‘It’s certainly a day I won’t forget’ - £5 million seals the deal as superpowers haggle over Classic winner Sparkling Plenty

A rare offering called for a rare situation. Sparkling Plenty, winner of the Prix de Diane a little over 26 hours earlier, was hammered down for a gasp-inducing £8,100,000 at the boutique Goffs London Sale in Kensington Palace Gardens on Monday, only for it to transpire that the Classic-winning filly had, remarkably, been bought back by owner Jean-Pierre-Joseph Dubois. 

Goffs’ French representative Amanda Zetterholm was bidding while taking instructions over the phone and saw off the attentions of Narvick International agent Emmanuel de Seroux, who bid £8 million, and Amo Racing’s Kia Joorabchian, who bid £7.8m after consulting with Evangelos Marinakis, owner of Nottingham Forest Football Club. 

However, the affair was far from over when the hammer fell. A lengthy period of deliberation ensued and once the dust had settled it emerged that a deal had been struck that saw Al Shaqab Racing take a 50 per cent stake in Sparkling Plenty at a cost of £5m. 

The operation’s principal, Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani, had been present at the auction but was not involved in the seven-figure showdown between Zetterholm, De Seroux and Joorabchian.

Sheikh Joaan is, of course, the brother of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, whose Wathnan Racing outfit has also been on a pre-Royal Ascot spending spree, securing the likes of Haatem, Shadow Army and Torito. 

The Goffs London Sale played host to drama courtesy of Sparkling PlentyCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

Sparkling Plenty is not engaged to run at Royal Ascot and Al Shaqab’s bloodstock advisor Nicolas de Watrigant confirmed the filly would remain on the same programme with trainer Patrice Cottier. 

“She’ll stay with the same trainer and the same team,” said De Watrigant. “The trainer will target the Nassau Stakes, the Prix de l'Opéra and maybe the Arc at the end of the year. We’ve been following the filly for a long time. She probably should’ve won the French Guineas [finished sixth], she was very unlucky in that race, but she ran some very good split figures. We like her physically; she keeps progressing and won the Sandringham very easily and she’s got a beautiful page, she’s by a great stallion, she’s got everything going for her.”

Commenting on the circumstances around the striking of the private deal, De Watrigant said: “Sheikh Joaan is delighted to have her. He’s been patient and we negotiated afterwards. This is the first horse in partnership [between Al Shaqab and Dubois] but we’ve often partnered on horses. With Place Du Carrousel we partnered with Ballylinch Stud and with Brametot we partnered with Mr Augustin-Normand. It works well and we’re happy to do so again.”

Sparkling Plenty's price comfortably eclipses the previous high mark at this sale, with two lots having fetched £1.3m apiece. The first of those, Cappella Sansevero, was sold to Sheikh Fahad Al Thani at the inaugural London Sale in 2014 a day before he ran second to The Wow Signal in the Coventry Stakes. Two years later Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Jet Setting made the same sum when knocked down to the China Horse Club.

Goffs’ group chief executive Henry Beeby was the auctioneer on duty during the bidding, and said afterwards: “Much to our shock, when the hammer came down at £8.1m it turned out the vendor had bought the horse back. 

The Kingman filly out of Laurens takes her turn in the ring at the Goffs London SaleCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

“As I said to somebody earlier, I’ve auctioneered for 39 years and worked for an auction house for 42 years, and I’ve never seen anything quite so complicated as this has turned out to be. It’s certainly a day I won’t forget. 

“I was bid £8 million by a live bidder, I was bid £7.8m by a second live bidder, but it’s the owner’s prerogative, it’s his horse. If he chooses to buy it back, he’s entitled to do that. The conditions of sale allow somebody to appoint one person to bid for them and that’s what he did.” 

The three-year-old daughter of Kingman is not only backed up by a Group 1-winning race record, as she also has a big pedigree to boot. She is the third foal out of Speralita, making her a sister to Godolphin’s €1.1m yearling purchase Noble Truth, who went on to win four races for Charlie Appleby, most notably the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot. 

There is plenty more Group/Grade 1 form on the page as Speralita is a Frankel half-sister to Stacelita, the globe-trotting winner of six elite races. Moreover, Stacelita is the dam of Frankel’s first top-flight winner Soul Stirring, while another of Speralita’s siblings is Salicorne, dam of Prix du Moulin heroine Sauterne, who was offered at last year’s London Sale prior to her Group 1 strike but was led out unsold at £1.2m.

Sauterne was later sold to De Seroux's Narvick International and Grand Stud for $4.2m at Fasig-Tipton’s Night of The Stars. 

The Kingman filly out of Laurens was bought by Amo Racing and Hamish Macauley for £650,000Credit: Sarah Farnsworth

This was not Sparkling Plenty's first appearance at the sales as she was retained by her owner-breeder at €600,000 at the Arqana August Sale in 2022.

Although Joorabchian was unable to secure Sparkling Plenty, the Amo Racing principal did not walk away empty handed. His first signing was the Kingman filly out of Laurens, who was offered by Oaks Farm Stables and signed for by bloodstock agent Hamish Macauley at £650,000. Joorabchian indicated the filly would go into training with Ralph Beckett. 

“She’s bred in the purple and has a massive pedigree,” said Macauley. “She came highly recommended by Mark Dwyer, who pre-trained her, and she’s a collector’s item at the end of the day. We’re delighted to get her. This is a great event but the horses are expensive, aren’t they!” 

