Mares in foal to Hot Streak in demand during final session

Mares offered in foal to Tweenhills Stud stallion proved the order of the day during the fourth and final session of the Tattersalls December Mares Sale on Thursday, with Poyle Dee Dee becoming the most expensive lot sold on the final day since 2012.

Poyle Dee Dee, who was offered by the National Stud on behalf of her late owner-breeder Cecil Wiggins, appeared an attractive proposition for buyers as a daughter of Oasis Dream, the Banstead Manor Stud stalwart who enjoyed a resurgent year thanks to Group 1-winning sprinters Polydream and Pretty Pollyanna.

Among the mare's three runners to date are classy handicap sprinter Poyle Vinnie and the four-time winner Bounty Pursuit, while her two-year-old Bated Breath colt Could Be King was a close fourth on his most recent start in the Group 3 Killavullen Stakes and holds an entry in the Irish 2,000 Guineas next May.

View sales results and buyers

Poyle Dee Dee, a half-sister to Lowther Stakes heroine Jemima, was eventually hammered down to Hannah Wall of Tweenhills for 68,000gns, with Henry O'Callaghan of Tally-Ho Stud as underbidder.

"Her colt really was the pick of the Hot Streak yearlings," said Wall, referring to Poyle Dee Dee's son who was sold by Tally-Ho for 150,000gns at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Sale.

"He was bought by Shadwell and is going into training with John Gosden - he really is a lovely horse. This mare is back in-foal to Hot Streak and will probably visit Zoustar next spring."

Fond memories

"Cecil [Wiggins] would have got a massive kick out of Poyle Dee Dee because she was his favourite mare and he'd have loved to top a sale like that," said Paul Thorman of Trickledown Stud, who consigned youngstock on behalf of Wiggins for 20 years.

"Cecil used the 'Poyle' prefix for all the horses he kept to race, as that is where his reclaim business was situated near Heathrow airport.

"His best horses included Poyle George, who won the Rous Stakes at Newmarket, and Poyle Crusher, who was fourth in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot. He died during the summer and this was the final disbanding of his breeding stock.

"He looked after his horses incredibly well and some of the granddams of the mares sold today are still on the farm at Poyle."

Blue-blooded buy

Tweenhills switched hats later in the session when offering the Storm Cat mare Kamarinskaya in foal to Hot Streak, the Temple Stakes scorer who is a £7,000 option for breeders next year.

Trained by Aidan O'Brien, Kamarinskaya landed the Group 3 Leopardstown 1,000 Guineas Trial at three, and has produced three winners since retiring to stud.

Bred in the purple, is a half-sister to champion two-year-old in Europe and sire Fasliyev and the unraced Butterfly Cove, dam of champion two and three-year-old filly Misty For Me and Prix Marcel Boussac scorer Ballydoyle.

Misty For Me is also the dam of three-time Group 1-winning miler Roly Poly and this year's July Cup hero and Coolmore Stud retiree US Navy Flag, who will commence covering duties at a €25,000 fee next spring.

"Kamarinskaya is for a client in Ireland," reported Robin O'Ryan after signing the docket at 25,000gns. "She's a lovely mare with a good pedigree."

Welcome home

Jamie Railton - who featured among the top ten consignors during the December Mares Sale - was kept busy until the final day selling Guarded Secret, an unraced daughter of Hill Welcome, back to her breeder Fiona Denniff of Denniff Farms.

Denniff sold the two-year-old Bated Breath filly to David Redvers for 35,000gns at last year's Tattersalls December Yearling Sale and will now look to race her.

"I will get her home, turn her out for a month and then think about getting her back into training," said Denniff, who secured the filly for 26,000gns.

"It is a very current and active family with Kachy and Beat The Bank, who runs in Hong Kong on Sunday. Hopefully, we will have a quick update to the page. I was hoping that she was not going to be quite so expensive."

Hill Welcome - sourced by Denniff Farms for 3,000gns as a horse in training - has established herself as a fine foundation mare.

Her Listed-placed Diktat daughter Tiana is the dam of Celebration Mile scorer Beat The Bank, while her Group 3-placed daughter Mary Read is the granddam of Kachy, who was a neck third to Battaash in this year's Temple Stakes.

Henry O'Callaghan had to once again settle for the role of underbidder.

Becky Marsh's Trinity Park Stud ended the week on a high selling the four-year-old Excelebration filly Cheerfilly for 47,000gns to David Powell of Catridge Farm Stud.

Trained by Tom Dascombe for owner Laurence Bellman, Cheerfilly is a two-time winner out of the Listed Hoppings Stakes scorer Classic Remark, a half-sister to Classic trial winner Cassydora from the further family of Zoffany.

"We've put together a group of three of us to buy her. We might put her in-foal and reconsign her next year, plans are fluid," said Powell. "She has a very good page."

Ending on a positive note

Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said in his end-of-sale statement: "We were conscious that the December Mares Sale catalogue perhaps lacked the depth of the record-breaking 2017 renewal which featured the Ballymacoll Dispersal and the likes of Marsha and Zhukova, but Tuesday's sale all but matched last year's spectacular levels, with buyers from every continent in the world all making a significant contribution to a truly memorable session.

"In addition to the seven fillies and mares selling for a million guineas or more, we had 22 break the 500,000gns mark, second only to last year's record number, and an unprecedented 79 and 147 lots selling for 200,000gns and 100,000gns or more.

"The huge number of overseas buyers has been particularly encouraging for all concerned with the top 20 lots selling to buyers from Britain, Ireland, China, Dubai, France, Japan, Kuwait and the USA, while a strong Australian and New Zealand contingent also made its presence felt.

"Equally gratifying has been the participation of buyers at all levels of the market from throughout the Gulf region as well as Germany, India, Morocco, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and Uzbekistan, all of whom have clearly demonstrated the unwavering demand for quality European bloodstock and contributed to the best December Sale clearance rate this century."

Figures

Thursday saw 113 of the 153 lots on offer change hands for receipts amounting to 609,500gns - down seven per cent on last year - at an average spend of 5,394gns. The clearance rate was up marginally to 74 per cent, while the median remained at 3,000gns.

Figures for the overall sale showed aggregate sales had fallen by 11 per cent to 60,712,100gns, thanks partly due to the absence of such standout lots like Marsha and Zhukova at the previous year's sale, while 728 of the 878 lots found new homes for an 83 per cent clearance rate.

The average fell from 101,208gns to 83,396gns, while the median dropped from 25,000gns to 20,500gns.

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