Newmarket could hardly have set the tone better as the focus turns to the flat. The Rowley Mile was bathed in full spring sunshine as the breeze session of the Tattersalls Craven Sale got underway April 13 for an event that will provide an early indication of the big players in the ring this season, just as there will be clues from the track in the forthcoming maidens and trials.
The Craven Sale is the first of five major breeze-up auctions, along with some auxiliary events around Europe, through the next six weeks. Its reputation for quality is epitomized by Native Trail, the unbeaten 2-year-old champion who went on to win the Irish Two Thousand Guineas (G1). He went through the 2021 renewal, moving to Godolphin from Norman Williamson's Oak Tree Farm for 210,000 guineas.
Last year's event saw a new record price set not once but twice. In the first session, Godolphin bought Willie Browne's Acclamation colt Silent Applause for US$1,938,873. The next day, it was Amo Racing's turn, going to US$2,417,764 for the Havana Grey colt out of Show Stealer, who was understood to have clocked the fastest breeze time of the entire catalog for his consignor Malcolm Bastard. Celestial King did not run without promise less than a month later at Ascot but has not been seen since.
New records were also set for average and turnover during those busy couple of days and the crazy figures and high watermarks were replicated through the equivalent sales in Doncaster, Deauville, and Fairyhouse.
It was Tally-Ho's chestnut Cotai Glory colt, cataloged as lot 120, who headed out as the first of a long succession of 2-year-olds to be asked to quicken into a gallop for 2 furlongs. Times are recorded unofficially but will figure as a vital part in purchasing calculations for many of the interested parties lined along the course with their cameras and tripods. That colt, was, incidentally, a brother to the 2022 Prix de l'Abbaye (G1) winner The Platinum Queen, found that same year from the Guineas breeze-up.
Tattersalls has certainly compiled an attractive and diverse catalog once again, with more than 30 siblings to group or listed winners and plenty of others out of high-performing mares. The key, as ever, is how healthy the buying appetite is. A big question occupying consignors who have invested significant time and money into their stock is how active the owners from the Gulf will be considering the social, political, and economic upheaval caused by the recent military activity across the Middle East.
Six Speed, the UAE Guineas (G2) winner and UAE Derby (G1) runner-up by Not This Time , and Title Role, the Coolmore-owned Too Darn Hot colt who won the Jumeirah Two Thousand Guineas for the Simon and Ed Crisford stable, both went through last year's Craven.
The picture, both in the markets for the Guineas and at Park Paddocks ahead of the bell tolling for the opening of trade, is somewhat cloudier than the Monday morning weather. By the end of the week, we should have some clarity.
