'We're pretty excited about them, we think we have a very good bunch'

Thursday, October 6, 2022 will forever be etched in the memories of the Player family of Whatton Manor Stud as the day the farm sold its first seven-figure yearling at the Tattersalls October Book 1 Sale.

The Dubawi colt out of the Group 1 Premio Lydia Tesio winner God Given, a Nathaniel half-sister to multiple Group 1 winner Postponed, who stands alongside his sire Dubawi at Darley's Dalham Hall Stud, will carry the blue of Godolphin, like his year-older half-brother Silver Knott, following his purchase by Sheikh Mohammed for1,500,000gns.

That figure was slightly more than double what Godolphin had paid for Silver Knott in the same ring last year, and that son of Lope De Vega had won the Group 3 Solario Stakes prior to his half-brother's turn in the Tattersalls sales ring.

Celebrations at the Nottinghamshire farm are on ice until the end of the yearling sales season, which continues on Monday with the opening session of Book 2.

"We had a lovely evening on Thursday, had dinner with the owner and some of his trainers, and we thoroughly enjoyed that, but Friday it was back to work," says Whatton Manor Stud's Ed Player.

The Dubawi colt out of Group 1 winner God Given who made 1.5m guineas at Book 1 to GodolphinCredit: Laura Green/Tattersalls

That work involved settling in their considerable draft of yearlings for Book 2, as they started showing first thing on a glorious autumn morning in Newmarket on Saturday. With the triumph of selling Andrew Stone's Dubawi colt boxed away in a compartment of his mind, Player is quietly excited about the horses Whatton Manor will offer over the next few days.

"We have 22 horses in Book 2 and there's no rest," he says. "You have to enjoy the moment of success, and we will when the sales are over.

"We'll have a good celebration at home for all the guys who have worked so hard, but at the moment we have to concentrate on all the horses we have to sell this week. We're pretty excited about them, we think we have a very good bunch."

The venue, the stables and the team all remain the same from last week but, despite the setting and its billing as Book 2, this sale is very much a separate entity from what came before. The successes or failures of the previous week cannot be dwelt upon, and Player is not taking anything with him from Book 1.

"We completely start over again," he says. "Book 1 was Book 1; it was great, it went well and we're very happy with the results, but this is a new sale, it's a completely different week.

"For us, what happened in Book 1 doesn't put more pressure on or take pressure off for this week. For us, we just concentrate on each horse."

The draft is a mixture of homebreds, pinhooks and horses owned by clients of the farm, where Group 1 winners State Of Rest - a Whatton Manor pinhook - and Starman spent a considerable proportion of their formative years.

Sense Of Duty's yearling half-brother is one of the picks of the Whatton Manor Book 2 draftCredit: Grossick Racing

"We have quite a few clients' horses and every horse, whether a homebred or for a client, is equally as important to us," says Player. "We want to get every horse showing well and to get the best price we can for it."

Inspecting the horses who are parading in Somerville Paddocks for the eager lookers out early to make their lists, and reading through the pedigrees, the concentration on each individual horse that Whatton Manor will consign over the next three days is evident.

A black-type update to a page just before a sale, allowing a consignor to crank up the printer and break out the red ink to announce the news on a proclamation adorning the horse's stable door, is always welcome and there have been several very recent additions worth highlighting for a number of the Whatton Manor draft this week.

Although Silver Knott's Group 3 Autumn Stakes success on Saturday came after Book 1 had concluded, the Dubawi colt didn't need his half-brother's black-type addition to the page to command a seven-figure price tag.

On Friday, Maylandsea added some more black type and value to the page of her Showcasing half-sister (Lot1214), who Whatton Manor consigns on behalf of breeder Fiona Denniff. The two-year-old by leading first-season sire Havana Grey was second in the Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes at Newmarket, having filled the same position in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The update will also appear on the page of the very first yearling through the ring on Monday morning (550).

"Maylandsea was a nice update for the Showcasing filly out of Different," says Player. "We also have a Havana Grey filly from the same family and she's a very nice filly with a double connection there to Maylandsea."

Grande Dame provided a Group 1 update for her Too Darn Hot half-sister in the Sun ChariotCredit: Mark Cranham

That Havana Grey filly is the first foal out of Jacquotte Delahaye, who won five times over five seasons of racing. The daughter of Kyllachy is a three-parts sister to Molecomb Stakes winner Kachy, who was also second in the Commonwealth Cup and third in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.

Also among those to have received a recent bold black-type addition to the page is the Too Darn Hot filly out of the unraced Minwah, by Oasis Dream (659).

Her three-year-old Lope De Vega half-sister Grande Dame was third for the Gosdens in the Sun Chariot Stakes on the weekend preceding Book 1, finishing ahead of Group 1 winners Prosperous Voyage, Homeless Songs and Saffron Beach, having previously won the Listed Distaff Stakes at Sandown.

Player says: "We have a Too Darn Hot filly whose half-sister was third in the Sun Chariot, and it's very exciting to have a homebred filly with a Group 1 update. We would be pretty hopeful with her."

Grande Dame was raised in the same paddock as this season's Group 3 Chipchase Stakes winner Sense Of Duty, by Showcasing, and their dams both visited Too Darn Hot in his first season at stud.

Sense Of Duty's dam Margaret's Mission produced a colt (634), to put an end to the parallels between the two. Margaret's Mission is a Shamardal full-sister to Group 3 Fred Darling Stakes second Sharnberry.

Sense Of Duty's sire Showcasing has gelled very well with the family of Listed Dick Hern Stakes second New Day Dawn, so Whitsbury Manor was the obvious destination for the Dawn Approach mare's first covering (697).

New Day Dawn is a half-sister to Roodeye, third in the Listed Dick Poole Stakes, but better known as the dam of Showcasing's Sussex Stakes winner and exciting young sire Mohaather and his full-sister, the multiple Graded stakes winner and Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks third Prize Exhibit.

Globetrotting Group 1 winner State Of Rest is a Whatton Manor pinhookCredit: Alex Livesey (Getty Images)

Given the Whatton Manor success with Dubawi, meanwhile, Night Of Thunder figures prominently in their Book 2 draft.

Player adds: "We have a couple of Night Of Thunders that are very nice too, and all in all we'd be very hopeful for our draft in Book 2. They're a really solid, lovely bunch of yearlings."

The Night Of Thunders are a filly out of Galtres Stakes fourth Ouja (717), by Sea The Stars, giving her two lines of Urban Sea in her pedigree, and a colt who is similarly related to the great matriarch (856). He is out of Italian Listed second Shada, a Galileo half-sister to Cold Cold Woman and Kelly Nicole, the dam of Summer Mile winner and multiple Group 1-placed Aljamaaheer, by Night Of Thunder's sire Dubawi.

Having witnessed the astonishing level of trade at Book 1, a continuation of the demand for yearlings at all the major sales in 2022, Player, like the vast majority of those around Park Paddocks, is anticipating that carrying over into this week.

"I would be amazed if trade didn't continue to be as strong because a lot of people have been struggling to buy," he says.

"The quality of horses in Book 2 is extremely strong these days, so I think trade will continue to be robust, and I hope that it is. It will be an exciting and tiring few days, but we'll keep our fingers crossed that we'll be lucky."

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