Drama-filled breeze no barrier to success for Tattersalls Craven top lot

Norman Williamson must have been cursing his luck when the reins snapped as his Invincible Spirit colt was put through his paces during the breeze of the Tattersalls Craven Sale on Monday morning.

However, the two-year-old took that mishap in his stride, and duly caught the eye of the Godolphin buying team when given a second chance to shine on the Rowley Mile as Anthony Stroud, accompanied as he had been on Tuesday by Sheikh Mohammed, struck a winning bid of 575,000gns for the colt to lead the sale's concluding session on Wednesday.

Justin Casse tried hard to land the colt, a half-brother to the Group/Grade 1 winner Erupt, but the US agent's every increase was bested by Stroud, who was taking instructions from the Sheikh.

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"We all know what happened with his breeze," said Williamson, who pinhooked the youngster for €90,000 outside of the ring at Goffs last year.

"But the horse showed great tenacity to go back down and do it all again. He proved he's a good, solid colt. He's a lovely horse with a great pedigree, so let's hope he's lucky."

Sheikh Mohammed and Anthony Stroud contemplate another bidCredit: Laura Green

Bred by the Niarchos family, the colt is out of Mare Nostrum, a daughter of Caerleon who landed the Group 3 Prix Vanteaux and has also produced the Listed-winning Marie De Medici.

"He's a very nice horse and did a very good breeze," said Stroud. "He showed a remarkable temperament having had to do it twice and he comes from a very good Niarchos family. Norman Williamson does a great job of preparing these horses."

Godolphin were also in action earlier in the session as they added a Medaglia D'Oro colt offered by Lynn Lodge Stud to their string at a cost of 280,000gns, and later bought a Night Of Thunder colt from Houghton Bloodstock for 300,000gns.

Godolphin made seven purchases totalling 2,940,000gns across the two days of selling, led by the sale-topping Kingman filly who fetched 850,000gns on Tuesday. Sheikh Mohammed's operation accounted for 28 per cent of the sale's turnover.

Hughes a man for all seasons

Some four months ago Cian Hughes landed an almighty touch when Chantry House, a son of Yeats bought by Eric Elliott for €26,000, topped the Tattersalls Cheltenham December Sale when selling to JP McManus for £295,000.

And Hughes proved he is rapidly becoming a man for all seasons, as the Competitive Edge filly he pinhooked for just €32,000 was knocked down to Highland Yard LLC and Harvey Bloodstock for 280,000gns.

"She's been plain sailing all the way through, she's very tough and she breezed well, hopefully she goes and does it on the track now," said Hughes. "She's a real two-year-old type so should be ready to kick on with."

Competitive Edge stands at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky, with the Grade 1-winning son of Super Saver, whose first crop are two, commanding a fee of $5,000 for 2019.

"We always thought a lot of her," continued Hughes. "I saw a number of Competitive Edges out in Keeneland and they were nice horses, so when I spotted her in Goffs I thought it was a bit unusual. But we couldn't fault her, although I didn't think we'd be able to buy her.

"She's my first horse at the Craven, I worked with Jim McCartan for ten years so I've been studying for a long while now and know you have to send a decent one here."

Expanding on his business model, Hughes said: "We do a mix of two-year-olds and National Hunt horses, and we do a lot of breaking and pre-training too - I really enjoy doing a little bit of both and focussing on quality. I don't do too much with the breezers, I'd rather leave them short of work so there's plenty of improvement there."

The filly is now set to begin her racing career for another man who has enjoyed success in both spheres, as she will join the yard of Champion Hurdle-winning trainer Gavin Cromwell.

"She's beautiful, a gorgeous filly," said bloodstock agent Daithi Harvey. "She put in some pretty impressive sectionals in her breeze and showed a lot of speed. She's out of a mare who was rated 107 and got ten furlongs, so that gives us a lot of hope that she'll train on into a nice three-year-old."

As well as training Champion Hurdle hero Espoir D'Allen, Cromwell also oversaw the career of the Group 2 Prix de Royallieu winner Princess Yaiza, whose owners Highland Yard acquired the Competitive Edge filly.

