Excelebration Colt Tops Ascot Breeze Up Sale

[Chief Stipe]

At least the sun came out. But the belated arrival of a glorious spring morning did little to diminish the trepidation among consignors before the first 2-year-old auction of the European season at Ascot yesterday–and, in very many cases, their fears proved to be bleakly justified.

The clearance rate, 80% last year, plummeted to just 50%. In the pinhooking idiom, many a horse at the Tattersalls Ireland Ascot Breeze-Up Sale will only have managed “to wash its face”–after factoring in keep, labour and transport–by virtue of the rain that contributed to miserable conditions for young horses in the under-tack show the previous afternoon.

Despite two six-figure lots, all the indices for the single-session sale were depressed. Of the 118 lots offered, 59 were listed as sold as figures were being updated last night. Despite the augmented catalogue–84 lots went through the ring last year, with 67 sold–the aggregate shrank to £1,422,900 from £2,041,600; while such horses as did change hands did so at a much lower rate, the median was down by 24% to £16,000 (from £21,000) and the average by 21% to £24,117 (from £30,472).

Consignors can perhaps comfort themselves that this sector of the market is bound to be more exposed to the perils of overproduction than those they will be testing in some of the later sales. And they are also entitled to dismay that the testing conditions, for the breezes, arguably caused a loss of confidence in buyers nowadays stricken without the crutch of a stopwatch. But the fact is that the system is somehow being expected to move on a lot more horses this spring, many of them only as a last throw of the dice after failing to find a buyer as yearlings.

Richard Pugh, Tattersalls Ireland Director of Horses in Training Sales, did not deny that it had been a difficult sale.

“I would like to commend vendors, Ascot Racecourse and our own team who, in challenging and inclement conditions earlier in the week, successfully staged a breeze yesterday on ground which was less than suitable ground for this element of the sale,” he said. “The trade today has undoubtedly been selective. While it was pleasing to [achieve] the fourth-highest price on record at this Breeze Up for £120,000 and to have another six-figure lot, we have to acknowledge that trade today was very challenging and polarised. We will analyse today’s trade in full once the breeze-up season has concluded and in consultation with our vendors and purchasers, we will respond to that feedback.”

Excelebration Colt Comes Good for Dunsany…

None of that alters the fact that this sale, though candidly aimed at those looking for functional speed on a limited budget, has produced several graduates of authentic elite calibre. And if the bigger spenders clustered around the same minority of horses–as usual–then the top lot of the day suggested that hope might still spring eternal.

For the £120,000 secured by a son of Excelebration (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) showed what can be done, on those occasion when everything falls into place. Picked up by Dunsany Stables for €22,000 at the same firm’s yearling sale at Fairyhouse last September, the February colt had evidently caught clockers’ attention in his breeze. Whatever that might have meant, in the circumstances, there was no gainsaying the additional impression lot 49 made in the ring as an individual.

He is now on his way to George Scott, who was standing by as Alex Elliott signed the docket. “It was very hard on those horses yesterday,” Elliott said. “We loved the way he went through that ground, he’s a big strong horse and, while this sale is usually associated with five- or six-furlong horses, this one has the profile, on pedigree and physique, of one who will get seven.”

“The one horse we came to bid on,” confirmed Scott. “So it’s mission accomplished. He’s for the Excel Racing syndicate that has been doing so well already this season. They won the Spring Mile at Doncaster and the Rosebery, while we’ve got Another Batt (Ire) (Windsor Knot {Ire}) who won a good prize for them in Turkey last year.”

Excel, operated by Paul Fisher and the Southampton and England striker Charlie Austin, now has a string of 19 spread across four trainers. Their new recruit is out of an Oasis Dream (GB) Juddmonte cast-off, who won several races in Greece; the second dam is stakes winner Wooden Doll (Woodman), third in the G1 Prix de la Salamandre and in turn out of G2 Lowther winner Kingscote (Ire) (Kings Lake).

The sale represented a fine touch for Dunsany’s Carol Benson and her sons Danny and Jordan. “We’re over the moon,” she said. “My dad’s not so well but I’ve just spoken to him and that has really perked him up. We always thought he was a nice horse, but so much can go wrong in the breeze–there’s no excuses out there, no second chance, and it was pulling hell out of the horses yesterday.”

