Holland enjoys good fortunes as pinhook Cracksman filly sells for 410,000gns

Fortune favours the brave and in Grove Stud's Brendan Holland's case, the decision to purchase Ringfort Stud's Cracksman filly out of Coolmix for 95,000gns at last year's Tattersalls December Foal Sale paid off spectacularly well at Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale.

The athletic filly attracted plenty of admirers around the Park Paddocks sales ground before her date with destiny in the ring, but even Holland admitted he was not expecting a sale price of 410,000gns from his pinhook, despite the notable page updates from her half-brother Fearby.

Holland reflected on Friday: "She was a really good physical and it was quite a bit of money at the time, but I got lucky and her brother is a very good two-year-old.

"He's won a Listed race and been Group-placed in the meantime, while she was nice when she was born and was nice when I sold her."

By the time Book 1 had come around, Fearby had added to his Dragon Stakes success with placings in the Molecomb and Mill Reef Stakes, while he had also finished a good second in the valuable Tattersalls October Auction Stakes earlier this month.

Holland added: "There were an awful lot of people interested in her and she vetted clean, but I had no idea what kind of money she'd make."

Sire Cracksman, Darley's first-crop son of Frankel, has plenty to recommend him on paper of course, being a dual Champion Stakes winner as well as joint-world champion with Winx in 2018, and Holland was impressed by the first yearlings from the four-time Group 1 winner.

He said: "I have two more to sell by him that are nice types and I saw a few others by him at the sale. At Book 1 you're only really looking at nice horses, so I'd expect to see nice ones.

"It's quite early to say yet but he was such a high-class racehorse himself and he now looks to be a really good stallion, so it would be disappointing if he can't get good runners."

There is no rest for the wicked as far as Holland is concerned, and his attentions now turn to next week's Books 2 and 3 in Newmarket, where his County Cork operation will offer yearlings by established sires.

He continued: "We've got four at Book 2 and one at Book 3. They're all good types by proven, commercial sires like Le Havre, Camelot, Kodiac and Sea The Moon. They're all good individuals by good sires."

While the lack of investment at Book 1 from Shadwell did not go unnoticed, Holland is of the opinion that Book 2 will continue to see vibrant trade and the majority of yearlings finding new homes.

"Everybody is probably a little bit anxious about Book 2 without major Shadwell participation, but I'd still be surprised if there isn't very good trade next week," he said.

"The one feature of the sales so far has been the good clearance rates, while the median has held up and also increased."

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