The filly is the second foal out of Laurens and the second of her offspring to hit the market in recent times. Her first foal, the Invincible Spirit colt named First Ambition, was knocked down to Harriet Jones at 42,000gns at the Tattersalls Guineas Horses in Training Sale. Weatherbys records indicate the colt is registered as being in training with Karl Burke, who saddled Laurens to victory in the Filles’ Mile, Prix Saint-Alary, Prix de Diane, Matron Stakes, Sun Chariot Stakes and the Prix Rothschild. 

The filly was bred under the banner of Coverdale Stud by beleaguered owner John Dance who, it was revealed in April 2023, was under investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) following the discovery of “serious regulatory and operational issues” at his firm WealthTek LLP, which also traded as Vertem Asset Management and Malloch Melville. 

The Goffs London Sale took place in a sunny Kensington Palace GardensCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

Later in the session Amo and Maculey went to £480,000 to secure Tajar, who was offered by Dermot Weld’s Rosewell House. The winning three-year-old was last seen finishing third to Los Angeles in the Leopardstown Derby Trial and was sold with entries in the Group 3 Hampton Court Stakes on Thursday and the Golden Gates Stakes on Friday. 

“He’s got the form in the book and he’s going to go back to Dermot,” said Macauley. “He’ll be our first horse with him. He’s got low mileage on the clock and will run this week, all being well. We’ll see what happens, but he could be anything.”

Taraj, who was bred by Weld’s Springbank Way Stud, had been to the sales on one previous occasion when he went unsold at 68,000gns at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. 

There were some other notable buybacks on the evening, with Nurlan Bizakov retaining the unbeaten Lazzat at £2.25m and Coventry Stakes contender Francisco’s Piece bought back by Adrian Keatley Racing at £500,000.

Pentle Bay bound for Australia at £400,000

Richard Ryan was among the busier participants in the sale as Teme Valley Racing, whose stock he manages, sold two lots in Cool Dividend and General Assembly, while the agent also struck at £400,000 to land the once-raced Pentle Bay. 

The two-year-old Pentle Bay was making a swift and fruitful return to market having been bought by George Boughey and Hamish Macauley for just €55,000 at the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale a little over a month ago. He enhanced his value by making a winning debut over six furlongs at Leicester earlier in the month, and was offered with an entry in Saturday’s Chesham Stakes. 

Richard Ryan: "I’ve watched him a few times now, and he’s clearly improved. The world’s his oyster"Credit: Sarah Farnsworth

“He’s a gorgeous horse by New Bay, who's a super stallion, out of a Galileo mare,” said Ryan. “He did very well from a very bad start to win his maiden. I’ve watched him a few times now, and he’s clearly improved. The world’s his oyster.

“He’ll probably run in the Chesham as long as the ground isn’t rock hard, and then he might have one try in a stakes race before going down to Australia. His Derby as a three-year-old is the Queensland Derby, he ticks that box, and it might be slightly brave but he could do the Caulfield Guineas. He'll stay with George for the time being, and then go to Ciaron Maher in two or three months at least.” 

Teme Valley’s two horses generated a combined £430,000. The winning three-year-old General Assembly fetched £180,000 from first-time London Sale buyers Moores Racing, while Cool Dividend, a winning son of Profitable, went the way of Billy Jackson-Stops and Will Douglass of Charlie Gordon-Watson Bloodstock at £250,000. 

“An 80 rated horse sold for £180,000 is very good, although there is plenty of improvement left in him, while Cool Dividend might have undersold a little, but that’s market forces,” said Ryan when asked for his market reflections. “Goffs do a fantastic job. They've got everybody here and created a very strong market. What’s not to like?” 

Moores Racing making waves

Moores Racing, the outfit of brothers Simon and Matthew Moores, has already tasted success with the Kevin Philippart De Foy-trained Bigger Than Giga, and the siblings are looking to broaden their racing horizons with the £180,000 acquisition of General Assembly.

“This is a brand new industry for me,” said Simon Moores, chief executive of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. “I turned 40 in November and decided I needed a hobby, something more UK and Ireland-based, and thanks to my brother Matt we’ve found ourselves in a bit of a whirlwind.

Side Glance and Blair House enjoy the scenery at Kensington Palace GardensCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

“Thanks to Matt and our adviser Charlie Allen we’ve got five horses, and seen some do well and some do not so well. We came here to the Goffs London Sale and wanted to roll the dice with something bigger. It’s small fry compared to some of the lots here but £180,000 is three times more than we’ve ever spent on a horse. We’re testing the water to see if we get some bang for our buck.”

Allen added: “The horse will go to Harry Eustace. He’s been bought as a fun Saturday horse and hopefully he’ll develop as a sprinter. He’ll be kept to handicaps for the time being and we’ll see if we can get to Group races.”

The boutique nature of the London Sale means year-on-year comparisons do not carry the same significance as usual, but by the close of trade 23 lots had been offered and 13 sold for a clearance rate of 57 per cent. Turnover hit £8,040,000, which was up 113 per cent compared to 2023, while the average price rose by 80 per cent to £618,460. The median was down by 20 points at £200,000, having been £250,000 12 months ago when Givemethebeatboys topped trade at £1.1m to the bid of Bronson Racing.

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