Sister To Japan Cup Hero Calandagan Stars On Opening Night Of The Sceptre Sessions

[Wandering Eyes]

Ace Stud put in a dominant performance, spending over 2.5 million gns, with that spend headed by the daughter of Le Havre

By Brian Sheerin and Adam Houghton

Less than 48 hours on from Calandagan's record-breaking victory in the G1 Japan Cup at Tokyo, it was his year-older half-sister, Caliyza, who enjoyed her turn in the spotlight when knocked down to Ace Stud for 850,000gns during the first of the two Sceptre Sessions at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale.

At the close of play on Monday, Ace Stud had signed for three of the day's five top lots, with the dual winner Caliyza being joined by the four-year-old filly Amazonian (Sea The Stars) at 650,000gns and this year's Listed Scurry Stakes scorer Town And Country (Earthlight) at 600,000gns.

Town And Country has already been pencilled in for a visit to Ace Stud's promising young sire Shaquille in the new year, but plans remain fluid for Caliyza. This year, the daughter of Le Havre was covered by Gleneagles, the sire of the horse who underlined his status as the world's best on Sunday when becoming the first European-trained winner of the Japan Cup for 20 years.

“What can you say? There's a three-part [sibling to Calandagan] in the belly and it makes a lot of sense after the weekend,” said Ace Stud's Paul Curran. “It's a phenomenal, phenomenal pedigree and, commercially, you've got a very good horse to come out of the belly, no matter what it is. We were delighted to get her.”

He added, “There are no immediate plans. We'll sit down with everyone, especially the boss, and have a talk through them all.”

The five-year-old Caliyza was consigned by Overbury Stud, having been bought by Blandford Bloodstock on behalf of the operation for 155,000gns at this sale 12 months ago.

“That was terrifying!” said Overbury's Simon Sweeting. “I am very lucky that I am on a wonderful farm, that was laid down to grass a long time ago – everything is as it should be. I have a fabulous team and they will do anything for the horses. I'm hugely fortunate. 

“We have got the right horses coming in and we have had some luck this summer. She came here a year ago as a wildcard and we bought her then. There are few of us involved with her and it is a good team effort.”

He continued, “When we were talking about her cover, we had no intention of selling her originally. Richard just said, 'Let's try and breed a racehorse.' Still, until the King George, we were not going to sell her, but things then stepped up and changed. And, of course, Sunday morning brought in a different group of people.”

The most determined members of that group proved to be the team at Ace Stud, sitting high in the seats to the left of the auctioneer's rostrum.

From there, Castledillon Stud's Town And Country and Amazonian, a member of the Highclere Stud draft, were also added to the Ace Stud fold for a total of 1,250,000gns, having gone through the ring as successive lots.

“It's a family we know very well,” Curran said of the once-raced winner Amazonian, a full-sister to River Of Stars whose efforts included a runner-up finish in the G1 Caulfield Cup after being bought for 1,650,000gns at this sale last year.

“She [River Of Stars] has done well this year and ran very well in the Melbourne Cup [when finishing fourth]. We like to buy into these families again and we're looking for immediate relations. We think a lot of her [River Of Stars] in Australia and she could be something for next year's campaign again.”

He added, “Town And Country was bought for Shaquille and the Fastnet Rock mare [32,000gns purchase Cockeyed Optimist] earlier on was the same. We want to buy some nice broodmare sires for him and we've picked up a few nice mares to row into him with.”

Among the more surprising Ace Stud acquisitions on Monday was the Grade 2 bumper winner Seo Linn, a daughter of Order Of St George who was last seen winning a Killarney maiden on the Flat by eight and a half lengths.

Consigned by trainer Paddy Twomey's Athassel House Stud, Seo Linn was one of the most expensive lots outside of the Sceptre Session when changing hands for 260,000gns. She could now follow in the footsteps of the champion racemare Via Sistina, among others, by continuing her racing career in Australia after being picked up at this sale.

“We've seen what the likes of [GI Breeders' Cup Turf winner] Ethical Diamond have done this year,” Curran said of the thinking behind the purchase. “She's a very versatile filly in the sense that she stayed and won a Grade 2 over two-miles-and-one [furlong] and, then, she came back and won over a-mile-and-three [furlongs] this year.

“We're going to explore the option of sending her to Australia. She looks a very nice filly to target some of the staying races down there. She's a really, really nice-looking filly and I think she'd fit the bill for Australia very well. We've bought well out of here before to go down there and it makes a whole lot of sense.”

