Kia Joorabchian phones a friend as Amo Racing go to record-equalling 2,500,000gns for Chaldean's Frankel sister

Amo Racing principal Kia Joorabchian picked up where he left off at Book 1 with the 2,500,000gns acquisition of a Frankel sister to Chaldean during a dramatic evening’s session of the Tattersalls December Foal Sale. 

Whitsbury Manor Stud’s filly had been widely expected to prove the headline act of the four-day sale, and auctioneer Alastair Pim ensured proceedings passed with a degree of comedy as well as seven-figure theatrics. 

The man with the gavel went in search of an opening bid of 3,000,000gns and proceedings never dipped below seven-figure territory as Philipp Stauffenberg, standing at the back of a packed entranceway, got the ball rolling at 1,000,000gns with a wave of his catalogue. 

Richard Brown was also involved in cutting out the early running before the bidding became a straight joust between team Amo Racing, standing in their now familiar position in the bidders’ area, and trainer Paddy Twomey, taking instructions on the phone by the far exit. 

“She need never look through a bridle,” said Pim as the price continued to climb. “All she needs is a pair of covering boots!” 

Twomey delivered the raise to 2,400,000gns, at which point Joorabchian appeared to be feeling the pinch. 

“You’ve rarely let me down before,” Pim said looking directly at the Amo man. “This isn’t the time to start!”

After laughing off the auctioneer’s quip, Joorabchian picked up the phone and seemingly called for back-up. After a long and expectant pause, Joorabchian struck the telling bid. 

“I don’t know about you but I’m sweating!” Pim said, having diverted his attention back to Twomey. But the trainer gave a resigned shake of the head and turned to leave the auditorium as the gavel fell in Amo Racing’s favour.

The filly’s price equals the European record set in 1997 when Satish Sanan, bidding through BBA Ireland, landed Padua's Pride, a full-brother to dual Derby winner Generous. 

Kia Joorabchian was active in a big way once again at TattersallsCredit: Laura Green

“What is there to say?” said Joorabchian’s bloodstock agent Alex Elliott. “We gave 4,400,000gns for a Frankel filly out of a Group 2 winner [at Book 1] and now we’ve bought a sister to a Classic winner for 2,500,000gns. 

“Her half-sister [Get Ahead] was a good race filly and made 2,500,000gns last year, so I knew we had to be there or thereabouts. At those levels you just never know, but I think it’s a good move by Kia and it’s a great statement of intent.” 

Elliott continued: “To come into the yearling sales and blow it up is one thing, but to continue it into foals is a real statement. It’s a good sign moving forward that Amo are making these long-term moves. I was willing Kia to make that last bid. 

“He had to make a phone call, he said he had to phone a friend! I said don’t ask the audience because they’ll definitely tell you to bid! I was willing him along and I’m absolutely over the moon that we got her. 

“It’s very hard to get into that kind of pedigree, but we’re there now. The mare is unbelievable, the farm is unbelievable and the sire is unbelievable. 

“She’s a lovely filly too, she had a great action, and she put her head down, as Alastair Pim said. It’s a long project but it’s great to see that and we’ve come a long way from thinking about early Ascot two-year-old races. The whole thing has developed. I’m delighted Kia made that last bid. Sometimes I’m a bit on the fence but I’m delighted with that.” 

Suelita, dam of the seven-figure filly, has proved one of the most inspired broodmare purchases of recent times. She was bought by Whitsbury Manor’s Chris Harper for 21,500gns at the end of her four-year-old campaign in 2013. She won four races in Italy during her time in training but has completely eclipsed those achievements at paddocks. 

Her seven winners include the Listed-winning The Broghie Man and the Listed-placed Gloves Lynch. Things got even better when she was mated to Showcasing in consecutive years, first producing the Mill Reef Stakes winner Alkumait, who now stands at Capital Stud, and then the Listed-winning Get Ahead, who also ran second in the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes. 

