Saudis spending as well-related Wuqood tops February Sale day two at 170,000gns

The Shadwell draft again came to the fore on the second and final day of the Tattersalls February Sale, with the Group-placed Dubawi colt Wuqood making the sole successful six-figure sum when selling to Saud Al Qahtani on behalf of Najd Stud for 170,000gns.

It was not the first time Najd Stud has made the headlines at Park Paddocks, having been a prominent spender at last year’s Autumn Horses in Training Sale, including when buying the 700,000gns sale-topper Grocer Jack and the 400,000gns Juddmonte-consigned Boltaway.

This colt’s two-year-old Sea The Stars half-brother had sold to Tally-Ho Stud the previous day and the four-year-old is now set for a flight over to Saudi Arabia to continue racing.

Al Qahtani, on behalf of the stud, said: “I think this horse has a small issue with his wind but we think, inshallah, he might improve on the dirt and also with castration. He’ll be trained by Abdullah Mishref Al-Kahtani.”

Saud Al Qahtani: 'He is a nice horse who will be suited by Saudi Arabia and we hope he can improve enough to compete in our best races'Credit: Laura Green

Wuqood won on his debut for Dermot Weld and Hamdan Al Maktoum at two, and finished a close second in the Eyrefield Stakes that October. He was Listed-placed last autumn when second in the Trigo Stakes at Leopardstown.

He is out of the Blandford Stakes-winning Teofilo mare Tarfasha, who was also second in the Oaks to the great Taghrooda. She is the dam of the Listed-winning Sea The Stars colt Rakan, as well as being a half-sibling to Goodwood Cup winner and Ascot Gold Cup third Saddler’s Rock plus the Listed winner Allexina, and is a close relation to Irish Derby second Galileo Rock.

Another lot, the unbeaten White Marlin, a supplemented Mastercraftsman half-brother to Flying Five winner Romantic Proposal, had reached 145,000gns earlier on but was ultimately bought back.

Boughey at the double

Also from the popular Shadwell draft, the Barton Sales-consigned Lahiq was one of two purchases who will now be heading to the yard of George Boughey.

Having gone to 26,000gns for the previous lot, the unraced Kodiac gelding Ensaat, a relation of top-class sprinter Kingsgate Native and Jebel Hatta third First Contact, the trainer went to 40,000gns for Lahiq, a three-year-old Quality Road colt out of the Listed-winning Sea The Stars mare Beauly.

Boughey said of the pair: “They’ve been bought on spec. We’ve had some success from the last couple of Shadwell drafts, while we’re looking to buy some nice three-year-old types as we had lots of two-year-old types last year.

“They’re some nice pedigrees to get into. They’re different types of horses to the ones we have, they might get a bit further and they’re blank canvases really. The Kodiac is a half-brother to Hype, who was better at three and was rated 90, while he’s also out of a Galileo mare.”

Lahiq: Barton Sales-consigned son of Quality Road sells to George Boughey for 40,000gnsCredit: Laura Green

There was plenty to like about Lahiq, who was picked up by Shadwell for $400,000 as a foal from Keeneland when offered by Hunter Valley Farm. The three-year-old is a grandson of American Grade 3 winner Pickle and from a family that includes Gale Force Ten.

Boughey added: “The Quality Road colt is a big, scopey horse who I can imagine never did a huge amount at two and he’s probably going to come into himself only in the summer.”

Saudi interests heightened

Helmet gelding Habit Rouge, a four-time winner for the Marco Botti yard, is set to run in Saudi Arabia after selling to Saudi connections for 78,000gns.

A winner at three and four, the five-year-old was a length second on his most recent start at Lingfield in a Class 2 handicap. He is, notably, a half-brother to Duke of Cambridge Stakes winner Move Swiftly and from the family of Yorkshire Oaks winners Untold and Sally Brown.

Andre Pereira said: “This is the one we really came for. He’s a nice horse, he should act on dirt and he gets a mile to a mile and a quarter. We hope he’ll be good enough for the bigger races over there.”

Army General is another set to continue his career in the Gulf after Pereira picked up The Castlebridge Consignment-offered son of War Front for 53,000gns. Twice placed last year for John and Thady Gosden, including when third in a conditions race at Chelmsford, the three-year-old will now be owned by Yousef Alturaif.

Andre Pereira: 'This is the one we really came for'Credit: Laura Green

Pereira said: “He’s quite a big owner out there and is doing well. The plan is for him to run on dirt. He seems quite a versatile horse so he might run on turf as well, but the main aim is to go on dirt. He’s a lovely looking horse and a nice sort.”

Just two lots later the winning Caravaggio gelding Velazquez was also booked for Saudi Arabia after selling to Al Qahtani on behalf of Najd Stud for 67,000gns. Also offered by The Castlebridge Consignment, the Sir Robert Ogden-bred three-year-old shelved his maiden tag on his most recent start at Newcastle in December for the Gosdens.

Al Qahtani said: “He is a nice horse who will be suited by Saudi Arabia and we hope he can improve enough to compete in our best races.”

Sydney on his travels stateside

The progressive Sydney Street is set to continue his career in the United States after selling to Conall Meegan of Beechmore Bloodstock on behalf of Shawn Dugan for 85,000gns.

