Crystal colt stands out among the crowd at the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale

One of the more unexpected sires to appear in the index of the catalogue for Friday's Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale is Crystal Ocean.

Among the Meadowview Stables' draft is a colt from the first crop of the Prince of Wales's Stakes winner, whose progeny have taken the Tattersalls Ireland sales ring by storm over the last couple of years but in a different context.

Lot 223 is one of a pair of juveniles consigned by the Slatterys for the Phelan family of Derryluskin Stud, along with a colt by another first-season sire who has a more traditional breeze-up profile in Eqtidaar.

The Crystal Ocean colt is the first by the multiple Group 1-placed son of Sea The Stars to come up for auction at a breeze-up, but a handful of Crystal Ocean's first crop went under the hammer at some of Europe's leading yearling sales last autumn and even though the nine-year-old stands at The Beeches Stud, it does not preclude him from siring talented Flat performers.

"He's an unusual horse to send to a breeze-up," Eamonn Phelan concurs. "He has been given a serious education but the head has not been blown off him and we're breezing him as a racehorse, so hopefully buyers will see that."

His pedigree is eyecatching for more reasons than the identity of his sire. The April-foaled colt is out of Millevini, whose Mastercraftsman half-brother Kingston Hill won the St Leger and Racing Post Trophy. The Hawk Wing mare is also a half-sister to Ile Deserte, who is the dam of St Barths, third to Power in the Coventry Stakes.

Second dam Audacieuse won the Group 3 Prix de Flore and is a Rainbow Quest half-sister to Acomb winner and Champagne Stakes third Waiter's Dream. They are out of Sarah Georgina, a winning Persian Bold half-sister to Thatching's Prix de la Foret, Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and Prix Robert Papin winner Danseuse Du Soir. She is the dam of Group 1-winning juvenile Scintillo and Jumbajukiba, a multiple Group winner for Jessica Harrington.

Millevini herself was runner-up over a sprint trip at two and has produced two winners to date; the Australia gelding Awesomedude, who racked up a five-timer for James Ferguson to earn a Racing Post Rating of 91, and Golden Vintage, a daughter of Golden Horn who was successful in January.

Phelan purchased her Mastercraftsman daughter Mille Tank at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale in 2020, in foal to another of the year's new intake of stallions Ten Sovereigns. Rednblue Sovereign made his debut for Tom Dascombe at Newbury last Friday behind Zoulu Chief. This colt however, was not purchased in the sales ring.

"I bought him privately in England," Phelan comments. "So this is his first time at the sales, but he's been through the educational process and is a tough, hardy individual who's very like his sire." 

The Eqtidaar colt descended from Allez France gallops up the Fairyhouse home straightCredit: Healy Racing/Tattersalls Ireland

Given his pedigree and physique, the Crystal Ocean colt is expected to take more time to mature than others in the sale, and as the spring turns into summer he is thriving. Phelan sees a late-season maiden over a mile as the perfect starting point for his racing career, before what should be inevitable development and improvement as a three-year-old.

Phelan, speaking on Thursday, says: "He has a nice way of going about him and isn't a slow horse; he's a real quality individual with a good-ground action. He was a bit green in the breeze this morning but what he did was nice as he was never going to break any clocks."

The Eqtidaar colt (49) that Meadowview also consigns for the Fethard farm has a profile more typical of a breeze-up sale horse. His dam Sweet Forgetme Not had been originally destined for a similar sale, but the Dream Ahead mare ended up winning over six furlongs on her first start for Phil McEntee as a three-old at Yarmouth. She was also placed at five and six furlongs.

As a son of a Commonwealth Cup winner out of a mare who won over sprint trips, the colt could not be more of a different proposition to the son of Crystal Ocean. He is also the first foal out of Sweet Forgetme Not, who is a half-sister to Ronald R, a stakes winner at Santa Anita by Nathaniel and who like his younger sister won at Yarmouth.

Meadowview's Eqtidaar colt hails from the family of the great Allez FranceCredit: Mark Cranham

Their Exceed And Excel half-sister Miss Brazil is the dam of Italian Listed winner Elaire Noire, by Footstepsinthesand, and the family is the Wildenstein one of Allez France. This colt's fourth dam Action Francaise, successful in the Prix de Sandringham, is a daughter of the great mare and Nureyev.

Last year Derryluskin sent a homebred Camacho filly to the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up, and that filly, named Lisieux, has won and been placed on three occasions for Ado McGuinness.

Both of this year's representatives were purchased as foals and Phelan's son Andrew, who rode as an amateur jockey, has overseen the colts' preparations and training for their sales ring appointment.

"It's Andrew's baby really, he's done the work with them," says his father. "In the past we would have a horse for the breeze-ups and give them to the Slatterys, but we did all the work at home with them ourselves. 

"They're two nice horses and good individuals."

The sale on Friday starts at 10am.

Read more

An agent and ownership entity putting together a powerful Royal Ascot squad 

'We always look to what he would have done' - Khalid Abdullah's legacy lives on with Juddmonte's sensational run