High emotion for Floors Stud as Elarqam brother brings 1.1m gns from Godolphin

High drama was matched by high emotion at Tattersalls on Tuesday as a Frankel brother to Elarqam bred by the late Duke of Roxburghe became the first seven-figure yearling at this year's Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Sale when knocked down to Godolphin's buying team for 1,100,000gns.

Auctioneer Simon Kerins introduced the colt, who is out of the Duke's champion racemare Attraction, as "something special, a gorgeous colt with a gorgeous page", and it was Sheikh Mohammed's chief talent scout Anthony Stroud who had to see off the attentions of Andrew Balding, who was stationed in the bidders' area while taking instructions on the phone.

The result was a poignant one for the Floors Stud team, as the colt had been bred by the Duke of Roxburghe, who died aged 64 in August last year. Attraction carried the Duke's silks to some notable victories, including an Anglo-Irish 1,000 Guineas double and the Coronation Stakes, and has gone on to breed the likes of Elarqam, Fountain Of Youth and the smart Maydanny.

The Duchess of Roxburghe, Virginia Wynn-Williams, was in Newmarket to witness the seven-figure transaction first hand. She said: "We're delighted and for us it's a massively emotional moment as it's really a recognition of the Duke's legacy and Attraction's legacy. The two are very intertwined."

Elarqam's yearling brother in the Tattersalls sales ringCredit: Laura Green

The Duchess went on to explain that Floors Stud would continue breeding despite the Duke's passing, albeit in a reduced capacity and with mares boarding elsewhere rather than at the farm in the Scottish Borders.

"We're very keen, myself and my son George Innes-Ker, to carry on, but in a smaller, more commercial way," she said. "And it won't be remaining at Floors Stud, which is very sad but that's the way it's going to be unfortunately."

The Duchess described stud manager Chris Gillon as "a godsend" for his efforts in ensuring the smooth running of the operation since the Duke's death, and in turn Gillon paid tribute to the team on the farm who have put in the hard yards to get the draft to Tattersalls in peak condition.

"With all the interest we had beforehand we knew we had something special on our hands," he said. "Watching him sell was a bit of a blur to be honest, it was so exciting and good to see the whole team's hard work being rewarded. The two girls at home, Christina Chesser and Laura Knox, have been absolutely amazing.

"It's been a hard time for the family and it's been tough for the staff on the stud as well, but I think the best thing we could have done is make sure we got our heads down and worked hard and got these horses here at the top of their game, especially this Frankel colt.

"I'm sure the Duke will be up there smiling down on everyone for all the hard work they've put in."

Gillon continued: "The late Duke saw this colt as a foal and absolutely loved him and I think everyone was in agreement that he was the nicest foal we'd seen from Attraction. Seeing how he's developed during his prep and behaved at the sales, he certainly looks the best the mare has produced."

The Frankel colt is the third seven-figure yearling produced by Attraction, whose Book 1 receipts now total 5,645,000gns. The priciest of those is the Group 2-winning Elarqam, a 1,600,000gns buy, while Maydanny, a son of Dubawi, fetched 1,350,000gns. Both horses were purchased by Shadwell.

Gillon also offered an update on the 19-year-old Attraction, and said there should be plenty more to come from the daughter of Efisio.

Anthony Stroud: 'The Duke of Roxburghe was a fantastic breeder'Credit: Laura Green

"Attraction is at home on the stud and is looking brilliant at the moment," he said. "She's in foal to Kingman and carrying a filly, which is really exciting, and she's got a Dubawi colt on the ground, he's a really exciting prospect too."

Having signed the seven-figure docket, Stroud said of the Frankel colt: "He's beautifully bred and comes from a very good farm. He's the product of a mating the Duke of Roxburghe would have planned himself and he was a fantastic breeder. It's a shame he's not here as he'd have loved to have seen that."

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