Tattersalls go back to the future with Somerville Yearling Sale

The Tattersalls Ascot Yearling Sale may have been a fixture of the calendar for only a brief period of time, but over the course of four renewals the auction proved itself a consistent source of big talent at relatively bargain prices.

Although the combined average value of those four editions comes in at just under £10,500, the sale's roll of honour includes the likes of Lowther Stakes heroine Miss Amulet, Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte scorer Shadn and Molecomb Stakes winner Steel Bull, to name but a few.

Last year's renewal, which was subject of a Covid-enforced transfer to Newmarket, has seen the Ascot Yearling Sale maintain its upward trajectory with three news stakes-winning graduates.

Windstormblack landed the Group 3 Premio Primi Passi at San Siro, while Chipotle, a mere 10,000gns buy by Highflyer Bloodstock and Eve Johnson Houghton, claimed the prestigious Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot.

View full Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale catalogue and pinhooks

And, just on Saturday, Eve Lodge completed her transformation from 12,500gns purchase by Charlie Gordon-Watson Bloodstock to Group 3 winner when she took the Sirenia Stakes for Charlie Fellowes and Mathis Stables.

Eve Lodge: 12,500gns buy wins the Sirenia StakesCredit: Edward Whitaker

Despite the myriad challenges faced 12 months ago, the relocated event proved such a success that the sale has now been permanently relocated to Tattersalls' Newmarket headquarters and rebranded as the Somerville Yearling Sale.

The change in name is in recognition of Somerville Tattersall, the final member of the eponymous family to hold the reins at the sales company and a central figure in shaping the auction house we see today.

While a 20-year-old Tattersall first stepped onto the rostrum during the 1885 July Sale to deputise for his father when Edmund Tattersall's voice failed, the addition of the Somerville name to what was the Ascot Sale is nothing like such an emergency measure.

The auction's growth is reflected in an expanded catalogue that has attracted 292 yearlings from a much broader range of breeders from both sides of the Irish Sea.

Among the new, albeit familiar, names in the catalogue's consignor index is Yeomanstown Stud, who sends an eight-strong draft including yearlings by home stallions Camacho and El Kabeir, the latter responsible for ten winners and two stakes scorers from his debut juvenile crop.

"It's a sale that's been getting stronger and stronger in the last few years," said the operation's Robert O'Callaghan. "We like to spread our numbers out as much as we can so we don't have all our horses competing against one another at one particular sale, and given how this sale has been going we felt now was the right time to bring our own draft here."

Robert O'Callaghan: 'We're very excited about the sale'Credit: Laura Green

Although the sale has a new home and name, the catalogue has stayed true to the original principle of providing an outlet for yearlings hallmarked by precocious athleticism.

The offering features siblings to 44 black-type performers, including the Adaay half-sister to the aforementioned Windstormblack (Lot 2, Norris Bloodstock) and the War Command half-brother to one of the sale's early success stories, Listed winner Flippa The Strippa (222, Trickledown Stud).

"The ones we've brought over all look like they'll be two-year-olds who can run in the first half of the year," said O'Callaghan. "It's a similar type to the typical Doncaster yearling, an early, strong type of horse. Our whole draft fits that bill and I think it's what the buyers who come here want.

"We've brought eight horses over and there are some really nice ones among the bunch, so we've supported the sale strongly. We've got two really good El Kabeir yearlings, a colt (142) and a filly (21), and obviously he's had a really good start with his first crop of two-year-olds."

Tom Blain, whose Barton Stud sends 11 lots, including yearlings by promising first-crop sires Harry Angel, Sioux Nation and Tasleet, was in agreement that now was the time to get behind the upwardly mobile sale.

"Moving the sale from Ascot was a positive step," he said. "The Park Paddocks sales ring is a great facility and as breeders we feel buyers have more confidence there, so it makes a lot of sense. And not to mention the fact the sale has had a lot of good results come out of there recently, so there's certainly a bit of a buzz about the place."

He continued: "We've brought the right kind of horses for this sale so we're hoping they go well. We've got a draft of precocious types, not necessarily with large pedigrees but horses who look like they're going to run and be sound and be horses people can have some fun with.

"They'd suit the breeze-up consignors and trainers too, they're those hardy, early types that people can get on with."

Tom Blain: 'There's certainly a bit of a buzz about the place'Credit: Laura Green

Although nothing like as established a fixture, the Somerville Sale occupies a similar territory in the yearling market to its Goffs UK counterpart, which took place two weeks ago.

Doncaster's Premier Yearling Sale yielded two days of decidedly solid trade, as evidenced by a clearance rate of 89 per cent, and those results, combined with a busy day of inspections in Newmarket, added to the sense of optimism ahead of the Somerville Sale.

"I thought Donny was good and the clearance rate up there was great, there seemed to be a really good appetite for horses," said O'Callaghan, speaking on Sunday.

"We've been busy showing all day and there's lots of people here so I think it'll be a good sale. It feels a bit more easy-going at the moment as the sun is shining and everyone seems in great form.

"This sale is producing a lot of good horses so I think a wider group of people are starting to look at it more seriously now. It's only going to get stronger over the years to come and we'll definitely be looking at having similar sized drafts, if not bigger, in the coming years as we're very excited about the sale."

Those sentiments were echoed by Blain, who said: "I was pleasantly surprised with trade at Goffs UK as the market was very solid at a lower level. We haven't seen that for a while but I think that's really healthy and everyone is being realistic about what their horses are worth, and likewise buyers are being realistic about what they're willing to pay.

"It's been very busy at Park Paddocks, all our horses have been out and are behaving so I'm really pleased. We're all looking for different angles and this sale creates a nice opportunity for the type of yearlings we've brought.

"There's been scope for Tattersalls to put a sale of this nature on and people are very used to coming here, they do it many times a year, so when Tattersalls put a sale on, people come. It's as simple as that."

Tattersalls have given buyers an added incentive as all lots are eligible not only for the popular Tattersalls October Auction Stakes, which boasts a prize fund of £150,000, but also the inaugural running of the Somerville Auction Stakes, which features a pot of £100,000.

The Tattersalls Somerville Sale begins on Tuesday at 10am.

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