The Frankel filly out of Suelita equalled a long-standing European record at Park PadddocksCredit: Laura Green

Get Ahead changed hands at last year’s December Mares Sale when First Bloodstock, a group comprising Tony Bloom, Ian McAleavy and Patrick Veitch, struck at 2,500,000gns. She visited Frankel for her first mating earlier this year. 

Suelita went to a whole new level when she visited Frankel for the first time in 2019. The result of that tryst was, of course, Chaldean, who joined the Juddmonte fold at a cost of 550,000gns at the foal sales in 2020.

His five victories for Andrew Balding included the Dewhurst Stakes and the following year’s 2,000 Guineas. He retired to Juddmonte’s Banstead Manor Stud for the 2024 breeding season and duly served a debut book of mares numbering 173. Friday’s transaction took receipts for Suelita’s Whitsbury Manor-consigned youngstock to 5,137,000gns. 

Amo Racing has invested heavily in blue-chip stock in recent months, most notably when spending 22,940,000gns with a range of partners during a bumper renewal of Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale. The operation is also being heavily linked with the purchase of Sir Michael Stoute’s Freemason Lodge stables.

Moreover, the sister to Chaldean was not Amo’s only involvement on Friday, as the upwardly mobile outfit also secured a brace of 850,000gns foals, including the Frankel colt out of Audarya from Genesis Green Stud. 

“He’s by Frankel out of a Breeders’ Cup winner, it doesn’t take too much explaining,” said Elliott.

“I think he’ll go back to Tally-Ho Stud. Roger O’Callaghan was a huge fan of the horse and rang Kia about him a few days ago. They work very closely, so he’ll go back there like the Kingman [three-parts brother to Dragon Symbol] did last year, then he’ll go into the programme in the autumn. He could be a racehorse, which would be lovely!”

The other 850,000gns lot was the Frankel filly out of Auria, a half-sister to Beat The Bank, from Hazelwood Bloodstock.

The Frankel filly out of Auria bought by Amo Racing at TattersallsCredit: Laura Green

Audarya developed into a real star for owner Alison Swinburn, having been purchased by Anthony Stroud for €125,000 at the Arqana October Yearling Sale in 2017. The daughter of Wootton Bassett won five races over the course of four seasons in training with James Fanshawe, showing steady progress through the handicap ranks all the way to Group 1 company. 

She took the leap from class two handicap at Newcastle to the Prix Jean Romanet in her stride, landing the Deauville Group 1 by a hard-fought neck. She followed that up by running third to the champion Tarnawa in the Prix de l’Opera before producing her finest moment in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. 

The colt is the second foal out of Audarya, who bred a filly by Dubawi in January 2023. She visited Kingman earlier this year.

Genesis Green’s Michael Swinburn said of the colt: “You wouldn’t have known he was on the farm. He was never in his box down there [showing at Tattersalls]. He was born straight, reared straight, never sick a day in his life. When they came to film for Tatts, they had the camera up in his face but he didn’t give two hoots.

“He’s a horse that I think will just get better and better because, if you saw him a month ago, he was a little bit of a shell of a horse. But he’s done really well in prep, strengthened up, and he’s only going to go in one direction. I think that Kia has been really lucky there. The nice thing is that all the ones we’ve sold are off the farm, and that’s great for my team.”

Magnier adds seven-figure Sea The Stars colt to Coolmore ranks

The sister to Chaldean was not the only seven-figure lot during Friday's record-busting session as Coolmore’s MV Magnier went to a round 1,000,000gns for a well-related Sea The Stars colt who also came from the Genesis Green draft.

The youngster is the first foal out Angel’s Point, a Dark Angel half-sister to Coolmore’s Group 2 Boomerang Stakes winner I Can Fly, who also came within a neck of defeating Roaring Lion in the 2018 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. 

This is a pedigree going places at a rate of knots as I Can Fly’s first foal is the Listed-placed Platoon, while her second foal, the two-year-old January, won a Listed contest at Tipperary and was last seen finishing second to Desert Flower in the Group 1 Fillies' Mile. 

