Dubawi filly steals Galileo's thunder as Award Winning claims top billing

All the talk in the build up to the Tattersalls July Sale had been about the draft of Galileo yearling fillies on offer. But, after a frantic spell of bidding on Wednesday evening, it was a daughter of Galileo's old foe Dubawi that hogged the limelight at Park Paddocks, with Blandford Bloodstock's Tom Goff going to 350,000gns to secure the lightly-raced Award Winning.

The three-year-old, who was offered by The Castlebridge Consignment on behalf of John Gosden's Clarehaven Stables, won a Wetherby novice stakes before running down the field in the Cheshire Oaks, where she carried the silks of the Coolmore partners and Markus Jooste.

"She's been bought for an Irish client who's been talking about buying a Dubawi mare for a long time," said Goff of the filly, who had fetched 720,000gns as a yearling.

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"She's got a fantastic page, there's Cozzene in there and it's wonderful outcross material. Everyone can see what she cost as a yearling and we've followed her for a while so we're very pleased to get her."

The blue-blooded filly is out of Hit The Sky, a daughter of Cozzene and Prix Saint-Alary winner Cerulean Sky, in turn a half-sister to Irish Oaks heroine Moonstone. She is a half-sister to three stakes winners, namely the Group 2-winning Royal Bench and the Group 3 winners Mayhem and Memphis Tennessee.

Tom Goff: the Blandford Bloodstock agent signed for the top two lots on day oneCredit: Laura Green

Just two lots earlier Goff had also sent the numbers on the bid board rocketing when going to 320,000gns to secure C'est Ca, a daughter of Galileo and the Grade 1 winner A Z Warrior. The three-year-old, another to run for the Coolmore partners and Jooste, had been signed for at 750,000gns as a yearling.

"She's been bought for an American client," said Goff. "The dam won the Frizette and she's a very nice filly. She's a bit long in the front pasterns but that comes with the territory with the Sadler's Wells line. She's got a lovely page and she'll be back off to the states.

"I think both mares represented good value. You only have to think back to how strong the December Sale was. Galileo broodmare prospects are in tremendous demand and Dubawis, if they're not already, are going to be the same."

Galileo goldmine

A packed Park Paddocks ring looked on as the three yearling fillies by Galileo came under the hammer and, despite being bested in the market, the trio all but lived up to their presale expectations when selling for a combined 670,000gns.

The first two of the trio, all of which were offered by The Castlebridge Consignment, went the way of Paul Dunkley's Apple Tree Stud and Federico Barberini, with the filly out of Timbuktu fetching 220,000gns and the daughter of Luas Line bringing a winning bid of 150,000gns.

However, stud manager Robert 'Choc' Thornton explained that doubling up on the Galileo yearlings had not been the plan when he and Barberini entered the ring.

"We only intended to buy one but I was stood there with Federico and when we saw the second one making much less than we expected we couldn't let an opportunity like that go," he said.

"It's all about the broodmare band at Apple Tree," Thornton continued. "Building that is a slow process and we're taking our time doing things. We've just got the seven mares at the moment, although we have fillies in training and two other yearling fillies who'll join these two in going into training. These two will be raced and hopefully they'll have a home for life after that."

The best was saved until last among the highly anticipated triumvirate, as Ronald Rauscher went to 300,000gns for the daughter of Galileo and the Group 3-winning Danehill mare Milanova, a sister to Holy Roman Emperor.

Goff, who had also made determined plays on the first two Galileo fillies, gave Rauscher most to think about, but a bid of 300,000gns, delivered from the steps by the exit to the ring, was enough to bring John O'Kelly's gavel down.

"It hasn't quite been decided where she'll go into training but we've got plenty of time to think about that," said Rauscher. "She's still very young but she's very typical of the family. There are lots of good horses in that family that aren't on the page, like Night Shift and Encosta De Lago.

"I think she has very good paddock value and she handled herself very well at the sale and she vetted very well. There might not be too many opportunities to buy a filly like this."

Rauscher went on to explain that he has a particular affinity for this family, having spent his formative years in Canada, from where this line takes its roots.

"I'm a bit biased towards the pedigree as it's an old Jean-Louis Levesque family from Canada and I used to work at Windfields so I had a lot to do with horses like Barachois and La Voyageuse," he said. "She's been bought for a European-based owner who doesn't want to be named."

