Frankel Foals In Demand at Day 3 of Tatts Foal Sale

Coolmore and Juddmonte traded seven-figure blows as a well-related son of Frankel (GB) fetched a cool 1.15 million guineas (US$1,599,000, 1 guinea=US$1.39) at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale Nov. 28. Ed Sackville, standing in the bidders' area with TBT Racing's Simon Sadler, helped cut out the early running, but his every increase was swiftly met by Juddmonte's Simon Mockridge, who was sitting in the seats by the exit. The outfit's general manager was flanked by colleagues Douglas Erskine Crum and Barry Mahon. No sooner had Sackville been seen off then M.V. Magnier entered the fray from the opposite side of the ring. Mockridge upped the ante from 900,000 guineas to a million guineas in one fell swoop, but the strongarm tactics did little to knock his rival off his stride. The 50,000-guinea raises kept coming from the Coolmore man, and Mockridge eventually gave a resigned shake of the head when Magnier signaled the decisive play. The colt, who was sold through the Wigans' West Blagdon Stud, is the third foal out of Cloudy Dawn (IRE), a daughter of Kodiac (GB) who carried James Wigan's silks to four victories, including in the 2021 Prix de Lieurey (G3). The pedigree goes back to 2004 Prix du Moulin (G1) heroine Grey Lilas and her three-time group 1-winning daughter Golden Lilac. "It's a great result for James Wigan, he's one of the best breeders there is," Magnier said. "They've a great farm and a great track record of raising good horses. Frankel is a very good stallion, as we all know, and a lot of Galileos' sons are doing well at stud. "This is a very nice horse. We'll get him back home and review what we'll do with him after the summer, but I'd say the most likely outcome is that he'll go to Ballydoyle. It's a lot of money for him, but when you breed a horse like that, the Wigans deserve to get it." "I didn't have any sort of price in my head, I just thought he was a very nice horse and he deserved to make a good price," said Wigan. "Frankel is a horse with great bone, great substance, and I think he suits a mare with speed; and she was fast. He's always been a very nice horse with a very nice character. You don't expect to sell a foal for that sort of price. I'm delighted that M.V. got him and that he's gone to the best possible home." The youngster became the second-most expensive colt in December Foal Sale history, and fifth-most expensive lot overall. The record was set 12 months ago when Amo Racing paid 2.5 million guineas for a sister to Chaldean (GB). Lascelles lands 850,000gns Frankel filly Juddmonte also finished runner-up when The Castlebridge Consignment presented the Frankel filly out of Tropbeau. The youngster was bred by Lady Bamford, and her racing manager Henry Lascelles went to 850,000 guineas to buy Juddmonte out of the foal share agreement. "She's a homebred filly who we really liked," said Lascelles. "Her full brother is a 2-year-old with the Gosdens. We like him too and he'll run in the spring next year, and we also have a Night of Thunder filly who'll go into training next year too. This filly is a credit to Lady Bamford, Chris (Lock, stud manager) and the whole team at Daylesford. She's a lovely filly and we're delighted to get her back. Tropbeau was a very good racemare, she was a group 2 winner at two and group 1-placed at three. She's a really exciting mare." TBT Racing cap 'perfect' day with 700,000gns Frankel colt Agent Ed Sackville was in the thick of the bidding on a host of Friday's bigger lots, and finally got on the mark when landing the Frankel colt out of Sunday Star at 700,000 guineas. The colt was bred by David Ward and sold through Whatton Manor Stud. Not only was the dam a two-time winner and group 3-placed, she is a Kodiac half sister to this year's leading first-season sire Starman (GB). Her first foal, this colt's 2-year-old full sister Sunday Girl, debuted with a promising third-place finish for Ed Walker at Newbury in late April. "He's been bought for TBT Racing," said Sackville, who was joined by owner Simon Sadler. "Simon came up to Newmarket today and went to Banstead Manor Stud to have a look at Frankel. Having seen Frankel, he wanted a Frankel. He's a lovely horse and Ed (Walker) knows the family better than anyone. Ed trains the full sister, who we expect to win next time, and it's a stallion's page on both the sire's side and the female side. He's a lovely athletic colt who should hopefully make up into a very nice racehorse." Sadler has emerged a significant new investor in the sport, a trajectory that has been underpinned by a highly productive time on the track. TBT Racing's blue, orange, and white silks have been carried to notable victories by Noble Champion (Jersey Stakes), Qilin Queen (Prix de Malleret) and Ten Bob Tony (John Of Gaunt Stakes). Reflecting on the campaign, Sadler said: "It's been fantastic, really enjoyable. I never really anticipated getting three group winners like we did, and a listed winner, so I'm ecstatic. This really rounds it all off. Today's been a great day, going to the stud and seeing Frankel and then buying a Frankel that's related to Starman. Perfect. I'm already very much looking forward to next season." Asked about his broader ambitions within the sport, Sadler said: "To win as many group 1 races as TBT Racing can, and to breed our own." The third session of the Tattersalls December Foal Sale saw losses from last year's corresponding session. With 215 lots on offer again this year, 188 sold for a turnover of 23,311,500 guineas (US$32,408,000), a 25% drop from last year when 194 sold for 30,906,000 guineas. The median fell 9% to 80,000 guineas (US$111,200) and average was down 22% at 123,997 guineas (US$172,384). The sale concludes with the fourth and final session Nov. 29 beginning at 10 a.m. local time.