Magnier said: “He was a very nice horse and we’ve been lucky with Sea The Stars with The Lion In Winter, who unfortunately things just didn’t go right for later in the season. Michael Swinburn has always been very lucky with this whole family, going back to Landseer, who was a very good horse for us. 

Lot 937 Sea The Stars out of Angel's Point at Tattersalls Credit: Laura Green

“I Can Fly was a special filly too and January has a lot of potential. I Can Fly could end up being a very important broodmare, she's booked in to Justify next year. This is a lovely horse too and I’m very happy for the Swinburns. They’ve been great supporters of ours and this is a great result for their team.” 

The Coolmore man added: “It’s a lot of money to give for a foal but Sea The Stars is a very good stallion and it’s a very good family, Dark Angel is a very good broodmare sire too. And the sale has been incredible. The one thing that I’d probably take out of this is that we put our stallion fees way too low!” 

Angel's Point was sold as a yearling by Genesis Green Stud for 260,000gns. She re-entered the Genesis Green portfolio at a cost of 90,000gns having failed to cut much ice in two starts for owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid. She is the seventh foal out of the stud’s headline producer Madonna Dell'Orto. 

Swinburn said: “Ever since the day Walter bought her [Madonna Dell’Orto] she’s just been unbelievable. Andrew Balding trained the dam and when she ran she was a bit disappointing to say the least on her first run, and I said to Andrew, ‘Are we in trouble with Angel’s Point?’ He said, ‘She’s talented but she’s just a minx. It’s just a family which keeps producing really. They’re good walkers, there are plenty of winners.” 

Swinburn, brother to iconic jockey Walter, concluded by saying: “On the way in today I just called in to the church and said, ‘Would you ever help us out today?’”

Those prayers look to have been answered as the Genesis Green draft saw seven sold lots generate an aggregate of 2,765,000gns and an average price of 395,000gns. 

Big buyers go West

The arrival of the West Blagdon Stud draft saw a spike in six-figure prices as Godolphin outbid Coolmore to secure the Camelot colt out of Queenlet at 650,000gns, two lots before MV Magnier atoned for the earlier reversal by bidding 800,000gns for a well-related daughter of Frankel. 

Coolmore’s purchase is out of the Pivotal mare In The Mist, making her a sibling to the Group 3 scorer Cloudy Dawn and the Listed-winning Iromea. There is even more black type beneath the second dam as In The Mist is a half-sister to Prix du Moulin victress Grey Lilas, who in turn bred three-time Group 1 heroine and dual Classic winner Golden Lilac. 

“She’s a very lovely filly,” said Magnier. “Frankel and Pivotal have worked very well together with horses like Cracksman and Nashwa. James and Anita Wigan, what can I say? They’ve been incredible supporters of ours for a very long time, as long as I can remember, and I know Dad always says that they go way back together. 

“They’re very good breeders, they’ve raised a lot of very good horses in the past, and this is a great result for them and she’a a lovely filly. Frankel is a very good stallion, he speaks for himself. The likes of Lake Victoria, she’s an exceptional filly and if this one is anywhere near as good as her then we’ll be in good shape.” 

Godolphin’s 650,00gns signing was not their first involvement this breeding stock sales season, having also gone to a cool €1 million for the Sea The Stars brother to Teona who topped the Goffs November Sale. 

The Camelot colt is the first foal out of Queenlet, a dual winner by Kingman whose siblings include the black type performers Sweet Enough and Enfjaar. Queenlet is out of Tesoro, a Galileo sister to Grade 1 winner Photo Call and Richmond Stakes scorer Land Force.

The page goes back to Cassandra Go, who has founded a dynasty that includes headline names such as Halfway To Heaven, Magical and Rhododendron, dam of Auguste Rodin. 

“We bought a very nice foal in Ireland for Godolphin and I think this colt will add to our homebred crop,” said Godolphin’s Anthony Stroud. “Camelot has had a very good year and this is a lovely foal. You’ve got to pay for the ones you really want and he was the one foal today we zeroed in on.”