"She's been bought for Lindsay Laroche of Highland Yard, who had Princess Yaiza in training with Gavin last year," added Harvey. "They had a lot of luck with her so let's hope this filly can repeat the dose.

"She doesn't look over-trained so we won't be in any major hurry with her, but she'll go to Gavin Cromwell so I'll let him decide where she starts off."

The filly is the first foal out of the Group 3-placed Hug And A Kiss, a daughter of Thewayyouare who shares her page with the Grade 1 scorer Marylebone.

Deja vu for Warren

It was almost 12 months to the day that John and Jake Warren gave 230,000gns for a daughter of Exceed And Excel at last year's Craven Sale, and they will be hoping to repeat the trick having parted with the same sum for a No Nay Never filly consigned by Star Bloodstock during Wednesday's session.

The Exceed And Excel filly turned out to be the Group 3 Firth of Clyde Stakes winner Queen Of Bermuda, who carried the colours of Simon Scupham's Bermuda Thoroughbred Racing for whom the No Nay Never was also sourced.

"She's a cracking filly," said Jake Warren. "We were very selective with what we had on our list but she was right up there with the best of them. We bought the guys from Bermuda Thoroughbreds a filly last year, Queen Of Bermuda, and we're very much trying to replicate the success she had last year.

"I thought this filly's breeze was fantastic, she's by a top sire and the mare has already produced one who can run - it's a deep pedigree. She's got all the hallmarks of a really good two-year-old. We had to spend quite a bit to get her but when they've proved they can breeze like she did I think they're worth investing in. I suspect this filly will go into training with William Haggas."

The Star Bloodstock-consigned No Nay Never filly breezes under Micky CleereCredit: Laura Green

The sale of the filly was one of a number of strong results for Star Bloodstock, vendor of the likes of Abel Handy and Broken Stones, having pinhooked this particular lot from the Goffs UK Premier Sale for £40,000.

"She's always been a quick, professional filly at home and I'm ecstatic with that result," said Star Bloodstock's Matt Eves.

"We bought her from Doncaster just before the stallion really kicked on, we looked at everything there and she met all of our criteria - we're rigorous in our buying. If we'd try to buy the same filly in October she might've cost 100,000gns.

The jockey using science and soft hands to produce future stars

"At the end of the day she put up the 13th fastest time, the third fastest filly, so the stars all aligned, job done."

The outfit also sold a Daredevil colt pinhooked for $50,000 for 130,000gns to Satish Seemar and Adam Driver, and received 120,000gns from the Cool Silk Partnership and Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for an Orb colt sourced for $45,000.

"Where we're based we can take them away to Willie Browne's every week, that really helps them mentally," said Eves. "Micky Cleere has done a fantastic job of preparing these horses at home - he's the one who does the real work."

Final figures

A smaller catalogue saw 33 fewer lots come under the hammer than during 2018's Craven Sale, meaning the aggregate was always liable to take a hit, and turnover duly dropped by 22 per cent to 10,343,000gns.

The average also dipped by 14 per cent to 121,680gns, though the median went in the opposite direction, closing at 85,000gns, up from 75,000gns 12 months ago.

A total of 109 two-year-olds came under the hammer, with 85 finding a new owner for a clearance rate of 78 per cent.

At the close of trade, Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said: "An improved clearance rate and a good cross-section of buyers, both domestic and overseas, are positives to take from the 2019 renewal of the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale.

"We deliberately catalogued fewer two-year-olds than last year and understandably the turnover has reflected this decision, but it was definitely prudent to keep a tighter rein on the numbers.

"The sale has as ever produced some outstanding pinhooking successes, most notably Tally-Ho Stud's outstanding 850,000gns Kingman filly who is the highest priced filly ever sold at a European breeze-up sale, and it has been encouraging to see new faces from Hong Kong and the USA participating as well as a significant number of buyers from throughout the Gulf region active at all levels of the market.

"Trainers have also responded positively to the new £15,000 Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Bonus and we look forward to rewarding owners for their confidence in the Craven Breeze Up as the season unfolds.

"In the meantime we look forward to the forthcoming Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up and Horses in Training Sale which features a further 172 quality Breeze Up two year olds and 132 horses in training."

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Sheikh Mohammed's presence sparks life into Tattersalls Craven trade