Space Invasion Tops Tattersalls and Heads to Bahrain

[Wandering Eyes]

NEWMARKET, UK — The racing programme in the Gulf region is becoming ever busier, with this Saturday's $1m Abu Dhabi Gold Cup the latest valuable contest to be enter the fray, followed by a double bill next weekend of Qatar's Emir's Sword Festival and the blockbuster Saudi Cup meeting. 

The various horses-in-training sales at Park Paddocks have long been a lure for owners from that part of the world, and the final day of the Tattersalls February Sale proved to be no exception, with the top lot, Space Invasion, going the way of Bahrain's Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa for 230,000gns.

The three-year-old colt from the first crop of Space Blues was bred and raced by Steve Parkin's Clipper Logistics and has won his last two starts at Lingfield under the care of trainer Richard Hannon to earn a rating of 88.

Agent Alastair Donald, who conducted the bidding on Shaikh Isa's behalf, said that Space Invasion will be trained by Daniel and Claire Kubler, who are in the middle of their first season training in Bahrain.

Donald said, “[Shaikh Isa] is very keen to support Daniel and Claire Kubler, who've had a very good start out there. 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 stuffed last time [Sovereign Wealth] made 100,000gns yesterday.”

He continued, “He's progressive, well rated and if he wins his next race he becomes a very valuable horse. The trainer [Hannon] 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.”

Another of the four six-figure lots for this mixed auction came in the form of four-year-old New Bay filly Wilhelmina, an 80-rated dual winner for Ballylinch Stud and partners when trained by Kevin Phillipart de Foy. She is off to the paddocks now, having been bought for 125,000gns by breeders Neil Goldie-Scot and Clare Salmon, and will join their five-strong broodmare band at Apedroc Stud in East Sussex.

She will make a very smart addition as Wilhelmina is a half-sister to the G1 British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes winner Poptronic (Nathaniel). She was bought through Arthur Dobell of Oliver St Lawrence Bloodstock.

“She is absolutely beautiful, she is a very sweet filly and we love the breeding with Poptronic,” said Salmon. “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.”

 

Arthur Dobell, Neil Goldie-Scot and Clare Salmon | Tattersalls

 

The four-time winner and Listed-placed Enfjaar will return to trainer Roger Varian but will race in different colours after being bought from Shadwell for 120,000gns through agent Alex Elliott. 

The five-year-old son of Lope De Vega, bred by James Wigan, has a rating of 110 and counts the John Smith's Cup at York among his successes. 

Figures rallied through the second session to put the median and average on par with last year, though the turnover dipped slightly to 3,639,000gns. The clearance rate of 83% was achieved through the sale of 204 horses from 246 offered. 

At the conclusion of this first sale as managing director of Tattersalls, Matthew Prior said, “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 3,500,000gns represent a positive start to 2026.

“We saw the second-highest-priced colt ever sold at this fixture, with Space Invasion realising 230,000gns 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.”

 

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