The growing popularity of Darley's up-and-coming sires has been one of the running themes throughout sales season, and that trend was in evidence again at Tattersalls on Oct. 13 as a colt by Pinatubo led the morning market on Day 2 of Book 3.
Bred by Rabbah Bloodstock and offered by Barton Stud, the half brother to Sirenia Stakes (G3) scorer Mighty Gurkha was knocked down to Najd Stud representative Saud Al Qahtani at 90,000gns (US$114,695, 1gn=US$1.2744).
"I hope Pinatubo will be a good sire," said Al Qahtani. "He was a champion 2-year-old, champion of Europe and by Shamardal, so why not? We put 100,000gns for him as our budget. He might stay here or go to Saudi, we will think about this and decide later on. It's a good market and a very good selection of horses at Tattersalls."
That purchase took Najd Stud's October Yearling Sale haul to 15 lots and an aggregate spend of 1,386,000gns.
Barton's managing director Tom Blain was another to give Pinatubo his seal of approval, although he admitted this colt's session-topping price had come as a pleasant surprise.
"He's a lovely horse but I didn't expect him to make 90,000gns," he said. "He's been great here, he's behaved really well, and the stallion is going from strength to strength it seems. His horses have improved a lot from foals to yearlings and we've had three now and they've all made good money. He's a very exciting stallion prospect for Darley."
On the 90,000gns colt, Blain added: "I'm pleased for the owners. He was born and raised with us and has been very straightforward. He's a lovely horse and he stood out today. Not deliberately, but he did and that's got to be a good thing. You're making decisions on these horses in the spring and they can change so much, but it's always better to stand out on a lesser day."
Following the morning session of Friday's instalment of Book 3, Barton Stud had sold 44 lots across the October Yearling Sale for receipts totaling 4,111,000gns.
Tate Goes Far for Above Colt
James Tate knows all about Far Above having trained the son of Farhh to win the Palace House Stakes (G3) before he retired to Starfield Stud, where he was introduced at a fee of €6,000.
The Newmarket handler now has the sire's most expensive yearling to date to look forward to having gone to 70,000gns for the Q-Cross Stables-consigned colt out of Bittern.
"He's a lovely horse and reminds me very much of his father," said Tate. "He's a good size, strong, he looks quick and looked particularly good up here in the ring. I'm looking forward to seeing if he can go as fast as his daddy.
"Far Above showed me a lot as a juvenile but he didn't run as a 2-year-old, so we'll just see how we go with this lad," he said. "I'm sure he'll be quick and we're looking forward to breaking him in."
A damp morning and even wetter evening stint produced only routine trade, although the split sessions means year-on-year comparisons are redundant. Selling on Friday produced aggregate sales of 1,728,500gns ($2,202,774), an average price of 12,175gns ($15,516), and a median of 10,000gns ($12,744). The clearance rate was 75% as 142 lots sold from 190 yearlings offered.
The Tattersalls October Yearling Sale concludes Saturday, with a session comprising Books 3 and 4 beginning at 9.30am.