Five Further Seven-Figure Lots Close Out Strong Renewal Of Book 1

A strong renewal of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale concluded with five further seven-figure lots led by a colt by WOOTTON BASSETT at 1,900,000 guineas bought by the sale’s leading purchaser Godolphin. The sale turnover of 128,640,000 guineas was just over a million guineas shy of the record 2024 aggregate.

Extraordinary Sale For Fittocks Continues with 1,900,000 Guineas Wootton Bassett Colt

An extraordinary week for Fittocks Stud continued during the third session of Book 1 with their WOOTTON BASSETT colt heading the day’s proceedings at 1,900,000 guineas to Godolphin. Top American trainer Chad Brown and bloodstock agent Richard Brown were among those to make a play for the popular colt, with Juddmonte’s Simon Mockridge eventually giving a resigned shake of the head when asked to better Godolphin’s successful bid.

“Wootton Bassett needs no introduction, and this colt is from a very good farm,” said Anthony Stroud. “He was liked by our team and Sheikh Mohammed really liked him, and we think he was exceptional. Having Sheikh Mohammed here is so important, words can’t really express how remarkable he is and how all of us who work for him feel about him, and so should everyone in this industry. Every year he keeps coming here, and it is so vital. He really enjoys it, and we depend on him for his eye.”

The colt is the fifth yearling by the late WOOTTON BASSETT purchased by Godolphin this week and on the stallion Stroud added:

“He is a huge loss, an unbelievable stallion. It was a good outcross for so many and a huge shame for the European bloodstock industry, it is hard to get stallions of that level and he has come up from standing for relatively little to where he was at the end.”

Fittocks Stud has sold five horses this week for an aggregate of 6,350,000 guineas including three seven figure yearlings to lead the consignors’ list by average. Luca Cumani commented:

“It has been a fantastic week, everything has come together very well and the Fittocks staff has done an incredible job. We bought the mare and she has produced very good-looking stock.”

The colt’s dam TIME TUNNEL was bred by Juddmonte out of their Group 1 Falmouth Stakes winner TIMEPIECE and was bought by Blandford Bloodstock at the 2019 Tattersalls December Mares Sale for 260,000 guineas on behalf of Fittocks Stud and St Albans Bloodstock.

Godolphin ended Book 1 as leading purchasers with 23 yearlings bought for an aggregate of 19,625,000 guineas.

Lordship’s Frankel Filly to Juddmonte at 1,500,000 Guineas

The highest priced filly of the day was a daughter of Champion FRANKEL consigned by Watership Down Stud on behalf of the Harris family’s Lordship Stud. A protracted bidding duel between David Redvers and Juddmonte ended in success for the latter at 1,500,000 guineas for the daughter of Group 3 Pride Stakes winner VILLE DE GRACE.

Lordship Stud purchased the LE HAVRE mare as a maiden for 2,000,000 guineas under its One Agency banner at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale in 2022, and Lordship’s Tom Harris commented:

“My father and I were coming up from the Solario Yard and she was with Jenny Norris, and as we crossed the bridge we just saw this filly walking and we both said, ‘Wow – what is that?!’ It was love at first sight!

“She was an expensive mare, but she has been a very easy mare to mate, she is a fantastic-looking mare, she is an exceptional mare, she is an unbelievable mover and this is a beautiful first foal. And she has been from day one – we have thought she was a star right from the start, and she continued to develop in that way all the way through.”

Harris added: “When we came up here we were looking at the fillies and each evening we’d say to each other, ‘Have we seen anything better?’ and the answer was always ‘No!’ We are delighted she has gone to Juddmonte and it is a great start for the mare. She is back in foal to Frankel.”

Of Lordship Stud’s relationship with Watership Down Stud, Harris outlined: “We have been consigning with Watership Down for nearly two decades now. It is a long-standing relationship and last year was the first year we got a million, for a Dubawi out of Loving Dream. To do this two years in a row is wonderful, it is down to the team there and the team at Lordship.”

Juddmonte’s General Manager Simon Mockridge commented: “We went in there with a figure in mind and we’d reached that limit, but the family were happy to have one more go. It’s an outcross family, which is very important to Frankel. She’s a beautiful filly, a great action to her. Let’s hope she’s lucky!”

Brightwalton’s Night of Thunder Filly Realises 1,100,000 Guineas to Lascelles

Brightwalton Bloodstock bred and raced the 2024 Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye winner MAKAROVA and achieved a first seven-figure sale for the farm when selling her NIGHT OF THUNDER half-sister via Barton Stud for 1,100,000 guineas to Henry Lascelles, with Ed Sackville the frustrated underbidder.

Brightwalton’s Jeffrey Hobby said: “It is the first millionaire for us, and a filly too which is cool. We have been very lucky, we have been helped by some great people to get here. Matt Coleman bought the mare for us, the Barton team, the Brightwalton team – they all work hard to get the job done.

