2007 DECEMBER MARE SALE DAY 1
PRESS STATEMENT
SATWA QUEEN TOPS EXTRAORDINARY DAY AT TATTERSALLS DECEMBER MARE SALE
SATWA QUEEN headlined an extraordinary day on the opening session of the Tattersalls December Mare Sale with five fillies or mares selling for a million guineas or more and John Ferguson dominating proceeding’s. Most pundits agreed that this year’s renewal of the sale looked an outstanding one but few could have predicted the sparks that would fly on the opening day. A total of 199 lots sold for 24,722,000 guineas, a rise of 26% on last year’s opening session for what was the second highest grossing day in European auction history behind last year’s day two turnover at the same sale. The average for the day was 124,231 guineas and the median 35,000 guineas.
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Catalogued |
Offered |
Sold |
Aggregate |
Average |
Median |
|
2007 |
339 |
284 |
199 |
24,722,000 |
124,231 |
35,000 |
2006 |
333 |
255 |
207 |
19,568,500 |
94,534 |
45,000 |
The consignment from the Nairchos Family’s Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard is always a highlight of the Tattersalls December Sale, but looked especially mouthwatering with a daughter of the legendary MIESQUE and half-sister to the multiple Group 1 winner BAGO on offer, and neither was to disappoint. AMA, the STORM CAT filly out of the ten time Group 1 winner MIESQUE, offered a rare opportunity for breeders to buy into one of the great pedigree’s as a half-sister to the Group 1 winner and successful sire KINGMAMBO, and the French 1,000 Guineas and Oaks winner EAST OF THE MOON. Interest came thick and fast, as the priced raced past 1,000,000 guineas with BBA Ireland’s Adrian Nicoll setting the pace along with Darley’s John Ferguson, with the latter prevailing at 1,800,000 guineas.
LOT 1893: AMA
Purchased by John Ferguson Bloodstock for 1,800,000 gns
Ferguson was in action again two lots later when he secured the Listed winning and Group placed SELKIRK mare BETA for 1,700,000 guineas. The sister to the five-time Group 1 winner BAGO hails from another remarkable Niarchos family, with her granddam the Champion French two-year-old COUP DE GENIE, from the family of Champion European two-year-old and successful sire MACHIAVELLIAN. Ferguson secured BETA at the expense of agent John Warren and Charlie Gordon-Watson and indicated that both BETA and AMA would be retired to take up stud duties.
LOT 1895: BETA
Purchased by John Ferguson Bloodstock for 1,700,000 gns
The three-year-old filly SANDER CAMILLO was the winter favourite for the 1,000 Guineas following her five length win in the Group 2 Cherry Hinton Stakes at Newmarket’s July course last year for trainer Jeremy Noseda, but failed to recapture her form as a three-year-old. A $500,000 purchase as a two-year-old by agent Jamie McCalmont, the daughter of DIXIE UNION out of the Listed winning STAR OF NASKRA mare STARAWAY, was the subject of a head-to-head dual between John Ferguson and Ashtown House Stud's Paul Shanahan, with the pair taking the price past one million and then two and finally three, stopping when Shanahan failed to answer Ferguson’s bid of 3,200,000 guineas. The price represented a European record for a filly in training and like Ferguson’s aforementioned purchases, she is set to retire to stud.
LOT 1923: SANDER CAMILLO
Purchased by John Ferguson Bloodstock for 3,200,000 gns
Ferguson’s spending spree was halted briefly when Shadwell Estates’ Angus Gold purchased the dual Group 1 winner INDIAN INK for 2,000,000 guineas. Trained by Richard Hannon on behalf of Raymond Tooth, the 25,000 guineas Tattersalls October 1 purchase won last year’s Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes before recording a stunning six length win in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes this year at Royal Ascot. The daughter of INDIAN RIDGE out of the DARSHAAN mare MAID OF KILLEEN was secured by Gold after he saw off the efforts of locally based agent Anthony Stroud.
LOT 1962: INDIAN INK
Purchased by Shadwell Estates for 2,000,000 gns
It was late in the evening that this year’s Group 1 Prix de l’Opera
winner SATWA QUEEN entered the ring before an expectant audience. The six-time
winning five-year-old mare, who raced for the Lamprell Partnership headed
by Dubai based Englishman Stephen Lamprell, was trained at Chantilly by Jean
de Roualle, and in a career spanning sixteen starts was successful at Group
level on no less than five occasions. The bids came thick and fast for the
daughter of MUHTATHIR out of the IRISH RIVER mare TOLGA with Alan Cooper,
racing manager to the Niarchos Family setting the pace along with London
based agent Charlie Gordon-Watson. However, as was the case earlier, Ferguson
prevailed again, this time with a bid of 3,400,000 guineas, breaking the
European record for a filly held briefly by SANDER CAMILLO.