Despite Ace Stud's dominant display, the stats took a slight dip on the whole on Monday. Compared to this day 12 months ago, the 21,451,000gns turnover was down by 7%. The median fell by 6% to 47,000gns and the average by 7% to 96,193gns. The clearance rate was the exact same at 85%. 

Kavanagh Hits The High Notes With Rage Of Bamby To Northern Farm At 750k

Shingo Hashimoto: purchased Rage Of Bamby on behalf of Northern Farm | Tattersalls 

Kildaragh Stud's Peter Kavanagh was responsible for one of the most expensive lots sold on the day when selling Rage Of Bamby, a filly he raced in partnership with Hot To Trot Racing, to Katsumi Yoshida of Northern Farm for 750,000gns.

Rage Of Bamby landed the G3 Hackwood Stakes at Newbury for Eve Johnson Houghton earlier in the year. She also landed a Listed contest at York and, having reached a career-high rating of 109, is one of the highest-rated daughters of Saxon Warrior. 

However, Monday's bounty wouldn't have been possible for Kildaragh without Kavanagh's intuition, given he sourced the filly remotely from a yearling sale in Italy on the strength of just a video.

Kavanagh said, “We bought her as a yearling in Italy. I bought her off a video – I just loved her head and outlook. You can even see how well she showed there today – she's a bit of a queen and has always shown great heart. I liked her a lot when we broke her in at home and I said to Eve she could be a stakes filly. We leased her to Hot To Trot Racing and they have been great partners. I went and bought the dam, and then I bought the half-sister to Rage Of Bamby the following year in Italy as well, so we have an allegiance to the family and it has been very lucky to us.”

He added, “It is difficult to trade her on but, on the other hand, you need to take advantage of these good days when they come along. It will allow us to do a little more on the farm and maybe replenish our broodmare band. The dam is in foal to Auguste Rodin, so we are doing the same thing again with that Deep Impact cross. It's amazing how much respect the Japanese buyers have for that sire line and it is great that they were there. Alex Elliott underbid her I think. Wonderful when it comes together.”

Wonderful indeed. And, perhaps even more special given Kavanagh was resigned to keeping Rage Of Bamby as a broodmare prospect of his own due to the lack of vet action in the build-up to the sale.

“All day we were just wondering what was going on because we didn't have a lot of vets,” he explained. “We were choosing stallions for her at one point! We were thinking, 'Sure, isn't that what the game is about, having a mare like her at home?' We just had no action. In the cold light of day, we knew she was too valuable to keep on the farm because we know what can happen with these good girls. They're like sand through your fingers. Very happy it all came together. We're going to enjoy it.”

It was Shingo Hashimoto, a regular visitor to the December Mares Sale at Tattersalls, who signed the docket on behalf of Northern Farm.

He commented, “She looked very athletic and she's a very nice mover. Her pedigree is also very strong. The mare line comes from the Miesque line, which is doing pretty well in Japan. We're very excited to take her home. We don't decide [mating plans] until the mare is in season and we know which stallion is available. She'll obviously go to one of the better ones at our stud, so we're pretty excited about that.”

He added, “She could match with a top-class stallion that has very good speed or she might match with a 10-furlong, 12-furlong stallion. She was one of the main ones [for them to try and buy on Monday]. We also tried on some other ones that we didn't end up buying, but that's part of the game. It's not always that you can buy any horse you want. 

“I would say it [the market] is pretty fair. The good ones are trading at a very high value. You never know how it goes and tomorrow is always another day. It's very important to try and diversify the bloodlines that we have, so that's the reason why I come each year to Tattersalls. It's a very important time of the year for me.”

Statement Of Intent From Sangster With 1.2 Million Gns Spend

Talk about a statement of intent. Sam Sangster continued his recruitment drive for high-quality mares to support the National Stud's new stallion Diego Velazquez, with a 1.2 million gns spend on day one of the Sceptre Sessions headed by 750,000gns purchase Miss Justice from Barton Sales.

A Listed-winning daughter of Justify, Miss Justice was last seen finishing a narrow second behind Karmology in a Group 3 at Newmarket for John and Thady Gosden. She will now join trainer Brian Meehan, before visiting Diego Velazquez in the new year.

Sangster explained, “She is for Diego Velazquez. She was bought by the partners and the plan is for her to stay in training, so she will go Brian Meehan. We are going to carry on with her and probably cover her in training. She's a gorgeous filly and is lightly-raced. It's a lovely pedigree so there is a lot to look forward to. We wanted to show the kind of quality we want to buy for Diego.”

Asked if he had any targets in mind for his new acquisition, Sangster added, “Not really. We'll regroup with Brian but I know there are a couple of Listed races in December that she could be aimed at. We could look a little further than that and see if there is anything in Dubai for her. But, as I said, when Diego gets going, hopefully he'll fancy her!”

