Space Invasion Tops Final Day of Tattersalls February Sale at 230,000 Guineas

SPACE INVASION was the top priced horse on the second and final day of the Tattersalls February Sale at 230,000 guineas, one of three lots to realise over 100,000 guineas. The average and median registered significant increases from the equivalent session the previous year, and the clearance rate was an impressive 88%.

Space Invasion Heading to Bahrain at 230,000 Guineas

The day’s top lot was the promising three-year-old SPACE INVASION who became the second-highest priced colt ever sold at the February Sale when realising 230,000 guineas to SackvilleDonald on behalf of Sheikh Isa.

Consigned by Richard Hannon’s East Everleigh Stables, the three-year-old has won two of his four career starts including an impressive victory over a mile at Lingfield last week and was offered with a Timeform rating of 91p.

SackvilleDonald’s Alastair Donald revealed: “Sheikh Isa is very keen to support Daniel and Claire Kubler, who’ve had a very good start in Bahrain. A couple of the horses we bought at the sale in October have looked pretty exciting for them in Lord Montague and Up The Pace. Bahrain is a very progressive racing jurisdiction and has an exciting future, and Sheikh Isa has been very pleased with the start Daniel and Claire have made there.

“There’s a flight at the end of February so this horse can get straight over there. The advantage with the Kublers is that they still have their horses in Lambourn, so they can keep him going there and then he can run in Bahrain in March, when there’s still a couple more series races that he’d qualify for.

“He’s a good-looking horse with ideal fast ground conformation. He’s shown a good turn of foot, and the horse he beat easily last time made 100,000 guineas yesterday.”

Donald added: “He’s progressive, well rated and if he wins his next race he becomes a very valuable horse. The trainer was underbidder, and it’s always encouraging when they want to keep them. Hopefully he’s got a bright future. He looks ideal for Bahrain. That was at the higher end of our valuation, but when there’s a standout horse like this, they can sell well. Horses like this don’t often turn up at the February Sale.”

The son of SPACE BLUES is out of the Listed placed HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR mare PETICOATGOVERNMENT, a half-sister to the Group 2 Minstrel Stakes winner LARCHMONT LAD.

Apedroc Stud Secure Wilhelmina for 125,000 Guineas

The highest priced filly of the session was the well related four-year-old WILHELMINA who was knocked down for 125,000 guineas to Arthur Dobell of Oliver St Lawrence Bloodstock on behalf of Apedroc Stud. The daughter of NEW BAY is a half-sister to the Group 1 British Champion Fillies & Mares Stakes winner POPTRONIC and was consigned by Jamie Railton.

Neil Goldie-Scot and Clare Salmon of Apedroc Stud have five mares at their farm in East Sussex and were delighted with their purchase, commenting:

“Apart from the fact that she is absolutely beautiful, she is a very sweet filly and we love the breeding with Poptronic. We saw her yesterday morning, and as she came out of the box I thought I can’t keep a straight face as I really want to buy her!”

This is the second purchase the pair have made with bloodstock agent Arthur Dobell, and Salmon added:

“We heard Arthur speak at the seminar here, and we really liked what he had to say as he spoke to the small breeder audience really brilliantly. He has been great to work with.”

Previously trained by Kevin Philippart De Foy for Ballylinch Stud & Partners, WILHELMINA was a ready winner on her most recent start and was offered with a Timeform rating of 89.

Enfjaar Returning to Varian at 120,000 Guineas

The third lot of the session to realise over 100,000 guineas was the high class six-year-old ENFJAAR. Offered by Shadwell Estate Company, the son of LOPE DE VEGA realised 120,000 guineas to bloodstock agent Alex Elliott.

“He has been bought by Roger Varian and goes back to him – he only rang me ten minutes ago and asked me to bid, he has bought him for a new client,” explained Elliott.

ENFJAAR has been trained by Roger Varian for all thirteen of his starts to date including six in Group and Listed company. The four-time winner was third in the Listed Steventon Stakes on his most recent start and was fourth in the Listed Wolferton Stakes at Royal Ascot last year, beaten just a length and a half.

The LOPE DE VEGA gelding is an own-brother to Graded Stakes placed filly SWEET ENOUGH out of the GALILEO mare TESORO, an own-sister to Grade 1 First Lady Stakes winner PHOTO CALL from the family of outstanding broodmare CASSANDRA GO.

Managing Director’s Statement

At the conclusion of the Tattersalls February Sale, Managing Director Matthew Prior commented:

“The Tattersalls February Sale is undisputedly Europe’s premier midwinter sale, and once again we welcomed a typically diverse domestic and international group of buyers to Park Paddocks in Newmarket. While the key metrics fell narrowly short of last year’s figures, buyers from more than 20 countries and a turnover in excess of 3,500,000 guineas represent a positive start to 2026.

“We saw the second-highest-priced colt ever sold at this fixture, with Space Invasion realising 230,000 guineas following an intercontinental bidding duel, while consignments from leading Newmarket-based operations Godolphin and Juddmonte again featured among the highlights of the Tattersalls February Sale.

“The sale also featured the Retraining of Racehorses Showcase for the second time, alongside the ever-popular British EBF Stallion Parade, and it was great to welcome such a large crowd to Tattersalls to see former stars of the turf thriving in their second careers.

“We now look forward to the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale, which has an outstanding record in recent years, with graduates including Classic and Group 1 winners Native Trail, Cachet, Hotazhell, Vandeek and Believing, as well as exciting Classic prospects Six Speed and Title Role.”