'She should be very competitive in the ring' - Burke's high-class fillies keeping good company at the December Mare Sale

Karl Burke's remarkable success on the track in 2023 is reflected in the catalogue for this week's Tattersalls December Mare Sale, with Spigot Lodge represented by some of its most notable inclusions.

A multitude of Group-race winners, contributing to a seventh-place position in the trainer standings, have been headlined by Moyglare Stud Stakes heroine Fallen Angel and Poptronic, whose British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes victory gave her a priceless Group 1 update ahead of her date with destiny in Park Paddocks. 

Burke's Yorkshire base is trebly represented in the Sceptre Sessions but the daughter of Nathaniel (lot 1784) is the standout as she was already a dual Group winner for her owner-breeders, David and Yvonne Blunt, before her Ascot triumph. 

This term's score came in the Group 2 Lancashire Oaks, where Poptronic beat another subsequent Group 1 winner in Prix de Royallieu victress Sea Silk Road by a neck. She had also won last year's Group 3 Hoppings Fillies' Stakes, beating another smart filly in this year's Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes winner and Matron Stakes second Rogue Millennium, catalogued as lot 1800. 

Poptronic (left) denies the challengers to win the British Champions Fillies & Mares StakesCredit: Edward Whitaker

Sent off an unconsidered 22-1 at Ascot on Champions Day, the four-year-old Poptronic repelled the charges of Bluestocking, Jackie Oh and Above The Curve to record a first top-level triumph. The Park Paddocks sales ring now beckons for a filly who has given connections so much joy. 

Burke said: "She was always going to have an entry at the sale but in winning that it makes her worth a lot of money. The owners won't give her away, though, so she'll have to make a fair sum for them to let her go. They've had plenty of winners, but she's the first Group 1 winner they've bred and they've got the mare and a few of her offspring as well."

Nathaniel's prowess as an exciting young broodmare sire is well known and the Newsells Park Stud stallion has another fan in Burke. 

He added: "I love Nathaniel's offspring and think he's a cracking sire. They're very honest, they've got scope and stay very well, he's a stallion I really like. The girls bought a Nathaniel filly at Tattersalls in October, I only saw her briefly as she's not on the yard yet but she seems to have plenty of scope."

Dawn Charger (yellow silks): Prix Eclipse winner and Tattersalls December Mare Sale entry has more to offer Credit: Alex Davidson

High-class fillies Dawn Charger (1766) and Secret Angel (1809) complete the Burke-consigned Sceptre Sessions trio, having been bought for €40,000 and £68,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling and Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sales respectively. 

The pair have gathered two black-type wins and six placings, with the two-year-old Dawn Charger landing the Group 3 Prix Eclipse in September and finishing a close second in the Group 2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte. 

The year-older Secret Angel is no slouch either, landing the Listed Prix Zeddaan last October and placing in the Group 3 Nell Gwyn Stakes and Ballyogan Stakes this campaign. 

Burke said: "Secret Angel is a lovely, big mare and she'll make a lovely broodmare whether it's this year or next year; she won't be given away but hopefully she'll make a few quid. She's still got a few races in her and the same goes for Dawn Charger, she's a progressive filly and I'm sure she'll train on to be competitive in those black-type sprints for three-year-olds.

"We've been very lucky at the sales over the past ten or 12 years, we work on a very limited budget but, for example, Unfortunately was €24,000 and Havana Grey cost €70,000."

Another Burke runner heading to the sale is White Lavender (1785) but she will be consigned by Jamie Railton. The five-year-old won the Group 3 Prix de Saint-Georges in May and was narrowly denied by the two-year-old The Platinum Queen in last year's Prix de l'Abbaye. 

Burke said of the daughter of Heeraat: "She's a cracking mare and from a really fast family so she should be very competitive in the ring as well."

Last year's auction is one that will live long in the memory, as the packed auditorium hushed during Alcohol Free's date with destiny. That day the hammer fell at 5,400,000gns to BBA Ireland, while other seven-figure lots included Sun Chariot Stakes and Prix Rothschild winner Saffron Beach (3,600,000gns to Najd Stud), Tranquil Lady (2,700,000gns to Godolphin), Ville De Grace (2,000,000gns to One Agency) and Desert Berry (1,900,000gns to MV Magnier). 

Via Sistina: 2023 Group 1 winner is another headline act at TattersallsCredit: Edward Whitaker

This term, the sale is once again brimming full with quality, including eagerly anticipated drafts from Juddmonte, Shadwell, The Castlebridge Consignment, Godolphin, Norelands and Cheveley Park Stud. 

Last year's 1,000 Guineas heroine Cachet (1799) rates a particularly special addition. The daughter of Aclaim shone brightest just down the road at the Rowley Mile for Highclere and George Boughey. She is also the first 1,000 Guineas winner to be offered in training at public auction since 1988. 

Fellow Group 1 winners Lezoo (1766), Via Sistina (1788), Prosperous Voyage (1811) and Teona (1786) are also offered, the last named a winner of the Prix Vermeille and in foal to champion sire Frankel. 

One such future mate for Juddmonte's all-conquering giant could be Whitsbury Manor Stud's Listed Cecil Frail Stakes winner and Flying Five Stakes second Get Ahead (1813). 

Get Ahead: stakes-winning half-sister to Chaldean is another highlight of the December Mare SaleCredit: john grossick

A daughter of Showcasing and the stud's wonderful mare Suelita, she is not only a sister to Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes winner Alkumait but also a half-sister to Chaldean, Juddmonte's new sire and winner of the 2,000 Guineas this year and Dewhurst last autumn. 

Ballyhimikin Stud offers a formidable wildcard entry in Kensea (1825), a Listed-winning Kendargent mare who has achieved a special feat in producing two Group 1-winning full-siblings. Sealiway struck in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at two and followed up in the Champion Stakes at three, while brother Sunway landed the Criterium International this autumn. Kensea is also notably carrying to Zarak.

Juddmonte's families are highly sought after and this year's draft includes Strelka (1515), a Kingman half-sister to Derby and Arc hero Workforce in foal to State Of Rest; and Illucidate (1522), a winning daughter of Nathaniel out of a Champs Elysees half-sister to Kind.

Others for the green team include Helenium (1750), a Frankel half-sister to Coventry Stakes winner Calyx and 2023 Listed scorer Coppice in foal to the siblings' sire Kingman; Fraxinella (1752), carrying to Kingman and a Frankel sister to Prix Niel third Bravais out of a Group 2 Lowther Stakes-winning half-sister to Love; plus Very Good News (1754), a daughter of Juddmonte's mighty blue hen Hasili and dam of the Group 1-placed Weekender. 

Tattersalls December Mare Sale factfile

Where Park Paddocks, Newmarket 

When Four-day sale begins on Monday, with sessions beginning at 9.30am 

Last year's stats From 842 lots offered 690 sold (at a clearance rate of 82 per cent) for turnover of 80,831,200gns (up 30 per cent year-on-year), an average of 117,147gns (up 48 per cent year-on-year) and median of 32,000gns (up 23 per cent year-on-year)

Notable graduates Suelita (dam of Chaldean, sold by Castletown Stud, bought by Whitsbury Manor Stud for 21,500gns); Queen Blossom (dam of Blue Rose Cen, sold by Taylor Made Sales, bought by Durcan Bloodstock for 110,000gns); Amerindia (dam of Militarize, sold by Godolphin, bought by Dean Hawthorne Bloodstock for 150,000gns); Fev Rover (sold by Musley Bank Stables, bought by Tracy Farmer for 695,000gns)

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