The trio of Galileo yearlings had all been owned or part-owned by troubled South African retail magnate Jooste, who has been forced to disperse his stock amid a string of accountancy fraud allegations.

Godolphin bloodlines up for grabs

The draft of fillies and mares offered by Godolphin proved as popular as ever during Wednesday's session, with 25 lots generating turnover of 639,500gns. The priciest of the draft was Crystal Diamond, a daughter of Teofilo offered in foal to Pivotal, who brought 150,000gns from Matt Houldsworth, who was acting on behalf of Coolmore Australia's Michael Kirwan.

The seven-year-old won the Listed Prix Belle de Nuit during her seven-race career, and is a half-sister to Group 2 winner Diamond Tango, herself the dam of smart stayer Desert Skyline. The family descends from Jean-Luc Lagardere's Diamond Seal, the dam of Group 2 winner Diamond Mix and ancestress of Irish Derby and St Leger hero Capri.

"She's a stakes horse who's probably a bit of a standout here today and she's in foal to a very good stallion and there might not be too many more opportunities to buy mares in foal to him," said Houldsworth.

Another highlight of the Godolphin draft was Shepherdia, a ten-year-old daughter of Pivotal who was knocked down to James Tate for 140,000gns after the trainer had seen off the attentions of the Camas Park Stud team.

"She's been bought for Saeed Manana - he likes big Pivotal mares and that's what she is," said Tate. "She's had a stakes performer already so she's not doing too badly."

Shepherdia, a placed half-sister to Grade 3 winner Chattahoochee War offered in foal to Territories, has already produced two winners, namely the smart Experto Crede, a four-time winner here and in Hong Kong, and the Listed-placed Shepherd Market, one of the few foals sired by Reckless Abandon.

Arod's coming home

Arod, the highest-rated entrant in this year's July Sale, is staying in the David Simcock stable after the other half of Blandford Bloodstock, Richard Brown, went to 145,000gns

"He's going back to David and, at the moment, I own him," beamed Brown after signing the docket for the seven-year-old son of Teofilo, who boasts a peak Racing Post Rating of 121.

Arod wins the Group 2 Summer Miles Stakes at AscotCredit: Charlie Crowhurst

"This was almost a no-brainer - we know him well, he retains his form, he can run in a lot of valuable races, he can travel and he's entered on Saturday in the Group 2 Summer Mile at Ascot, a race he's won before.

"If he goes home from the sales here and is healthy and David is happy with him, we'll run."

Arod, a €170,000 Goffs Orby yearling buy by David Redvers, won five of his 28 starts for Qatar Racing, including when recording a career-best in the 2015 Summer Mile, in which he defeated the likes of Lightning Spear and Cable Bay.

Blandford tickled Pink

The first six-figure lot of the day arrived when Goff and Astute Bloodstock's Louis Le Metayer locked horns over Baby Pink, a daughter of Invincible Spirit and the Grade 3-winning Galileo mare Dress Rehearsal. A bid of 160,000gns was required to see Goff emerge victorious.

The three-year-old was last seen running for the Coolmore partners and Jooste, and achieved a peak Racing Post Rating of 68 for finishing second in a Limerick maiden over 1m3½f on her second start while in training with Aidan O'Brien.

The half-sister to the Listed-placed Christophermarlowe - now known as Cloud Nine in Hong Kong - was bought for 450,000gns at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale back in 2016.

"She's a lovely filly who made a lot of money as a yearling," said Goff. "It's a family we know well as we bought Christophermarlowe at Saratoga, he was a lovely colt who cost $200,000 and was all Galileo, and this filly is quite similar. She's a lovely broodmare prospect and we're very pleased to have her. She's been bought for an American-based breeder."

The filly's dam is a half-sister to Fairy Of The Night, the dam of high-class sprinter Muthmir, while Grade 1 performer Grandeur also appears further down the page.

Figures

At the close of trade on Wednesday 270 lots had changed hands for turnover of 5,407,000gns - a 23 per cent year-on-year drop. The average of 25,995gns was down 17 per cent and the median of 9,000gns was down from 10,000gns 12 months ago. The clearance rate stood at 77 per cent.

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