Tattersalls December Ends Just Below Record 2017 Edition

[Wandering Eyes]

Following on the heels of a record Tattersalls December Foal Sale, the four-day run of the December Mare Sale concluded at Park Paddocks in Newmarket on Thursday with an overall December Sale aggregate of 99,837,357gns, just 5% below last year’s record haul of 105,255,000gns. A total of 1,527 lots split between foals, yearlings, and fillies and mares, changed hands with a clearance rate of 76% , two ticks below 2017’s 78%. The median settled at 22,000gns (-12%) and the average was only 4% lower than in 2017 at 65,381gns.

At the conclusion of the 2018 Tattersalls December Sale on Thursday, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony commented, “Annual turnover a fraction below last year’s wide margin record of 331 million guineas, as well as record Tattersalls October Yearling and December Foal Sales are genuinely positive statistics to reflect upon, not only for Tattersalls, but also for the wider industry. Equally positive has been the sustained global demand we have experienced throughout a December Mares Sale which has provided a highly successful conclusion to the 2018 Tattersalls sales season and enhanced its reputation as probably the world’s most international breeding stock sale.

“There have been numerous highlights in 2018, most notably market leaders in every category, including Europe’s highest priced Breeze Up 2-year-old, the world’s highest priced yearling, Europe’s highest priced broodmare and horse in training and the 16 highest priced foals in Britain and Ireland, but the feature that has dominated the Tattersalls sales season has been the unrelenting demand for the best Thoroughbreds to be found in Europe, if not the world. The upper sector of the market has been truly vibrant in all categories and the abiding memory from this week has been the extraordinary competition for the outstanding fillies and broodmares which lit up the sale on Tuesday evening.”

“We were conscious that the catalogue perhaps lacked the depth of the record breaking 2017 renewal which featured the Ballymacoll Dispersal and the likes of Marsha and Zhukova, but Tuesday’s sale all but matched last year’s spectacular levels, with buyers from every continent in the world all making a significant contribution to a truly memorable session,” Mahony added. “In addition to the seven fillies and mares selling for 1 million guineas or more, we had 22 break the 500,000-guineas mark, second only to last year’s record number, and an unprecedented 79 and 147 lots selling for 200,000 guineas and 100,000 guineas or more.

“The huge number of overseas buyers has been particularly encouraging for all concerned with the top 20 lots selling to buyers from Britain, Ireland, China, Dubai, France, Japan, Kuwait and the USA, while a strong Australian and New Zealand contingent also made its presence felt. Equally gratifying has been the participation of buyers at all levels of the market from throughout the Gulf region as well as Germany, India, Morocco, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and Uzbekistan, all of whom have clearly demonstrated the unwavering demand for quality European bloodstock and contributed to the best December Sale clearance rate this century.”

He concluded, “Tribute, as ever, must also be paid to the vendors who have brought some outstanding fillies and mares to the sale. It is their support which makes the Tattersalls December Sale an unmissable annual event for so many international buyers and it has been wonderful to see not only British and Irish breeders rewarded, but also their French, German and Italian counterparts who also recognise the Tattersalls December Sale as the premier sale of its type in Europe.”

Despite the quieter nature of Thursday’s sale, the Mare Sale’s four-day run ended with 83% or 728 lots finding new homes, an increase on 2017’s 79% clearance rate. They collectively grossed 60,712,100gns (-11%), while the four-day Mare Sale average (83,396gns) and median (20,500gns) were both down 18%.

The star of Thursday’s action was Poyle Dee Dee (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) (lot 2305), who brought 68,000gns from Tweenhills and is a half-sister to G2 Lowther S. heroine Jemima (GB) (Owington {GB}). Already the dam of three winners, and in foal to Tweenhills’s own Hot Streak (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}), the 13-year-old was consigned by The National Stud. She has a yearling Hot Streak colt who made 55,000gns on the bid of Tally-Ho Stud at the 2017 December Foal Sale, before reselling to Shadwell for 150,000gns during the Tattersalls October Sale.

“Her colt really was the pick of the Hot Streak yearlings,” said Hannah Wall of Tweenhills. “He was bought by Shadwell and is going into training with John Gosden–he really is a lovely horse. This mare is back in foal to Hot Streak and will probably visit Zoustar (Aus) next spring.”

A total of 113 lots sold on Thursday for an aggregate of 609,500gns (-7%) and a clearance rate of 74% (+1%). The median remained unchanged at 3,00gns, and the average rose 2% to 5,394gns.

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