‘There’s just no limit to what these horses can make’ - superpowers collide again as Havana Grey colt brings record 1,750,000gns at Tattersalls

Another day, another Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale record. A little over 24 hours after Godolphin paid 1,400,000gns for a son of Acclamation, the operation came off second best to Amo Racing when Malcolm Bastard presented the Havana Grey colt out of the appropriately named Show Stealer. 

Godolphin’s buying team of David Loder and Anthony Stroud bid with all their usual impetus, but Amo principal Kia Joorabchian was in no mood to be denied. He struck the winning bid of 1,750,000gns from his usual position in the bidders’ area opposite the rostrum. 

The colt showed a jaw-dropping appreciation in value, having last changed hands publicly for just 55,000gns at the 2023 December Foal Sale, where Harlequin Direct signed the docket. That upgrade represents a 3,081 per cent return on investment. 

• ‘This is crazy’ - Tattersalls record tumbles as 1,400,000gns Acclamation colt brings huge pinhooking profit 

“What a phenomenal sale,” said Amo talent scout Alex Elliott. “I’ve said it in recent years, it’s becoming very much like the American breeze-up market. Obviously there’s the clocks, there’s all the hoops to jump through, and when you do it, there’s just no limit to what these horses can make. We’ve been a bit slower on the uptake here but it’s become like that. These men want to win the best races and a lot of the best breezers win the best races.” 

The colt clocked the fastest two furlong workout according to times seen by the Racing Post. For Elliott it was not just the raw time that jumped out, but that Bastard’s horses are not renowned for breaking the stopwatch. 

“He’s by Havana Grey, who’s had a champion out of here in Vandeek,” Elliott continued. “All these vendors are trying to do the same thing, but the one thing about Malcolm, and he’ll tell you himself, that he’s first and foremost a pre-trainer; the horse comes first. So when Malcolm’s horse rocks up at the breeze and clocks the fastest time, there was a queue at his door and we had to get an appointment for when we could see the horse! 

“He’s been doing this a long time, he’s brilliant at his job and he’s pre-trained some of the best horses in Europe. The horse was produced beautifully and for it to do what it did, for Malcolm, when he doesn’t particularly put the gun to their heads, it tells you you’ve got a good horse.” 

Elliott also shared the Amo camp’s perspective on the protracted bidding battle, saying: “I felt them [Godolphin] slow up at 1.5 [million]. I felt them think about it, and usually it’s bang, bang, bang. I said to Kia ‘they’ve thought about that’, and then they really did think about it. Listen, maybe it’s not the wisest thing to do to outbid them, but we’ve done it.” 

The seven-figure youngster is set to make the short journey from Tattersalls to Freemason Lodge, where he will be trained by Raphael Freire. 

The successful vendor did not hang around to revel in the post-sale celebrations, but before he departed Park Paddocks he gave a typically understated debrief. 

“He's been pre-trained and has just done normal work,” he said. “He’s been away twice, just to have a little spin away from the farm to see what he was like in a different environment, and he's just a very nice, classy horse.” 

Bastard also became the latest industry name to give Havana Grey a ringing endorsement. Asked if he had had many others by the stallion through his Marlborough operation, he said: “Not like him. He's just very straightforward and easy to train - that's Havana Greys. They’ve got quality and they’ve good minds. You can feed them and train them.” 

Havana Grey’s current two-year-old crop was bred when the stallion stood for just £6,000 at Whitsbury Manor Stud. 

Dullingham at the double

Owner Zhang Yuesheng enjoyed a particularly productive day in Newmarket, with Double Rush winning the opener on the Rowley Mile before a brace of eye-catching recruits were added to the string during the opening stages of Wednesday’s session of selling. 

The first signing was the Too Darn Hot colt from Johnny Collins’ Brown Island Stables, who went from a 90,000gns Book 2 yearling to 550,000gns two-year-old. 

The youngster was bred by Blue Diamond Stud from Morningtide, a daughter of Shamardal from the family of Ballymacoll Stud celebrity Islington. The same breeder has already had success with the stallion having also produced Group 1 Futurity Trophy Stakes scorer Hotazhell. 

“Absolutely delighted with that,” said Collins. “I thought coming here that he stacked up well and he didn’t let me down at the breeze. He’s obviously by an exceptional sire - I actually underbid Hotazhell as a yearling and so I was keen to get a Too Darn Hot last year if I could. 

“This lad has a fair bit of Shamardal about him as well and he came well prepared from Blue Diamond Stud out of Book 2. He’s been straightforward all the way through; he’s very sound, hasn’t missed a day and has a great mind on him. I’m delighted he’s going to such a good home and I wish them all the best with him.” 

Yulong purchased a colt by Darley's star stallion Too Darn Hot for 550,000gns at the Craven Sale

Two lots later the Mehmas half-brother to the Listed-winning Lady Of Spain brought the hammer down at 500,000gns. The youngster was pinhooked by Tally-Ho Stud at the Goffs November Foal Sale in 2023 at a cost of €50,000. 

