‘We never thought she’d make that much’ - small breeders land a big result as Havana Grey filly hits £240,000 in Doncaster

Breeding on a small scale is not for the faint hearted. There are long, hard hours, high expenses and disappointment is never far away. But on day one of the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale on Tuesday the Knox family received the sort of result that not only makes the hardship seem worthwhile but might just inspire others to take the plunge too. 

Trade in Doncaster proved solid from the off, but none of the 243 lots offered could match the £240,000 price tag attained by the Havana Grey filly out of Twist Of Hay. 

The business end of the bidding involved Mark McStay, standing with Paul and Charles Shanahan at the top of the stairs to the left of the rostrum, with his main rival Paddy Twomey stationed on the top deck opposite the auctioneer. 

At times it appeared that Twomey held the initiative, but when McStay nodded a £10,000 raise to £240,000, the Group 1-winning trainer shook his head and tapped out of the running. 

The six-figure sale also brought a significant international flavour to proceedings, as the successful agent revealed his purchase had been made on behalf of a major owner from the other side of the Atlantic. 

“She’s been purchased for Ira Gumberg of Skara Glen Stables in America, whose family bred Rags To Riches,” said McStay. “She’s a beautiful filly who was very well presented by Sarah Fanning. Havana Grey speaks for himself; he gets fast two-year-olds and this looks like a particularly fast filly. She has Queen Mary written all over her. 

Mark McStay: "Havana Grey speaks for himself; he gets fast two-year-olds and this looks like a particularly fast filly"Credit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

“That’s what Doncaster has been renowned for producing over the years and she was by far and away the most outstanding physical, in terms of fillies anyway, on the sales ground. 

“She’s going to go to Donnacha O'Brien, who’s a Royal Ascot-winning trainer and has been lucky for me. He’s already had a Royal Ascot-winning juvenile with Porta Fortuna and let’s hope this filly is his next. Skara Glen Stables are very important owners in America so it's fantastic that they’ve decided to step up and buy a very nice filly here.” 

McStay added: “Paddy Twomey is a very good judge. He pushed us all the way but I suppose when you see someone like him bidding on a filly like that, it gives you a bit of extra confidence.” 

The filly, whose dam is a Showcasing half-sister to the Athasi Stakes winner Twilight Spinner, was bred by the Northallerton-based Jeremy and Muriel Knox and their son Josh. The family explained this result was not only a personal best but that it had been 30 years in the making. 

“We’re very small breeders with just five mares,” said Josh. “The last five generations of this pedigree have been in our family. My late grandparents, Ken and Pat Knox, had Miss Mercy, then Shrink, Spinatrix and now Twist Of Hay. They bought Miss Mercy and started breeding from her. She was just a cheap little acquisition but she’s been the foundation mare for this whole family. 

“We always knew we had a nice horse with his filly but all the stars have aligned. We landed on the right sire at the right time and she developed into a really good individual with a great walk. We’ve been doing this for 30 years and this is by far our biggest result.” 

Sarah Fanning after her Havana Grey filly's sale at DoncasterCredit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

An emotional Muriel added: “We reared her and prepped her but we never thought she’d make that much. This feels like a victory for small breeders. 

“My heart was pounding during the bidding. We were joking yesterday saying we needed to put a bigger reserve on her, but it’s worked out well. I think we’ll do some improvements at home to make winter life a bit easier for us.” 

The filly was consigned on behalf of the Knoxes by Sarah Fanning Sales, whose day got even better a short while later when Anthony Stroud went to £130,000 for the half-sister to the Listed-winning Clarendon House. 

The filly, who was bred by Richard Tucker, is from the debut crop of Newsells Park Stud’s A’Ali. 

“We knew the Havana Grey was going down really well,” said Fanning. “All the right people were looking at her so we expected her to do well, although we didn’t expect her to make quite that much. The A’Ali was very busy as well and both fillies never missed a beat, they’ve got such great temperaments. 

“This is our fourth year selling and this is by far our best result. It’s lovely to be entrusted with two really nice fillies and I’m really grateful to the breeders because the job’s easy when you’re selling nice horses.

The Goffs UK sales ground was a hive of activity on TuesdayCredit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

“ We were realistic coming here because we know trade is tough and I’ve been to enough lesser sales with lesser horses to know how hard work that can be. There's been strong trade all day though, which is great to see.” 