Bred by New England Stud and bought back by the vendor at Tattersalls Book 1, the son of Dark Angel has a pedigree to go with his talent. His immediate family page received a boost with the success of the Gredleys’ She Do in last season’s Boadicea Stakes at Newmarket.

The three-year-old is a dual winner himself, landing his first success for Hugo Palmer and Chelsea Thoroughbreds in a Kempton handicap in December before doubling his tally over course and distance last month.

Meegan said: “He goes to California and looks readymade for racing there. He was my pick of the sale and let’s hope it works out. He has a great demeanour, has plenty of size, is clean limbed and we have watched his form and liked what we saw. Hopefully he’ll be up to stakes class right away.”

Sydney Street is out of the winning Lawman mare Minnaloushe, a daughter of French Listed winner Traou Mad and a half-sister to Roscoff, the dam of Lancashire Oaks winner Manuela De Vega, champion Italian colt Hero Look and Daisy Warwick Stakes winner Isabel De Urbina. Under the third dam, the stakes-winning French 1,000 Guineas third Pont-Aven, is dual Group 2 winner and Prix de l’Abbaye third Sainte Marine.

Durcan proving busy

On what was a brisk and busy second day, Ted Durcan proved the man of the moment, picking up two of Godolphin’s leading lots back-to-back.

The first was the winning Sea The Stars gelding Perseus Way, who was knocked down for 80,000gns.

Perseus Way: 'He vetted extremely well and is a fine big, scopey horse'Credit: Laura Green

The three-year-old won on his debut for Charlie Appleby at Leicester in October and will remain in training in Britain. He is out of a winning Kingmambo daughter of the Listed-winning French 1,000 Guineas second Firth Of Lorne, the dam of Superlative and Craven Stakes winner Master Of The Seas and UAE Oaks winner Falls Of Lora.

Durcan said: “He’s been bought for a new syndicate who want a nice, fun horse. He vetted extremely well and is a fine big, scopey horse. The winter will have helped him and he will improve in time. No training plans have been made yet.”

The very next lot, Age Of Sail, a once-raced Frankel half-brother to Sydney Cup winner Polarisation and Australian Listed scorer and Group 2-placed Clearly, sold to Durcan for 60,000gns. The three-year-old is a grandson of the great Oaks winner Snow Bride, the dam of champion Lammtarra and Prix d’Aumale winner Saytarra.

Durcan added: “He’s for an existing client and will also stay in England. He ran once at Goodwood at the backend of last season, it was soft-ground stuff and he was a weak horse last year.”

Kevin Ryan made his presence felt when snapping up the services of Kalahari Prince, a once-raced New Approach half-brother to Valiant Stakes winner and Atalanta Stakes second Duneflower.

The three-year-old, who was a respectable sixth at Nottingham on his debut in October, is also a relation to two further winners, being out of Shamardal’s Rockfel Stakes-placed Desert Blossom. The 11-year-old is in turn a half-sister to stakes winners Flaming Spear and Taqseem, from the family of the French Classic-placed Gharam and the stakes winner and Spinster Stakes runner-up Tamweel.

Contact back to breeder

A winning update led to Longview Stud & Bloodstock’s Jim Scallan buying back Night Of Thunder filly Social Contact for 65,000gns, with the hope that the attractive three-year-old will eventually go on to emulate her dam in the paddocks.

Having struck in a novice event at Southwell late last month for Roger Varian, The Castlebridge Consignment-offered filly was making it a perfect record for her dam Operettist, a winning daughter of Singspiel from the family of French champion two-year-old filly Qirmazi and multiple stakes-winning Quito.

Social Contact: 'The boss was keen to buy her back because she’s won a race and she’ll be a nice broodmare”Credit: Laura Green

Farm manager Scallan, who confirmed Social Contact would race on, said: “We sold her as a yearling for 44,000gns [at the Tattersalls Ascot Sale] but the boss was keen to buy her back because she’s won a race and she’ll be a nice broodmare.

“Her dam’s had three winners out of three, and we’ve got a nice Postponed yearling in the paddock as well. We’ve also got a very nice just turned two-year-old at William Haggas by Night Of Thunder.”

Statement

Overall, 158 lots sold for turnover of 2,736,300gns, an average of 17,318gns and a median of 11,000gns.

Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said: “It is good to have made a positive start to 2022. Last year’s Tattersalls February Sale was conducted under particularly trying circumstances, so significant increases in all the key indicators were to be expected, but nevertheless for this year’s February Sale to produce a record median, turnover and average bettered only once, and a clearance rate of 85 per cent, is a clear indication of a robust market.

“The quality consignments from Godolphin and Shadwell have again drawn widespread international participation and it is a tribute to the enduring appeal of stock from these two outstanding operations that all of the top ten highest prices at the sale were owned or bred by either Shadwell or Godolphin.”

He continued: “The obvious highlight of the past two days was the 175,000gns Shadwell-bred Night Of Thunder yearling out of Elshaadin, who was the second highest-priced yearling ever sold at the February Sale, but as is so often the case at Tattersalls sales of this nature, the remarkable diversity of the buyers has been the outstanding feature.

“Buyers from throughout Europe, the Gulf region and further afield have all made a significant contribution, either in person or bidding online, and the domestic demand has also been a source of encouragement for the wider industry as we look forward to a year of trading hopefully largely unencumbered by the challenges which we have all endured over the past two years."

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