'He has the credentials to be very nice' - punchy pinhooking touch as Havana Grey colt soars to 425,000gns

Kilminfoyle House Stud pulled off a heavyweight pinhooking touch when the Havana Grey brother to Elite Status went from 82,000gns foal to 425,000gns headline act during the second session of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. 

The colt’s upgraded price tag neatly mirrors the rising esteem in which agents and trainers hold Whitsbury Manor Stud's Havana Grey, whose first two crops, bred at fees of £8,000 and £6,500, have yielded 26 black-type performers. The best of those is the unbeaten Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes winner Vandeek, a 625,000gns joint-top lot at the Craven Breeze-Up Sale in April. 

The dual Group 1 winner was purchased by Anthony Stroud before being sent into training with Simon and Ed Crisford, and the same agent and trainer combination are behind Tuesday’s star lot. 

“He’s a very nice horse,” said Stroud. “Havana Grey has done terrifically well. He’s a very well balanced horse who moves very well.” 

Asked if there were any similarities between Vandeek and the 425,000gns youngster, Stroud said: “With Vandeek, we were lucky enough to see him breeze, but this colt has the credentials to be a very nice horse. He’s got the pedigree and is by a stallion who’s done very well and is really on the up. 

“Havana Grey has done it the hard way and he’s a very exciting young stallion. He’s clearly on an upward trajectory and is upgrading his mares. This colt has been bought for Sheikh Nasser and will go to Simon and Ed Crisford.” 

Elite Status was still an unnamed yearling when Kilminfoyle House Stud’s Michael Fitzpatrick signed for the year-younger brother at 82,000gns under his JC Bloodstock banner.

Owned by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid and trained by Karl Burke, Elite Status has shown himself to be a high-class juvenile, with his three wins including the Group 3 Prix de Cabourg. The 325,000gns yearling was another to come through the Kilminfoyle House system having been pinhooked at 56,000gns in 2021. 

“I bought this colt as a foal solely on the full-brother,” said Fitzpatrick. “I sold him last year and loved him. Whitsbury Manor is a great breeder and this horse is a pleasure to do anything with. 

“My thanks go to Anthony Stroud and I wish the new owners the very best of luck. I also can't thank my staff enough – Pamela, Hannah and Santos. It's only for them and the hard work they do. I actually think they’re made of iron.” 

The session-topping youngster was one of three notable results registered by Havana Grey’s progeny during the session, with the trio also including a 280,000gns filly bought by Joe Foley on behalf of Steve Parkin’s Clipper Logistics. The six-figure youngster was another bred by Whitsbury Manor and was sold through Ballyphilip Stud.

The Havana Grey filly out of Colouring who made 280,000gns on TuesdayCredit: Alisha Meeder

The striking grey is the first foal out of Colouring, a winning daughter of Whitsbury Manor’s other headline stallion Showcasing. The page goes back to champion two-year-old filly Blue Duster. 

“I love Showcasing mares and I think he’ll be a very good broodmare sire,” said Foley. “The mare has a very nice full-brother foal, which is always nice when you buy the first foal, and the pedigree goes back to Blue Duster, which is a family I like. I know she’s a bit back on the page but it's a fast, classy family. 

“This filly is a very good example of the sire’s progeny and obviously he’s made such a brilliant start. He looks to be a superstar stallion in the making. We’ve got a good two-year-old by him called Queen’s Guard and this is the second one I’ve bought this year. 

“When you’re buying yearlings by Havana Grey, it gives you a chance. We have a lovely mare in foal to him too and we’ll continue to support him because he’s been brilliant for Whitsbury Manor Stud.”

Only five lots earlier Hazelwood Bloodstock turned 28,000gns into 140,000gns when Ross O'Sullivan signed for the Havana Grey filly out of Chloris. The filly’s half-sister helped the page by shedding her maiden tag last month. 

“I’ve been a fan of Havana Grey for a few years and pinhooked a few by him,” said Hazelwood’s Adrian O’Brien. “He was phenomenally successful as a two-year-old sire in year one, and the question this year was whether they would train on – they have, so he has successfully answered that question!

“The two-year-old out of the mare is also a winner now, and this filly is a beauty – she’s scopey, has a great walk, vets very clean and just really catches the eye. I wish Ross O'Sullivan and Katie Walsh the best of luck with her.” 

Another episode of the Pinatubo show

The progeny of Pinatubo continued to sell like hot cakes on Tuesday, including when Ben McElroy and Hamish Macauley went to 325,000gns for the colt out of Boston Rocker from Ballyhimikin Stud. 

Pinatubo is a son of Shamardal, as is Lope De Vega, the sire of Boston Rocker’s best runner in the Listed-winning and Group 1-placed San Donato. The colt was bred by James Hanly, Anthony Stroud and the late Lady O'Reilly’s Skymarc Farm. Stephen Hillen lodged an ambitious opening bid of 100,000gns but eventually it was McElroy, stationed in the bidders’ area with Amo Racing’s Kia Joorabchian, who won out.

“He’s a very imposing colt; great mover, great strength,” said McElroy. “He carried himself well throughout the two or three days of showing. He’s just a lovely horse. I actually thought he might cost a bit more than that, but maybe the aggressive bidding helped on that front. 

“He’ll go back to Robson Aguiar, who’ll assess him for Kia and then they’ll decide on the trainer next spring.” 