Fanning, wife of jockey Joe, added: “I have to give Joe some credit because he’s up at 5am every day helping me before he goes racing. He’s probably never worked as hard in his life! I’ve never sold this many horses at one sale before but I’ve had a great team here working with me, they’ve all been fantastic.” 

After signing the docket, Stroud revealed his purchase would carry the same colours as A’Ali did. 

“I bought her for Shaikh Duaij, who raced A’Ali,” said the agent. “I thought this was a very good example of the sire’s progeny. She’s a very nice filly and I’m very glad to have her, although I won’t know who’s going to train her until Shaikh Duaij tells me. 

“We bought A’Ali at the breeze-up sale here a few years ago and now there’s 14 of his first-crop yearlings here. His stock look really good, very athletic. They’re early two-year-old types and I’ve been very pleased with what I’ve seen.” 

Stroud added to his haul with a second lot by A’Ali later in the session. The half-brother to the classy Rocket Rodney from Lynn Lodge Stud fetched £150,000.

Houghton Bloodstock's Mehmas colt sells to Highflyer Bloodstock at the Goffs Doncaster Premier Yearling SaleCredit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

A strong start to the sale peaked on Tuesday morning when Billy Jackson-Stops, standing beside trainer George Scott, engaged in a six-figure tussle with Highflyer Bloodstock’s Anthony Bromley, who was positioned next to Richard Spencer. 

“He’s what this sale is all about,” said auctioneer Henry Beeby as the strapping Mehmas colt, who was bred by Cheveley Park Stud and presented by Houghton Bloodstock, made his way around the Doncaster ring. Jackson-Stops pushed the price to £200,000 but it was Bromley who sealed the deal with a final, reluctant-looking £10,000 increase. 

“He’s for Phil Cunningham of Rebel Racing to go to Richard Spencer,” said Bromley. “He ticked all the boxes and is a real ‘Donny’ type of horse. We’ve bought him to try to win the Harry’s Half Million race next year.” 

The colt is out of Red Box, a daughter of Exceed And Excel and Confidential Lady who was awarded the Listed Valiant Stakes in 2016. The mare has bred four winners since retiring to the Cheveley Park paddocks, including the useful dual scorer Redemption Time, who topped the 2021 Premier Sale when bought by Alex Elliott for £220,000. 

Highflyer and Rebel Racing purchased seven lots at last year’s Premier Sale for an outlay of £617,000. The success of that septet, which includes Yah Mo Be There, winner of the Listed Rose Bowl Stakes, and impressive debut scorer Righthere Rightnow, prompted the team to get involved again this time around. 

Anthony Bromley: "He’s been bred and reared by good breeders in Cheveley Park Stud"Credit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

“We’ve had a bit of luck with the horses we bought at this sale last year; there’s Yah Mo Be There, Righthere Rightnow, who won at Newmarket a couple of weeks ago and goes for the Champagne Stakes next, and The Man is a nice horse too,” continued Bromley. “We’ve targeted this sale again, although that price was more than I was hoping I’d have to give for him. 

“We had to outbid George Scott, who was very strong on the horse. I don’t normally spend that kind of money on Flat yearlings but I’m very excited to get this one. He’s been bred and reared by good breeders in Cheveley Park Stud.” 

The Mehmas colt’s £210,000 price tag surpassed last year’s high mark, which was set at £200,000 when Robson Aguiar signed for the Wootton Bassett colt out of Marsh Hawk bred by Rockcliffe Stud and offered through Highclere.

Despite concerns over the health of the commercial end of the yearling market, trade proved buoyant during the opening stages of the two-day sale. 

Bromley shared his assessment of the market, saying: “It’ll be good for the nice ones, but the depth of the market will be the interesting part because we’re probably all landing on the same horses. The upper quartile is going to be strong but we’ll see how the rest of it goes as the two days go on. 

"It’ll be interesting to see how next week goes too because there's 450 fast yearlings here and in a week’s time there’s another 450 fast yearlings at the Tattersalls Somerville Sale, so it’ll be interesting to see if it’ll hold up through the whole thing.”

Whitsbury Manor Stud's Sergei Prokofiev colt out of Shrara sells to Highflyer and Phil Cunningham for £140,000Credit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

Bromley and the Rebel Racing team were in prolific form on Tuesday with six purchases totalling £730,000. The £210,000 Mehmas colt was followed by a Sergei Prokofiev colt out of the winning Dandy Man mare Shrara who fetched £140,000. The colt was offered by Whitsbury Manor Stud, who pinhooked the youngster for just 16,000gns from last year’s December Foal Sale. 

