Godolphin picked up where they left off on Day 1 by securing a son of Frankel for 2.2 million guineas (US$3,096,013, 1 guinea=US$1.41) during the opening hour of selling at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Oct. 8.
The opening session saw Sheikh Mohammed's operation invest 9.3 million guineas on 10 yearlings, and the ruler of Dubai was seemingly in no mood to be denied on Day 2 either.
Wednesday's seven-figure youngster was offered by the Cumanis' Fittocks Stud and hails from a family that Godolphin already knows plenty about. The colt is a half brother to two winners, most notably the Charlie Appleby-trained Ottoman Fleet, a two-time grade 2 scorer in the United States for Godolphin.
Another sibling, the 2-year-old Zarak filly Ottoman Empress, made a promising debut in the Godolphin blue when second in Newmarket maiden at the end of September.
"Nearly, nearly!" said Luca Cumani as he gestured that he was holding back tears in the aftermath of the transaction. "This is my best day in the sales ring, it's very emotional. We're very thankful to all the people who appreciated the horse. I'm especially thankful to my stud groom Martin (Languillet) and all the staff, who've done so much work with the horse.
"It's fantastic, that's the highest price we've ever had. We sold one for 2 million last year, which was very exciting, and this is even better! He's such a lovely horse, he's never put a foot wrong. He's a great-looking Frankel colt out of a mare who's already proven. I'm delighted that he's going to a very good home."
Godolphin remained clear at the head of the leading buyers' table with a spend of 14.75 million guineas spread across 15 lots.
Amo Lands Trio of Seven-FIgure Colts
"A good five minutes' work," was Eddie O'Leary's typically understated reaction to seeing back-to-back Lynn Lodge Stud lots bring a combined 2.2 million guineas midway through the second session at Tattersalls Book 1.
The lion's share of that sum was generated by a Night of Thunder colt who was knocked down to Amo Racing's Kia Joorabchian at 1.7 million guineas.
Out of the 2018 Sweet Solera Stakes (G3) third Model Guest, the colt is a brother to Zhang Yuesheng's smart 2-year-old filly Evolutionist. That €600,000 purchase could provide the pedigree with an almost immediate group 1 update as she is set to contest the Fillies' Mile (G1) Oct. 10.
The colt emerged as one of the week's major talking horses, and O'Leary was effusive in his praise of the strapping youngster.
"He's an absolutely beautiful horse with a magnificent mind," he said. "The sire is obviously very, very good and I hope the filly is very good; she runs in the group 1 on Friday. He came out of the field in February and looked like this. He's just a stunning horse. We didn't prep him, we just brought him up here."
The other lot in Lynn Lodge's big-money brace was the Wootton Bassett filly out of a half sister to Taghrooda who fetched 500,000 guineas from Japanese buyer Tsunefumi Kusama.
The Night of Thunder colt was Amo Racing's second seven-figure pickup of the day, having earlier gone to 2.2 million guineas for the Wootton Bassett half brother to Crypto Force from Marlhill House Stud. Coolmore's M.V. Magnier filled the role of underbidder on both colts.
"To be honest with you, I was hoping (the price) would be half that," Joorabchian said after signing for the Wootton Bassett colt. "Unfortunately when you're bidding against the other big guys, you have to really like the horse and really go for it, and you don't have much choice. He'll go to Freemason and we'll see how he goes."
He added: "The two colts we paid a lot of money for (over the first two days) have very good pedigrees and are by very good stallions. When you're talking about Frankel and Wootton Bassett, you're talking about the cream of the crop. That's really what we're looking for. We're also looking for fillies that can be potential broodmares. I've said before, we're 30 or 40 years behind the big operations. We're just a baby operation trying to catch up."
Amo's spending continued late into the session when another well-related Wootton Bassett colt became the day's third yearling to make 2.2 million guineas. The youngster was bred by Al Shahania Stud and offered through Newsells Park. He is out of Qabala, a daughter of Scat Daddy who won the 2019 Nell Gwyn Stakes (G3) and was third in that year's One Thousand Guineas (G1).
The colt is a sibling to two winners, including the unbeaten Raammee who took his record to 2-for-2 with a 12-length romp in a Newcastle novice stakes last month.
That signing took Amo's Book 1 spend to 11.91 million guineas for eight new recruits.
Coolmore hoping for another Delacroix with Dubawi colt
A good day for Fittocks Stud got even better a short while later when the Newmarket operation sold the Dubawi colt out of Lady Bowthorpe. Coolmore's M.V. Magnier, who signed his name alongside Peter Brant's White Birch Farm brand, delivered the winning bid of 1.3 million guineas.
The seven-figure youngster is the second foal out of the mare, who carried Emma Banks' colors to victory in five races. The highlight of her time in training with William Jarvis came in the Nassau Stakes (G1) of 2021, a race she won by a length and a half from Shadwell's Zeyaadah. A brother to this colt sold to Godolphin for 2 million guineas at last year's renewal of Book 1. He has been named Desert Knight and is in training with Charlie Appleby.
"It's a very strange business but it's great," Banks said. "I'm so lucky to have a mare that has produced two beautiful yearlings. Her Too Darn Hot foal is lovely and she's in foal to Wootton Bassett—exciting!
"He's a lovely horse and Lady Bowthorpe was a very good race filly, as we all know," Magnier said. "It's a great result for Emma Banks, she's a very nice lady so well done to her.
"Dubawi is still going well and thankfully we're going to retire Delacroix at the end of this year. He's a complete outcross for us, so he's probably the most important horse we'd have retired in a good while. He has everything: race record, pedigree, and as a complete outcross we can really get behind the horse. If this fella is any good then he'll follow a similar path."
Magnier made another seven-figure signing later in the day when going to 1.7 million guineas for the No Nay Never colt out of 2019 Cheveley Park Stakes (G1) heroine Millisle. The colt, whose Frankel half sister Alfareqa sold to Shadwell for 1.6 million guineas two years ago, was bred by Stonethorn Stud Farms and presented by Watership Down Stud.
"No Nay Never is having a very good year with the likes of Charles Darwin and True Love," Magnier said. "Blackbeard (another son of No Nay Never) is having a great sale here and there's plenty of good word for Little Big Bear. Millisle was a very good filly, so hopefully this colt ends up being a good, quick horse."
READ: Sire No Nay Never's Stature Continues to Grow
Having drawn a blank on Day 1, the Coolmore partners ended the second session with five recruits secured for a spend of 4.8 million guineas.
Day 2 Statistics
Turnover at for the second day of the sale exceeded last year's second session, totaling 47,258,000 guineas (US$66,505,156) for 134 sold, a 17% increase over last year when 117 were sold for 40,383,000 guineas. With a clearance rate of 85%, the session averaged 352,670 guineas (US$496,305) with a median of 215,000 guineas (US$302,565).
Book 1 of the Tattersalls October sale concludes with the Oct. 9 session, which begins at 11 a.m. local time.