“It was a big decision to sell a filly, but we have a lot of fillies from the family and we have some nomination bills to pay and we need to sell some stock. We needed to have a shuffle around and I thought if we were going to sell one she would be a good one, we would be well paid and it would keep the wheels on the bus. Night of Thunder has been great this year, and we have Midnight Tango who is out of a half-sister and by him too, and she runs tomorrow in the Group 3.”

Barton Stud’s Managing Director Tom Blain said: “It is amazing for the Hobbys and all the team at Brightwalton. It is emotional. Jeff has built that farm at Brightwalton from a ploughed field to 250 acres with some elite mares, and to sell a yearling for a million is quite unbelievable. Everyone on the farm is part of it all, and he has been a huge help to me at Barton. It is a special day.

“This filly is typical of everything out of Vesnina. She is not too big, but she moves well, is very strong, looks fast, and looks the spit of Makarova. It is an amazing pedigree, every single filly has been bred to some of the best stallions in Europe.”

The filly’s dam VESNINA is a SEA THE STARS half-sister to Group winners MARENKO and POTAPOVA from the excellent Cheveley Park Stud family of 1000 Guineas winner RUSSIAN RHYTHM.

Juddmonte Secure Second Night of Thunder Colt at 1,050,000 Guineas

There were early fireworks on the third day of Book 1 with the fifth lot in the sales ring soaring to a seven-figure sum. The Newsells Park Stud-consigned son of NIGHT OF THUNDER was knocked down for 1,050,000 guineas to Juddmonte with Godolphin the underbidder.

The colt was the second yearling by NIGHT OF THUNDER purchased by Juddmonte this week and Juddmonte’s Simon Mockridge commented:

“It is a bit of a coincidence they are both by him, but at the end of the day he has had a fantastic season with thirteen Group winners. The quality of mares he has been covering over these last few years has got better and better, he is a sire on the rise and a sire we need to pay attention to.”

He added: “This colt has a proper pedigree and there are some very good horses on this page. He is also an incredibly good-looking horse, and was very well presented by Newsells. The horse bought earlier this week we think will be a miler to a ten furlong horse, he has a very fast hind leg on him, and I would say this horse is the same.

“We buy a handful of horses at public auction, we are very specialised in what we look for – these two horses have got to come back and fit into the top 10 percent of yearlings at home.”

The February-foaled colt is out of the Listed winning ENCOSTA DE LAGO mare QUSHCHI, the dam of Grade 2 winner MRS SIPPY and Listed winner and multiple Group placed PHANTOM FLIGHT. Her dam LA PERSIANA is a half-sister to dual Champion GRAND LODGE.

Karl & Kelly Burke Strike for Night of Thunder Colt at 1,000,000 Guineas

The fifth lot to realise a million guineas or more on the final day of Book 1 was a son of NIGHT OF THUNDER offered by Ballyhimikin Stud with Karl and Kelly Burke the triumphant purchasers at 1,000,000 guineas.

The colt was the sixteenth seven-figure lot to sell this week, matching the number sold for a million of more in 2024. The sale represented an outstanding pinhooking result for Ballyhimikin who purchased the colt with McKeever Bloodstock for 175,000 guineas at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale.

After the purchase Karl Burke commented: “He is a gorgeous colt, I had gone over budget, but luckily I checked my phone and a message to press on had come in from the client! “He is a gorgeous colt, the Night of Thunders are going well for me with Zeus Olympios very exciting and really a horse for next year – the horses by Night of Thunder do need a bit of time.”

ZEUS OLYMPIOS is a homebred for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum and this colt will also race in the famous yellow and black silks. Karl Burke has enjoyed an excellent year with graduates of Book 1 including outstanding two-year-old filly VENETIAN SUN, purchased for 240,000 guineas and winner of the Group 1 Prix Morny.

The April-foaled colt is out of WILD RYE, a winning daughter of BATED BREATH from the tremendous Juddmonte family of Group 1 winners ZAMBEZI SUN, CONTINENT and KALPANA, last year’s Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.

Chairman’s Statement

At the conclusion of Book 1 of the 2025 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony commented;

“Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale consistently showcases the finest British, Irish, French and German bred yearlings to a global audience and this year’s renewal has been no exception. Longview Stud’s Sea The Stars colt out of Crystal Zvezda and Newsells Park Stud’s Frankel colt out of Aljazzi, which realised 3,700,000 guineas and 3,600,000 guineas respectively, are the two highest priced yearlings in the world this year.

“A remarkable 70 lots have sold for 500,000 guineas or more as we have welcomed buyers from throughout the world to Park Paddocks. As ever, the support from the Gulf region has been a feature as has the large number of American buyers who have purchased more than 40 yearlings.

“Last year’s renewal of Europe’s premier yearling sale was widely regarded as one of the more remarkable sales of recent years, bucking the trend of earlier yearling sales that autumn with wide margin increases in all the key metrics. Those results saw the bloodstock market take a significant upturn over the last twelve months and whilst a drop in average and median were to be expected with the larger catalogue, it has been gratifying to return figures that are second only to last year’s record renewal.

“We now turn our attention to Books 2 and 3 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale which begins on Monday, 13th October.”