Sangster's attack on the Sceptre Sessions was completed by 450,000gns purchase Galilei (Lemon Drop Kid), who was sold by the Castlebridge Consignment in foal to Too Darn Hot. 

Subplots

Town And Country was one of the first fillies to raise the temperature to the Sceptre Sessions when selling online to Ace Stud for 600,000gns. One of the fastest fillies either side of the Irish Sea, the daughter of Earthlight won the Listed Scurry Stakes at Sandown earlier this season for trainer Henry de Bromhead. Rated 99, Town And Country is a half-sister to Group 3 scorer Romantic Style (Night Of Thunder) and Listed winner Are We Dreaming (Kendargent). She was sold by Castledillon Stud on behalf of her owners Mark Roden and Ray Nolan, who have enjoyed the thrill of a lifetime following her career.  “We are delighted,” said Roden. “We are thrilled – we had mixed feelings whether to let her go or not and Henry has done a marvellous job bringing her on over the last couple of years. I suppose winning the Scurry was a huge highlight, but we just felt now was the right time to let someone else have a bit of luck and breed from her.” He added, “It has been great excitement. Ray is well used to a lot of excitement in business but this is a different buzz. We really would have been happy to take her back, but she has gone for fair value. We have only a couple in training and she was the only Flat runner, but we have 10 mares at home at Windgates Stud.”

Speaking on the eve of the sale, Brian Slattery of Meadowview Stables said a good price for Listed winner Easy would put the cherry on top of what has been a memorable season for everyone connected with his brother and trainer, Andy. The Country Tipperary handler has knocked it out of the park this year and, selling the daughter of Kodiac – who was offered in foal to Mehmas – to Lake Villa Farm for 450,000gns surely quantifies as a good result. Before rushing off for his flight home, Slattery said, “Delighted with that. We thought she'd make around that figure but it's great to see her bought by Lake Villa Farm. I hope she's as lucky for them as she was for us. She won her maiden for Rachel Halley and then sold privately to Team Valor. She left us for a while and came back to win a Listed race at Cork for us. Some great stories have come out of the mares' sales and it's important to show you can add value to your horses and reward the owners. She was good to us, and hopefully she does the same for her new owners.”

Highland Fling (Galileo), a full-sister to the dam of genuine 1,000 Guineas contender Precise (Starspangledbanner), sold to French agent Laurent Benoit, on behalf of Haras du Mont dit Mont, for 350,000gns. She was sold in foal to Little Big Bear and was offered by Baroda Stud.

When you start off the season off a mark of 58, the prospects of ending the season with Listed success before selling for 240,000gns would seem fanciful at best, but that's exactly what the Johnny Murtagh-trained Onemoredance (King Of Change) managed to achieve. Part-owned by the Irish Gaelic football star Ciaran Kilkenny, Onemoredance carried the Dublin colours to five wins, culminating with that Listed victory at Naas in October. She was sold to David Redvers, who was bidding online. 

Joe Murphy has enjoyed a brilliant year with his fillies, highlighted by a breakthrough Group 1 success enjoyed with Cercene. The good run continued on Monday when Group 3-placed Alpheratz (Phoenix Of Spain) and Shiota (Tamayuz) – who cost 15,000gns and €40,000 as yearlings – sold for a combined 280,000gns. That was another piece of good business to take place outside of the Sceptre Sessions. 

Thought for the day

A few notable buyers have been absent from the breeding stock sales thus far. Amo Racing, for example, spent 4,675,000gns on four foals – including 2.5 million gns on a brother to Chaldean – last year, while the operation's 8,375,000gns spend on mares was highlighted by the 4.8 million gns Irish Oaks winner You Got To Me. That equates to over 13 million gns from a buyer that has so far yet to play the market at Tattersalls this week. It's also worth noting that John Stewart, whose Resolute Racing bought five mares for 6,265,000gns here 12 months ago, also drew a blank on Monday.

Buy of the day

It feels like Tally-Ho Stud have received this accolade more times than Roger Federer has won Wimbledon but, when you buy a Classic-placed filly for just 250,000gns, it's hard not to hand over the prize once again to the Westmeath men. Few would have balked had Purple Lily made twice, three times, or even more than the quarter-of-a-million that Tally-Ho paid for the Paddy Twomey-trained daughter of Calyx. The dual winner has placed in Group 2 and 3 company as well as finishing third behind You Got To Me in last year's Irish Oaks. A maiden mare, she looks a perfect fit for Maranoa Charlie, who is new to Tally-Ho Stud for 2026. Extremely well-bought.

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