Let's Dance sold to France while Kevin Doyle nets Augusta Kate

Cheltenham Festival winner Let's Dance will return to her native France after being snapped up for €200,000 during Friday's enthralling mare session of the Tattersalls Ireland November Sale, the fifth year in a row that a Willie Mullins-trained mare has topped proceedings.

The master trainer also handled the career of the 2011 sale-topper J'y Vole, while he only sold two mares in the intervening years.

The Dawn Run Mares' Novices' Hurdle heroine was described by Edmond Mahony as "something a bit special", with Herve Bunel in the buyer's bench and Katie Rudd on the top level trading blows for the daughter of Poliglote.

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The latter emerged on top, with €200,000 the highest price paid at this sale since 2007 during the Celtic tiger.

"She has a proper French pedigree and is a great size for a daughter of Poliglote," said Rudd, bidding on behalf of French-based Bertrand Le Metayer. "She was a very good racemare and speaks for herself. It was hard to fault her and she's likely to be covered in France."

Robert Collet owned and trained her dam, Baraka Du Berlais, who was second to Long Run in a Grade 2 hurdle at Auteuil, while Graded winners also appear under her second and third dams.

Let’s Dance was subject to one of the more unusual updates in the catalogue when Tzigane Du Berlais won the notorious Velka Pardubicka steeplechase in the Czech Republic in mid-October.

Tzigane Du Berlais is a Poliglote half-brother to Grade 1 Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase winner Gitane Du Berlais, and they share their grand-dam Cindy Cad with Let’s Dance.

Poliglote made the headlines last season as the sire of dual Grade 1 winner Politologue and three-time Grade 2 chase scorer Top Notch, while his daughter Sans Rien was responsible for the ill-fated Grade 3 hurdle winner Sandsend.

Let’s Dance’s damsire Bonnet Rouge, meanwhile, was also represented as damsire by this month’s Grade 3 handicap chase winner Traffic Fluide.

Rudd also went to €65,000 for the Listed-placed hurdler Lareena, who she purchased on behalf of Dr Richard Newland.

Let's Dance makes her way around the ring before being knocked down for €200,000Credit: Pat Healy / Tattersalls Ireland

Doyle on target

Former Ireland, Reading and Wolves footballer Kevin Doyle - who was seated alongside his father Paddy Doyle and Peter Nolan in the front row - made a winning play for Augusta Katewho preceded Let's Dance into the ring.

Mahony introduced the Grade 1 mares novice hurdle winner, offered in foal to Champs Elysees, as having "tremendous class to her, very hard to fault and one of the best mares of her generation".

Following an opening bid of €10,000, the bidding rose quickly in increments of €5,000, with a tussle ensuing between the Doyles - who operate as Slaney River Stud in County Wexford and who also bred Cheltenham Festival scorer Holywell - and a bidder opposite the rostrum.

Eventually Kevin Doyle, who was expanding his broodmare band to five, emerged on top with a bid of €85,000.

"We bought Supreme Serenade here a few years ago and she did well for us and it's nice to get a Grade 1 winner," said Nolan.

"We have a Champs Elysees foal at home," added Kevin Doyle. "He's lovely and we're keeping him, but the plan will be to sell this mare's foals. We won't be going racing with her foal."

Supreme Serenade has seen two of her sons by Presenting realise six-figure sums at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale in recent years.

Augusta Kate was part-owned by golfer Lee Westwood and footballer Alan Shearer, while her own page features a number of racing celebrities including four-time Gold Cup hero Yeats and her dam Feathard Lady, who won the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle at Sandown.

"A Grade 1-winning mare out of another mare of the same calibre is very hard to find," said Paddy Doyle, who keeps a 14-strong broodmare band at Slaney River.

The Yeats mare won a Listed Punchestown bumper at the end of her first season and a Grade 1 novice hurdle at Fairyhouse the following year, before signing off her racing career with a second to Benie Des Dieux in the Mares Champion Hurdle at this year’s Punchestown festival.

Yeats has another top-class jumps mare to his name in Shattered Love, who won the JLT Novices’ Chase at this year’s Cheltenham Festival, while his only runner as damsire so far has been the ill-fated bumper winner Famous Saying.

Augusta Kate also shares her damsire Accordion with Faugheen and Welsh National hero Monbeg Dude.

Figures

The €200,000 paid for Let's Dance helped push total receipts for the mare session up 27 per cent to €1,001,750, with the average jumping from €15,429 to €24,433 and the median more than doubling from €6,500 to €14,000.

Last year's buoyant November Sale was always going to be hard to match, with aggregate sales down six per cent this year to €13,000,350, with 770 of the 1,216 lots finding news homes for a 63 per cent clearance rate.

November sale-toppers trained by Willie Mullins

Name, pedigree, buyer, price, year

Let's Dance, 6yo b m, Poliglote-Baraka Du Berlais (Bonnet Rouge), BLM Bloodstock, €200,000, 2018

Tarla, 8yo b m, Lavirco-Targerine (Gairloch), Kilmoney Cottage Stud €170,000, 2014

, 7yo b m, Shantou-Screaming Witness (Shernazar), Boardsmill Stud, €140,000, 2017

, 7yo b m, Network-Mellyssa (Panoramic), Tomgar Bloodstock, €160,000, 2016

, 5yo b m, Network-Daisy Des Mottes (Abdonski), Kilmoney Cottage Stud, €145,000, 2015

J'y Vole, 8yo ch m, Mansonnien-J'y Reste (Freedom Cry), Paul Murphy, €120,000, 2011

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