receipts totaling 18,745,000gns ($22,369,271) and an average of 749,800gns ($894,771) for yearlings bred at a fee of £175,000.
Coolmore Catch Frankel Fever
Just two lots earlier Coolmore's M.V. Magnier, joined by Peter Brant, outbid Godolphin's Anthony Stroud, who stood with Sheikh Mohammed, at 1,900,000gns ($2,159,388) for the Frankel colt (Lot 379) out of Blue Waltz offered by the Cumanis' Fittocks Stud.
Magnier and Brant's White Birch Farm signed for 13 lots for a combined 10,215,000gns ($12,190,029) across the three days, and 65% of that spent went on four lots by Frankel, headed by the 2,400,000gns ($2,886,244) sibling (Lot 238) to Broome.
"It's very exciting, especially considering I'm still an apprentice at this job!" quipped Luca Cumani. "This is only our third year consigning and we had one make 1,600,000gns ($1,924,163) yesterday (Dubawi colt, Lot 301, bought by JS Company and Yoshito Yahagi) and this colt makes 1,900,000gns today. It's been an amazing week and the market has been very strong, and long may it continue.
"It's very exciting to be part of this environment, I love it. We thought he might make five (hundred thousand) or eight or up, but beyond that you just don't know."
The colt is a brother to the winning Blue Boat, who races for Juddmonte Farms after the operation bought him for 450,000gns ($613,424) at Book 1 in 2020. Blue Waltz is a Pivotal half sister to four winners, most notably the grade/group 3 scorer Fantasia and the Give Thanks Stakes (G3) victress Pink Symphony, who is also the dam of Gleneagles grade 1-winning son Highland Chief.
The Cumanis race their smart homebred Dubawi colt Out From Under in partnership with White Birch Farm, and Luca explained their connection went back several decades, saying: "Peter has been a friend for many years and I used to train for him in the 80s and early 90s.
"I actually trained the dam of Thunder Gulch (Line of Thunder) for him and a good filly called Roseate Tern, so we've known each other for donkey's years. I'm very grateful to M.V. and Paul Shanahan and especially my staff who have done a wonderful job; they've really over-excelled themselves."
