Saint goes marching in for Casini at inaugural store sale

Fate has a funny way of intervening and Saint Des Saints' clean sweep of the three Grade 1s at Auteuil on Sunday as broodmare sire will not have been lost on many - particularly Karina Casini, who will offer the sole three-year-old out of a daughter of the great sire at the Tattersalls May National Hunt Sale on Thursday.

The auction is a new addition to the calendar with the Newmarket-based company encouraged by the success of several relocated Tattersalls Cheltenham sales during the last two Covid-impacted years.

On offer at Park Paddocks will be point-to-pointers, horses in training and stores, the final two of which hail from Casini's Greenlands Farm Stud, an operation based near Marlborough.

Casini has enjoyed handsome reward for her labours already, having bred and sold De Rasher Counter, the winner of the Ladbrokes Trophy in 2019 for Emma Lavelle and the Makin' Bacon Partnership.

She sold the son of Yeats as a store to Tom Keating for £10,500 at the then DBS Spring Sale, while she offers another son of Coolmore's newly crowned National Hunt champion sire here, out of Saint Des Saints' daughter Ile De See.

Haras d'Etreham's stallion extraordinaire - already in evidence on the female side by Appreciate It, De Bon Coeur, Douvan, Envoi Allen and Saint Roi, among others - had a stellar afternoon as pere de mere at Auteuil on Sunday even by his high standards, as Sel Jem, Altesse Du Berlais and Hawai Du Berlais, all out of SaintDesSaints mares, landed the three top-level prizes.

Saint Des Saints is still covering aged 24 and had been active for a good few years before Casini started out as a breeder in 2011, and De Rasher Counter was the first colt bred at Greenlands Farm.

She said: "We started breeding with a horse called Dedrunknmunky, who produced De Rasher Counter, while I've always had a passion for horses. I used to event a lot in my younger days but I always loved breeding.

"Dedrunknmunky very sadly passed away last year but Greenlands Farm is a perfect setting on the Marlborough Downs and we've just been going from one broodmare to two and now we've got eight.

"We're a small stud and I enjoy seeing them evolve from a foal to year three, when we sell them as stores."

Offered as lot 150, so the penultimate horse through the ring, her Yeats gelding is out of dual winner Ile De See, a half-sister to Cathcart Challenge Cup winner and Grand National runner-up Royal Auclair and to the dam of Prix Troytown Chase winner Don Mirande.

Casini reported: "He's a lovely prospect, although the only thing that could put some people off is that he's on the small side as a three-year-old. But he's a game-on individual, he's very smart and loves to work."

There is plenty of talent further back in the page as well, with the likes of the ill-fated Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle winner Brindisi Breeze, Champion Four Year Old Hurdle third Dogora and high-class French performers Road Mix Tavel and Poutine.

Ile De See has produced a multiple winner in American Post gelding Al Clay, while her four-year-old son by Kapgarde is unraced.

Casini won't have time to catch her breath after her Yeats has gone through the ring as due to a withdrawal she offers the next and final horse selling as well, lot 152, a gelding by Kapgarde who is evidently an imposing individual and from a family with plenty going for it.

His dam, the Milan mare Ixora, was a multiple winner over hurdles and fences for Jamie Snowden and has produced two winners in her second career to date, in Gentlewave gelding Jante Law and Lucarno mare Pixie Lot.

Casini said: "He's all strength and power, he's a very strong individual and typical of his sire. We took Ixora on from Jamie Snowden when she retired and so far she's had two winners on the track out of three runners.

"The family is looking promising, we've got a Blue Bresil two-year-old at home, a Falco yearling filly at home, and she's just given birth to a very nice filly by Beaumec De Houelle, while she's been covered by Logician this year.

"What we're trying to achieve is to have a handful of good mares and really create lines and make them better."

A number of wildcards were this week added to the sale, which takes place from 11am and also includes two horses in training to be offered as part of the Ann and Alan Potts part-dispersal, through Baroda Stud.

Eight-year-old Sizing Pottsie would be the better known of the two, being a five-time winner for the Jessica Harrington yard, including of the Grade 2 Webster Cup Chase in March. His career-high Racing Post Rating of 156 came when winning the Grade 3 Flyingbolt Novice Chase a couple of years ago.

Five-year-old Sizing Mauritius, who was also trained by Harrington, has run just four times but is clearly getting the hang of it as he justified favouritism against 13 rivals in a maiden hurdle at Kilbeggan last month.

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