“I used to do this with Joanna Morgan back in the day and four years ago we said we’d give it a go, with a five-year plan,” Benson said. “We’ve been lucky enough so far, selling them all, but this is something else.”

Danny rode for Ger Lyons during his days as a Flat apprentice and it was Lyons who won a listed race at Naas last year with another Dunsany breezer, Doctor Geoff (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}), before selling him on to Hong Kong.

Morley Strikes for Swiss Spirit Son…

The other six-figure transaction concerned a colt by Swiss Spirit, sold to Tom Morley–an owner with Stuart Williams–for 100,000gns.

Sold as lot 123, he was consigned by Cristiano Martins of C.A.J. Stables after failing to find a home at 28,000gns in Book 3 at Tattersalls last October.

While everyone will be hoping for very different going in June, Williams and Morley saw enough in his breeze to hope that he will be back over the road for the royal meeting.

“The ground was quite heavy, but we liked the way he breezed,” the Newmarket trainer said. “Tom has a formula, far too complicate for me to understand, and he liked the pedigree and the figures. But it was more the aesthetics of how he breezed, combined with the [speed] figures we got for him. Hopefully he can come back here in June.”

Whatever Morley’s formula might have favoured in between, the colt’s fifth dam is Blue Note (Fr) (Habitat), who produced two Group 1 winning juveniles to Danzig in Zieten and Blue Duster.

Kodiac Popular at Ascot…

The poster boy for this sale last year was G2 Gimcrack S winner Sands Of Mali (Fr) (Panis {Fr}), consigned by Con Marnane’s Bansha House Stables and purchased by Matt Coleman of StroudColeman for £75,000.

As a satisfied customer, Coleman returned to Marnane’s consignment for a February colt by the prolific Kodiac (GB) (Danehill) at £88,000. Lot 95 produced a taking breeze in the conditions–and backed that up, not only with his stylish build, but also with an interesting page. His dam, a winning daughter of Giant’s Causeway, is out of a Seeking the Gold half-sister to Poet’s Voice (GB) (Dubawi {Ire})–whose untimely death a couple of weeks ago, aged just 11, followed such an excellent season for his juveniles. One way or another, this colt was well bought at 41,000gns out of Tattersalls Book 2 last October.

“He’s actually for a client of Anthony [Stroud], but he’s on his way back from Dubai,” Coleman said. “So I don’t know who will train him. But it’s obviously been a lucky sale for us so let’s hope that continues.”

“This is a gorgeous colt,” Marnane enthused. “He just got a little bit sore in that ground yesterday but he’s a stunner, a horse for the future.”

Marnane nonetheless agreed that the breeze-up circuit was making an inauspicious start. “The better horses are selling,” he said. “But the cheaper horses are very hard to move. There seem to be very few people prepared to take a chance on them, and a definite lack of foreign buyers. But there are so many horses now, from all these broodmares, you wonder where they’re all going to find homes.”

Gale Force Ten Juvenile Makes £75k….

Those who persevered with the clock were said to be particularly keen on lot 25, a Gale Force Ten (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) colt consigned by Church Farm & Horse Park Stud.

He was initially knocked down to Sean Quinn, who bought Group 1 winner The Wow Signal (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) in the same ring, for £70,000. Apparently this fell short of the vendors’ expectations, and a private sale of £75,000 was subsequently agreed–with the amicable consent of all parties–with Stephen Hillen and Richard Hughes.

“He’s going to Richard for a new syndicate,” Hillen explained. “I’ve bought a couple of horses from Roger [Marley, of Church Farm] in the past, including [G1SW] Brando (GB) (Pivotal {GB}). This horse did one of the quicker times, he’s big, strong and athletic, and he looks ready to run.”

The same respected Church Farm/Horse Park partnership had consigned the previous horse through the ring, lot 24, a colt by Dandy Man (Ire) (Mozart {Ire}). He raised £50,000 from Pam Sly, the only trainer to have won a British Classic with a breeze-up graduate in G1 1000 Guineas winner Speciosa (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}).

“Everything I buy off Roger wins!” she explained. “I’ve known the boys since they were boys. Roger used to ride for me, years ago, and I ask him what’s what. And he says this will do a job.”

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