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Former shuttling son of Dubawi snapped up by Grove Stud for 130,000gns

A colt by former shuttler Night Of Thunder (Dubawi) was the headline act early on on the first day of Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale on Thursday after Grove Stud went to 130,000gns to secure the Hazelwood Bloodstock-consigned yearling. 

Catalogued as Lot 1428, the colt is out of Dominike (Duke Of Marmalade), who is herself a daughter of Italian Listed winner Donoma (Beat Hollow). 

Donoma herself is a sister to fellow Listed winner Right Connection and hails from the family of Green Senor (El Gran Senor). 

The result signalled a good result for Troy Steve, who bought this colt for 20,000gns at last year’s Tattersalls December Foal Sale and Grove Stud's Brendan Holland said the colt had been bought as a breeze-up candidate. 

“He has been bought to breeze, he is by a leading sire, he is a good type,” said Holland. “I have been lucky with the sire. This is a lovely clean-limbed horse with plenty of scope. I think he would have matched up with the horses sold earlier this week.

"The strong market gives everyone confidence for the foal market and for the spring too, this has helped."

Meanwhile, Hazelwood Bloodstock’s Adrian O'Brien said: "It is all about Night Of Thunder, he has been sensational on the track this season and we brought this horse here as we thought he'd stand out a bit, he was on the periphery of Book 2," said O'Brien. "We were very happy to have come here, it is a good sale, you get well paid if you bring the right horse."

Later on in the day, a colt by Darley-based sire Farhh (Pivotal) realised that same figure after he was snapped up by Matt Coleman of Stroud Coleman Bloodstock. 

Catalogued as Lot 1447 and offered as part of the Car Colston Hall Stud draft, the colt is out of unraced Nathaniel (Galileo) mare Fair Daughter. 

Fair Daughter herself is out of Wiener Wald (Woodman), making her a half-sister to Racing Post Trophy (Gr 1, 1m) winner Crowded House (Rainbow Quest) and Listed winner On Reflection (Rainbow Quest). 

Wiener Wald is also the grandam of Group 1 winner Brando (Pivotal) and dual elite level winner Ticker Tape (Royal Applause) and this also the same family as Group 1 winner Reckless Abandon (Exchange Rate). 

The family was subject to a pedigree update when the two-year-old colt Erasmo (Oasis Dream) out of Santa Elena (Efisio), a grand-daughter of Weiner Wald, won the Prix Saraca (Listed, 1400m) on October 10. He is owned by Godolphin and is trained by Andre Fabre and was purchased here in Book 2 by Rabbah Bloodstock for 140,000gns.

Coleman said the colt would also now head to France.

"It is a wonderful family, Car Colston is a fantastic breeder and a stakes horse seems to pops up on this page every year, we are delighted to get him and he has been bought for a client to race in France," said Coleman. "He is just a lovely moving horse, and obviously Farhh's statistics are incredible. He is lovely staying prospect and will be more three-year-old than two-year-old, but we were looking for a really nice middle-distance type."

Stud manager Jonathon Smithers was very pleased with the result: "We are delighted, it is a first foal out of the mare, the penultimate daughter out of the foundation mare Weiner Wald. It is a fantastic chance to get the mare off and running. Farhh's page is fantastic and wish the colt's new owners the best of luck

"He is a big strong foal, just glad he made that. He showed himself really well here.”

The first northern hemisphere crop of Coolmore Stud shuttler Churchill (Galileo) proved popular during Books 1 and 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and that yearlings by the son of Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) continued to make waves in the sales ring, headed by a filly by the stallion who was purchased by Joe Foley for 130,000gns. 

Catalogued as Lot 1564 and offered by Keith Harte, the filly is out of Purple Glow (Orientate), whose three winners are headed by Listed winner Main Desire (High Chaparral).

The filly’s third dam is Relaxing (Buckpasser) - the dam of Grade 1-winning trio Easy Goer (Alydar), Cadillacing (Alydar) and Easy Now (Danzig).

"The filly is lovely, she looks very fast, the mare was very fast," said Foley. "We bought Main Desire at Fairyhouse and she was very fast. She was second favourite for the Queen Mary but broke her canon bone and had a good character to come back from that and win the Listed Westow Stakes on her next start.

"The mare comes from a high-class US tap root family and, though she has gone to 'distancey' stallions, she has bred very fast horses by the likes of High Chaparral, New Approach and Mastercraftsman. We have followed them all and they have all been big, rangy horses.

"We love Main Desire, she is one of our favourites. She has got a Frankel foal and is in-foal to Churchill. We were very interested to see this filly this morning, and we loved her, she looks like a speedball and has a lot of Churchill quality about her."

The first of the four lots to break the six-figure barrier on the first day of Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale was a filly by leading first-season sire Mehmas (Acclamation) and she was purchased by Blandford Bloodstock for 130,000gns. 

The filly is out of Araajmh (Street Cry), whose two winners are headed by stakes-placed All Star Cast (Kodiac). 

Further back this is the same family as Invincible Army (Invincible Spirit), whose brother was snapped up by Coolmore 600,000gns at Book 1 of the sale last week. 

The chestnut filly - who was catalogued as Lot 1367 - was sold by Kitty Fitzgerald from Loughmore Stables.

"She was bought in partnership with Luke [Manister House], we bought for €11,000", said Cowhey. "She is a lovely filly, we are delighted from the day we bought her, obviously Mehmas has done what he has done which is a huge help. She behaved like a Queen and all the right lads were on her.

"I have a mare in-foal to the sire on the back of this filly, so hopefully she is lucky for new connections."

"I was always confident there would be twist in her, but I didn't think she'd make that sort of money! I liked her a lot so I am not gobsmacked as I have thought a lot of this filly all the way through. She was a lovely foal, had a big walk, strength always very strong powerful filly."

Explaining how the pinhook buying works with Manister House, she said: "We spilt the foals up 50 /50 with Manister House, and the lads at home have done a great job, it couldn't be done without them."

Mehmas has made an excellent start with his first runners this season, siring 35 winners, including four stakes winners, headed by Group 1 winner Supremacy.