Headline figures come thick and fast

A frenetic evening of trade also saw a brace of 700,000gns lots, including the three-parts brother to German Derby hero Fantastic Moon who was knocked down to Juddmonte’s general manager Simon Mockridge. The son of Sea The Stars was sold on behalf of breeder Philipp Stauffenberg by The Castlebridge Consignment. 

“For Juddmonte to buy this foal, it’s an honour for us,” said Stauffenberg. “He’s going to a very good home and we’re very happy about that. He’s a lovely colt, really straightforward. That's the first horse they have bought off us as breeders. It's fantastic. The mare [Frangipani] is in foal and is carrying a full sibling to Fantastic Moon, she sells in the Sceptre Sessions [as Lot 1,747] next week.” 

Fantastic Moon, who also won this year’s Grosser Preis von Baden, will begin his stallion career at Gestut Ebbesloh at a fee of €9,000.

Alison Swinburn of Genesis Green StudCredit: Laura Green

The first foal to fetch 700,000gns was the Frankel half-sister to Ville De Grace who went the way of agent Amanda Skiffington and her client Pearly Fallon, who signed the docket as Hampstead Holdings.

The Norris Bloodstock-consigned youngster is out of Archangel Gabriel, who Skiffington knows plenty about having purchased the sister to Grade 1 winner Prince Arch for 200,000gns as a Book 1 yearling in 2014. 

“It was love at first sight when I saw her today,” said Fallon. “She was the first horse that I looked at today and I thought she was probably the best.” 

Expanding on her thoroughbred interests, Fallon said: “We have approximately ten horses. She’ll have to have a special spot because she’s pretty special, but I’m not sure where that will be. We have horses with Ed Bethell and Mr Haggas will be getting one shortly, as will Mr Fanshawe and Mrs Harrington. She’s a perfect fit. I love Frankel.” 

Skiffington added: “I had to get up early this morning because I wanted to come and look at this filly. I just thought she was beautiful, it was the only word I put in my catalogue. Pearly has always wanted a Frankel.” 

Lascelles lands another eye-catcher

Henry Lascelles has already enjoyed a productive week at Park Paddocks having secured the half-sister to Camille Pissarro and Golden Horde for a December Yearling Sale record of 900,000gns on Monday. On Friday the agent added to his haul when outbidding MV Magnier for the Wootton Bassett filly out of Accolade at 580,000gns. 

The youngster, who was consigned by Awbeg Stud, is closely related to The Summit, a Wootton Bassett half-brother to Accolade who won the Group 3 Prix de Fontainebleau and also ran second to in the Prix du Jockey Club and Poule d'Essai des Poulains. 

Lot 937 by Sea The Stars made seven figures at Tattersalls on Friday Credit: Laura Green

Lascelles could not reveal the identity of his client but confirmed his latest purchase was for the same British owner-breeder as the 900,000gns Dark Angel filly. 

“We loved her and she’s a very close blood relation to The Summit,” he said. “She’s a beautiful mover, really strong with a big square hip. I believe the full-brother is going to Ballydoyle, he made a lot of money at Book 1 [350,000gns], and the half-brother [Carrignarede] was second in a maiden and has been sold to America. 

“There’s a bit happening in the pedigree. She’s a beautiful filly and I hope she’ll turn into an even nicer two-year-old in time. The price was probably a bit beyond where we wanted to be but there’s a lot of end-users buying today. She’s been bought to race by an English owner-breeder so she’ll head back to the client’s farm.”

Statistics

Another blockbuster day at Park Paddocks saw all manner of benchmarks reached. Not only did the top lot equal the European high price for a foal, but five of the 12 most expensive lots ever sold at the December Foal Sale changed hands on Friday. 

Turnover reached 30,906,000gns, which, as well as being an increase of 72 per cent year-on-year, was also a record figure for a single session at a European foal sale.

The median price on Friday was up 41 per cent at 87,500gns, having been 62,000gns on this day 12 months' ago, while the average rose 66 per cent to 159,310gns. The clearance rate was a rock solid 91 per cent as 194 foals sold from 215 offered. 

The Tattersalls December Foal Sale concludes on Saturday with the fourth and final session starting at 10am.

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