Fort Myers the star attraction at first-ever Tattersalls August Sale

The inaugural Tattersalls August Sale will take place at Park Paddocks in Newmarket from Monday to Wednesday, with the three-day auction having attracted 774 initial entries plus an additional wildcard.

With last year's Gimcrack and Champagne Stakes scorer Threat among 167 withdrawn lots, top billing might instead fall to the regally bred Listed scorer Fort Myers (lot 387), one of five lots from Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle Stables.

The three-year-old War Front colt clocked up plenty of mileage in eight starts as a juvenile, when he landed the Listed Star Appeal Stakes under lights at Dundalk.

Fort Myers was also third in the Group 2 Railway Stakes and a highly respectable seventh in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita, when beaten less than three lengths.

This year he has contested the Irish 2,000 Guineas and Prix du Jockey Club and finished third in the Group 3 Meld Stakes at Leopardstown over nine furlongs on his most recent start.

The Coolmore homebred is out of the Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Marvellous, one of five Group 1 performers out of You'resothrilling, along with Gleneagles and Vatican City.

The Cherry Hinton Stakes scorer You'resothrilling is herself a Storm Cat sister to the Iron Horse Giant's Causeway.

Another standout lot is fellow stakes scorer Surf Dancer (706), one of six lots from William Haggas' Somerville Lodge.

Surf Dancer was bought by his owners China Horse Club and Ballylinch Stud for €260,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale, and won a valuable juvenile race at Chelmsford at two and the Listed King Charles II Stakes at York this July.

The three-year-old Lope De Vega colt has an attractive pedigree as a son of the Listed-winning Invincible Spirit mare Beach Belle, whose own dam is the Group 1-placed Beach Bunny.

Consignments from Juddmonte Farms always rank among the highlights at this type of sale, Prince Khalid Abdullah's operation having sold the top-priced colt Jewel House for 215,000gns at the 2017 July Sale.

Among the Juddmonte jewels on offer this week are the Group-placed Dawn Approach colt Georgeville (436) and the smartly bred fillies Narrate (442) and Sophistry (445).

There are clues in the pedigree of dual winner Georgeville to suggest he may have more wins left in him, as he is out of the dual Group 3 winner Big Break, a Dansili full-sister to Group 2 Royal Whip Stakes scorer Famous Name.

The latter was known as the ATM machine in Dermot Weld's yard for winning 21 races - all stakes races bar his maiden win - and placing in a further 13 races in 38 starts.

Of the three-year-old fillies, Narrate is a Dansili full-sister to stakes scorers Runnymede and Stipulate and descends from Prix du Moulin heroine All At Sea, while Sophistry is a Make Believe half-sister to Group 1-winning juvenile Epicuris and from the family of French Guineas heroine Matiara.

The largest draft comes from The Castlebridge Consignment with 73 lots headed up by recent Listed winner Maystar (360), a three-year-old son of Mayson with a peak Racing Post Rating of 102.

The same vendor also offers the three-time winner and 94-rated To Nathaniel (682), a three-year-old Nathaniel colt out of the winning Sea The Stars mare Too The Stars, meaning he is inbred 3x3 to Urban Sea.

The latest addition to the auction is the Archie Watson-trained Ocean Star (199A), a two-year-old Adaay filly who broke her maiden by a resounding 11 lengths on her latest start after being stepped up to seven furlongs, and she too features among the Castlebridge draft.

Ocean Star was bred by John Banahan out of the New Approach mare Miss Wicklow and hails from the same family as Grade 1 Northern Dancer Turf Stakes winner Forte Dei Marmi and the Epsom and Irish Oaks placegetter Harlequeen.

Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said: "The Covid-related circumstances surrounding the decision to introduce a Tattersalls August Sale are well documented and we've been hugely encouraged by both the quality and quantity of entries.

"Originally pencilled in for two days, we've extended the sale to three days to accommodate the number of entries, and the catalogue has the strength and depth that will appeal to a wide cross section of buyers, both domestic and further afield.

"Despite the current challenges, our recent July Sale achieved a phenomenal 96 per cent clearance rate, which demonstrates the enduring appeal of sales of this nature at Tattersalls, and we've already received extremely positive feedback from our myriad overseas markets."

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