Ben Hyde was on bidding duty for the Yulong Investments principal, and signed the dockets with the name Dullingham. It was announced last month that Yulong had purchased Commonwealth and July Cup winner Shaquille and third-season sire Soldier's Call to continue their stallion careers at Dullingham Park on the edge of Newmarket. 

“We’re very happy,” said Yulong representative Paul Curran. “Mr Zhang came here looking to pick up one or two and we’ve fulfilled that, which is great. They’re two nice early, precocious types, which is what you’re always looking for at this sort of sale. We’re just in the middle of deciding training plans but the Too Darn Hot will go to Jessie Harrington. That makes sense, obviously given what she did last year with Hotazhell. We’re going to wait and see what he wants to do with the Mehmas.” 

Asked if the recruits could one day occupy a berth in the Dullingham Park stallion boxes, Curran said: “If they can end up there [Dullingham], fantastic. Our plan this year is to have a nice roster of two-year-olds, and the likes of these two fit that bill. We’ve got a lot of two-year-olds but not too many of them are precocious.” 

On the state of trade, Curran added: “Yesterday [Tuesday] was strong and today seems even stronger. It’s been a fantastic sale so far, and if it continues on like this we’re in for a strong year at the breeze-ups.” 

McCalmont runs hot

Dullingham’s purchase was not the only Too Darn Hot to figure in the sale’s top ten, as agent Jamie McCalmont went to 500,000gns for a well-related colt offered by Anna Calder’s Leamore Horses. 

The youngster was bred by Hascombe and Valiant Stud from the Grade 3-winning Lemon Drop Kid mare Valiant Girl, and was pinhooked through Blandford Bloodstock at 90,000gns at Book 2 last year. 

“I’m a massive fan of the stallion,” said McCalmont. “The horse did a very nice breeze, and it was the last part that was really good; he galloped out very strongly. The first eighth wasn’t that strong but then the second eighth really was. I believe he was bred by the Oppenheimers, so he comes from a very good farm. It was [Anna Calder’s] only horse in the sale, so it’s a nice result for her.” 

Jamie McCalmont: 'The horse did a very nice breeze, and it was the last part that was really good' Credit: Laura Green

The agent was unable to reveal training plans or who his purchase was made on behalf of, but shared his reflections on the market dynamics witnessed over the last two days. 

He said: “It seems to be quite clock driven. Horses that breezed in a fast time made a lot of money, and if they didn’t breeze fast then you’re in trouble. When the horse that did the fastest time makes a million seven, what does that tell you! Any horse that makes over a million at a breeze-up sale, that’s a lot of money, so I’d have to say it was very strong at the top end.” 

McStay makes his mark for St Mark’s Basilica filly

Day one saw a big result for first-crop sire St Mark's Basilica when Amo Racing went to 750,000gns for a son of the five-time Group 1 winner. And the Coolmore stallion notched another noteworthy result on Wednesday when Mark McStay of Avenue Bloodstock gave 320,000gns for the half-sister to Godolphin’s Al Qudra offered by Rockfield Farm. 

While Amo’s buy was said to be a later-maturing type, McStay hoped this filly could develop into a Royal Ascot prospect. 

“She’s been bought for a partnership to go into training in Ireland with my great friend Fozzy Stack,” he said. “She’s a very precocious-looking and extremely well-bred filly. St Mark’s Basilica has captured the imagination here this week. I'd be excited by the offspring of the sire, and this filly very much caught my eye. The mare has already produced a Grade 1 performer by No Nay Never and she’s a stakes winner herself.” 

The agent added: “Time isn’t my God at these sales but when you look at the pedigree and the individual, she was one you’d expect to clock quickly and she did. She showed a good action and a good attitude and was really well presented by Darragh Lordan from Rockfield Farm. I think Darragh might’ve even taken her to Fozzy’s gallop for an away day, and I think she caught his eye there. I discussed her with Fozzy today at length and he knew all about her. The partners involved are very excited and hopefully they’re wearing their top hat and tails in June.” 

Osborne shows more Heart

Jamie Osborne came within a nose of winning this year’s UAE Derby with breeze-up graduate Heart Of Honor, and is hoping to go one place better with the Union Rags colt secured from Ballybush Stables at a cost of 220,000gns. 

Heart Of Honor is owned by Jim and Claire Bryce, and their colours will also be aboard this new recruit, who was pinhooked by Ballybush from the Keeneland September Yearling Sale at just $30,000. 

Lot 105, a colt by Union Rags, was purchased by Jamie Osborne for 220,000gns

“The route will be much the same as the last horse,” said Osborne. “We will look to run in a maiden here in the autumn before shipping to Dubai. He can learn his trade, then run at Meydan through December and the early part of the year. Then, hopefully, we can run in the Derby and go a nose better!” 

That transaction capped a fruitful few minutes for Ballybush, as the operation also sold the preceding lot into the ring. The Invincible Spirit colt out of Molly Dolly was hammered down to Pythia Sports and Sean and John Quinn at 100,000gns. 

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Good Morning Bloodstock is our unmissable email newsletter. Leading bloodstock journalist Martin Stevens provides his take and insight on the biggest stories every morning from Monday to Friday.