“He’s for the same team,” confirmed Bromley. “He’s a real athlete, has great size and scope, and the sire is obviously flying. He’s a nice horse with a good attitude. He’s a strong and mature sort of horse. I know he’s big but he looks mature with it. I’ve loved him since I saw him on Saturday, as did Richard when he got here on Sunday, so he’s been high on the list all week. 

"We ran into Clive Cox again, but he’s a good judge to outbid. I’d hoped he'd be nearer the £100,000 mark rather than £140,000, but sometimes you’ve got to go a couple more bids than you budget for.” 

Whitsbury Manor’s Sergei Prokofiev is leading the European first-season sire standings with 15 winners on his stud CV. They include the Group 3 Marble Hill Stakes scorer Arizona Blaze and the Listed-winning Enchanting Empress. 

Bromley and Cunningham also gave £170,000 for Yeomanstown Stud’s Dark Angel brother to the Listed-placed Wings Of A Dove and £100,000 for the Supremacy colt out of Shorter Skirt. The latter provided Glenvale Stud with a tidy bit of pinhooking profit as the colt had been picked up at Goffs last November for €54,000. 

Sackville strikes 

Ed Sackville left a host of glum-looking underbidders trailing in his wake after securing the Too Darn Hot filly out of Shamandar at £170,000. Johnny Hassett played the penultimate hand of £165,000, while Daniel Kubler, the Mags O’Toole and Norman Williamson axis and Eddie Linehan all did their bit to drive the price into six-figure territory. 

Kubler knows better than most about the talent this family possesses as he trains the filly’s half-brother Shamrock Bay, who is unbeaten in two starts. Those victories, both of which came since the catalogue was released, takes Shamandar’s record to three winners at paddocks. 

Ed Sackville: "With a stallion like that you know that they’re not going to slip through the net"Credit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

The mare’s best runner to date is Admiral Nelson, a Listed-place juvenile who set a Premier Sale record when sold to Coolmore’s MV Magnier for £440,000 in 2019. 

“She’s a very strong, precocious looking filly by a stallion who needs no introduction,” said Sackville. “She’s been bought for an existing owner of Hugo Palmer’s and will be trained at Manor House Stables.”

Asked if the filly’s price tag had been within his valuation, Sackville said: “You never know until you get into the ring, but with a stallion like that you know that they’re not going to slip through the net.” 

Offered by Barton Stud, the filly was making her second appearance at the sales having been knocked down to Loop Bloodstock at 60,000gns at Tattersalls last December. 

Doyle gets the Blues 

Another first-crop sire to supply a £150,000 lot was Darley’s Space Blues. Mountarmstrong Stud presented the colt out of Star Alexander, a Starspangledbanner half-sister to Supremacy. The youngster was hammered down to Ross Doyle. 

“He’s a very strong, good-looking horse,” said Doyle. “I thought he was one of the best colts we’ve seen over the two days. I really liked the Space Blues foals last year and the yearlings aren’t disappointing. Obviously this colt comes from a wonderful family and a wonderful home, a farm that sells top-class horses year in, year out. 

"He’ll go to Richard Hannon and we’ll try to find an owner for him, but hopefully he’ll be an easy sell.” 

Supremacy is not the only notable Doncaster graduate on the page as the colt’s granddam is also a half-sister to Beatrix Potter, dam of Harry Angel. 

Space Blues stood his first season at Kildangan Stud at a fee of €17,500. 

Reflecting on trade in South Yorkshire, Doyle said: “It’s the usual story. The right horses make the right money when the right people are in there bidding on them. We’re very happy with what we’ve bought and this has been a lucky old sale for us and the Hannons down the years. We’re just lucky to have the clients who support us buying here.”

Of the 243 lots to come under the hammer in the ten-hour session, 200 found a buyer at a clip of 82 per cent. Aggregate sales reached £8,209,500, which was down 11 per cent against the comparative session in 2023. The average price was £41,050, which was down 14 per cent, while the median was £31,000, an 11 point drop. 

The Premier Yearling Sale continues on Wednesday, with the concluding session starting at 9.30am.

Premier Yearling Sale

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