'I hope she is a freak' - Hillen smashes record for €520,000 Saxon Warrior filly

No longer the one that got away

Fillies accounted for three of the four most expensive horses on Thursday, with Joe Foley finally getting his hands on the Night Of Thunder filly out of Gadwa who had slipped through his fingers as a foal when she was sold by breeder Plantation Stud to Elton Lodge Stud for 72,000gns.

Lot 195: Night Of Thunder filly made €270,000 to Joe FoleyCredit: Tattersalls Ireland

Her unraced Oasis Dream dam is a half-sister to the Listed Height Of Fashion Stakes winner Lady Of Dubai, who was also third in the Oaks, and her second dam, Lady Of Everest, is a Montjeu half-sister to Listed Vintage Crop Stakes winner and Irish Oaks second Roses For The Lady. The third dam, Group 3 winner Head In The Clouds, is a Rainbow Quest sister to St Leger winner and sire Millenary.

The crosses in her pedigree and the multiple strains of Dancing Brave were cited by Foley as two of the reasons why he was keen to purchase her on behalf of Steve Parkin, who will put her into training with Karl Burke.

"I loved her as a foal," said Foley, who signed the docket at €270,000. "I was standing beside David Ryan when he bought her and I've regretted not buying her ever since.

"She is bred on that lovely Night Of Thunder - Green Desert cross and there are three strains of Dancing Brave in her pedigree. She is a gorgeous filly from a really deep family."

Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock struck late in proceedings at €210,000 for a Gleneagles filly, from Hyde Park Stud, who bred and breezed this year's 1,000 Guineas winner Cachet.

The second foal out of Heartlines, a daughter of the brilliant broodmare sire Bernardini, who was a winner at three in France, she has a strong American pedigree as a granddaughter of Arlington Oaks winner Marietta.

It was a massive return on the investment John Bourke laid out for her at Book 3 last year, with the filly costing just 12,500gns when bought from Houghton Bloodstock.

Richard Brown bought this Gleneagles filly for €210,000Credit: Tattersalls Ireland

Brown also struck for a colt from the first crop of Sioux Nation, who has made a scorching start to his stud career. The Blandford Bloodstock man secured Folistown Farm's colt out of the Mujadil mare Dorothy Parker for €130,000.

O'Callaghans excel once more

Tally-Ho Stud has regularly topped the list of vendors at this year's European breeze-up sales and the O'Callaghan family sold an Exceed And Excel colt who interrupted the procession of fillies selling for in excess of €200,000.

Billy Jackson-Stops, acting on behalf of owner Michael Blencowe, who has Imperial Fighter in Saturday's Irish 2,000 Guineas, went to €260,000 to secure the half-brother to Group 3 winner Dibajj and Listed winner Black Sea. It was a plan that was a long time coming to a successful conclusion.

The agent said: "We have been waiting to buy a horse at the breeze-ups as Michael wanted a breezer, and we have been at three sales and haven't quite got there.

"Michael loved him, Andrew [Balding, trainer of Imperial Fighter] loved him too and we had to go slightly over what we intended to pay."

Billy Jackson-Stops strikes the winning bid for the Exceed And Excel coltCredit: Tattersalls Ireland

Out of the Royal Applause mare Goleta, a half-sister to the King's Stand Stakes winner Chineur and to the dam of Group 3 winner and Prix du Jockey Club and Poule d'Essai des Poulains second The Summit, the chestnut son of Exceed And Excel was a 56,000gns buy from Whatton Manor Stud at Book 3 last October.

Sales circuit a global village

The truly international nature of the breeze-up circuit was laid bare at Fairyhouse on Thursday, when a number of US-bred and sourced juveniles were purchased for racing careers on the dirt in the UAE.

Jono Mills and Bhupat Seemar were particularly prominent in this aspect, with Mills purchasing two such youngsters under the Rabbah Bloodstock banner.

The most expensive of them, at €160,000, was Thomond O'Mara's colt by Darley's much-missed Bernardini.

Lot 156: daughter of Super Saver was one of two US-breds bought by Jono MillsCredit: Tattersalls Ireland

Bought at Fasig-Tipton's October sale in Kentucky for just $20,000, the colt is out of the stakes-winning Bella Flor, a granddaughter of Unbridled's Song from a family that excels on the dirt, which is just what this colt will be expected to do in Dubai.

"He is by a wonderful stallion who is sadly no longer with us and this is a really lovely horse so hopefully he will be a very nice prospect for Dubai," said Mills.

Hyde Park Stud's Super Saver filly purchased by Mills for €130,000 was also sourced from the Fasig-Tipton sale in Kentucky last October, where she cost all of $12,500.

Out of Chosen Road, a Quality Road half-sister to Woodbine Grade 3 winner Lemon Maid, she is a granddaughter of Grade 3 winner Meter Maid and is from the extended family of the Gleneagles filly that Bourke sold for €210,000.

"She is a lovely filly who breezed very well and comes from a good farm," he said.

Lot 139: Cairo Prince filly will head to Dubai following her €125,000 saleCredit: Tattersalls Ireland

Mills had to give second best to Seemar for the Cairo Prince filly offered by Powerstown Stud. Although the filly was bred by Nicole Gunther of Glennwood Farm in Kentucky, her family has European origins. She is out of the Danehill Dancer mare Beyond Our Reach, who was third in the Moyglare Stud Stakes 14 years ago.

Her fifth dam is the Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Lady Capulet, who foaled the National Stakes winner El Prado and he went on to be the most influential stallion son of Sadler's Wells on the turf in North America, mainly through the exploits of his son Kitten's Joy.

Seemar saw off Mills at €125,000 for the granddaughter of Pioneerof The Nile, who had cost $20,000 at Keeneland last September.

He said: "She is a nice filly, light on her feet and did a good time so most of the boxes were ticked. She is out of a Group 1-placed mare, so that gives her residual value for after racing, and she is a filly who will go on the dirt."

The April-born filly was one of a trio purchased by Seemar, who has been very active on the European circuit. He also bought two grandsons of Scat Daddy on Thursday, going to €80,000 for the only colt by Caravaggio in the sale and €25,000 for an El Kabeir filly out of a half-sister to G Force and to the dam of Flotilla and second dam of Mangoustine.

Facts and Figures

The sale was almost that old footballing cliche of a game of two halves, with a pedestrian opening half overtaken by a barnstorming second half.

Of the 204 horses offered, a total of 174 were sold, giving a clearance rate of 85 per cent. That gave an aggregate figure of €6,634,000, which was a minor increase of 1.5 per cent on the 2021 figure.

This year's average climbed by three per cent to €38,155 from €37,156, while the median dipped by four points to €22,000 from €22,989.

Both turnover and average figures were the highest recorded since the sale transferred to Tattersalls Ireland from Goresbridge in 2019, while the median was the second best in that time.