The Pinatubo colt out of Boston Rocker takes his turn in the ringCredit: Alisha Meeder

McElroy also went to 110,000gns for a filly by the same sire on behalf of Amo Racing during day one. 

He said: “The stallion seems to be getting great stock and he was a top-class racehorse so I think this colt has to have a big chance. I’ve bought two by Pinatubo, including a lovely filly from Barton Stud yesterday, and I’m impressed by what I’m seeing of his stock.” 

Expanding on his association with Amo Racing, McElroy said: “I’d always meet up with Kia at the races in America and he’s seen some of the horses I’ve bought over the years. He’s probably even bid against me at times. 

“When we were in America last September I was there when Robson bought Valiant Force, and he turned out to be Kia’s first Royal Ascot winner in the Norfolk Stakes. We’ve bought a few horses together between Saratoga and Keeneland September this year, then some here too.” 

Amo Racing made another big acquisition later in the session when Joorabchian and his buying team went to 325,000gns for the Earthlight colt out of Dettoria from Redpender Stud. The half-sister to US Grade 3 winner Selenaia, whose dam is a sibling to Gimcrack Stakes winner Lake Forest, was pinhooked at 78,000gns last November. 

The Earthlight colt out of Dettoria who went the way of Ben McElroy and Amo RacingCredit: Alisha Meeder

“He was a nice, good-looking foal, we took a chance – plenty of others don't work out so well!” said Redpender’s Jimmy Murphy. 

“Earthlight is a son of Shamardal and this colt is from a very good dam line. We were lucky Selenaia came up in the first dam and then Lake Forest in the second dam won the Gimcrack. He's very much a two-year-old precocious type of horse so hopefully we’ll see him at Ascot.”

Merry moves for 310,000gns Sea The Stars filly

Spending continued well into the evening as Hugo Merry went to 310,000gns for the Sea The Stars filly out of Emotion from Norelands Stud. The dam’s breeding career is only in its infancy so she is still awaiting her first winner, but there are some significant performers a generation back as Emotion is closely related to Enbihaar, a five-time Group 2 winner for Shadwell and John Gosden. 

The mare’s other siblings include Group 2 Topkapi Trophy runner-up Silent Attack and the Listed-placed King Bolete. The page goes back to Prix Maurice de Gheest scorer Spectacular Joke and her Prix Marcel Boussac-winning daughter Amonita. Merry revealed his purchase had been made on behalf of some Group 1-winning owners.

“She’s for the partnership between my client Andrew Rosen and Marc Chan, who’s a client of Jamie McCalmont,” he said. “They’ve owned Prosperous Voyage and Lezoo together so they’ve been very lucky. We thought she was probably the nicest filly of the day and she’s the only one we’ve bid on for them. 

'We thought she was probably the nicest filly of the day,' said Hugo Merry of lot 1051Credit: Alisha Meeder

“Usually we look for something out of a stakes mare or a sibling to a black-type performer, but we got beaten to death last week! We bought two in the end but we’re trying to buy a couple more, so we’ve gone on the physical with this filly. She’s a particularly attractive and athletic individual with a terrific blue hen family further back. I suspect she’ll go into training with Ralph Beckett.” 

Chan and Rosen will be hoping another daughter of Sea The Stars can do them a good turn on Friday as they are partners in the progressive Ascot novice winner Seaward, a €460,000 purchase through Merry at last year’s Goffs Orby Sale. 

“Seaward runs in the Fillies’ Mile,” added Merry. “She’s 20-1 but she’s developed a lot since her last race so we’re hopeful.”

Barberini in blue

Agent Federico Barberini made ten signings at an outlay of 2,135,000gns during Book 1 and continued his Tattersalls talent search with the 280,000gns acquisition of Ballyvolane Stud’s Blue Point colt out of Elusive Girl. 

The half-brother to two winners was making his second appearance at public auction and was another to generate a tidy windfall having been pinhooked for €40,000 at Goffs last winter. 

“He’s a smashing horse and by a sire who’s clearly very talented in Blue Point,” said Barberini. “We’ve been working last week and this week for Sheikh Ahmed to try and find some nice two-year-old types with scope to be good three-year-olds too. 

Federico Barberini: 'We thought he was the best looking of the Blue Points'Credit: Alisha Meeder

“It’s subjective but we thought he was the best looking of the Blue Points and when you're looking for a nice two-year-old you need to consider the stallion. We have no plans as yet regarding the trainer. We have a bunch of horses and will allocate trainers later.” 

Blue Point continues in splendid isolation at the head of the European first-crop sires’ table, with his 39 winners led by the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Rosallion and Flying Childers Stakes scorer Big Evs. 

On the state of Book 2 trade, Barberini added: “It’s a good solid market. There’s a good variety of horses here and breeders know, as usual, what to put in this sale.”

Keeping pace with last year’s record-busting figures was always likely to be a thankless task, and as such the year-on-year declines shown in the key market indices don’t necessarily reflect the solidity to Tuesday’s trade.

Turnover was down 23 per cent at 18,075,000gns, while the average price slid by 18 per cent to 88,170gns. The median, the most reliable barometer of market health, was down by a much less striking six points at 66,000gns, having been 70,000gns at the corresponding session 12 months ago. The clearance rate was a robust 86 per cent as 205 lots sold from 237 offered. 

The concluding session of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale begins on Wednesday at 10am.

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