Adam Houghton profiles the seven most expensive lots at Tattersalls Book One this week, all of whom sold for at least 1,000,000 guineas.
Frankel – Bizzarria
Sold to M. V. Magnier & White Birch Farm for 2,000,000 guineas
Frankel’s blue-blooded yearlings were in demand all week as he prepares to be crowned the leading sire in Britain and Ireland for the second time in three years and this colt was the headline act when topping the sale.
Out of the Lemon Drop Kid mare Bizzarria – who won a Newcastle maiden in December 2016 on what proved to be her final start for John Gosden – the Frankel colt has two siblings who have already made it to the racecourse, headed by Bizarre Law, a fairly useful handicapper for Andrew Balding.
Most notably, Bizzarria has three siblings who all won at Royal Ascot, headed by the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes winner Star Catcher, who went on to complete a Group 1 hat-trick as a three-year-old in the Irish Oaks, Prix Vermeille and Fillies & Mares Stakes.
The other pair, Pisco Sour and Cannock Chase, both won the Group 3 Tercentenary Stakes at the Royal meeting before going on to taste success at a higher level themselves. Pisco Sour won the Group 2 Prix Eugene Adam later in his three-year-old campaign, while Cannock Chase struck at the top level as a four-year-old when landing the Canadian International.
2,000,000gns 😍
— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) October 4, 2023
MV Magnier & @WhiteBirchFarm_ come out on top of a protracted bidding duel at #TattsOctober Book 1 for Hascombe & Valiant Stud's Frankel colt from the family of Gr.1 winners Star Catcher and Cannock Chase. pic.twitter.com/HSq4nRSI5Z
Frankel – Millisle
Sold to Shadwell Estate Company for 1,600,000 guineas
The most expensive filly by Frankel to be sold at Book 1 was the first foal out of Millisle, who was a smart two-year-old for Jessica Harrington and enjoyed the biggest day of her career when running out a decisive winner of the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes.
And though Millisle failed to make an impact at the top level as a three-year-old, she proved in no uncertain terms that she had trained on when winning the Group 3 Ballyogan Stakes by four lengths – a career-best effort on Timeform ratings.
A daughter of Starspangledbanner, Millisle is a half-sister to Gino Severini, who was Group 1-placed in New Zealand, and Ithoughtitwasover, a Listed winner when trained by Mark Johnston.
Whatever this filly achieves on the racecourse, she is sure to be a valuable addition to Shadwell’s broodmare band with her illustrious pedigree.
Blue Point – Anna Law
Sold to Godolphin for 1,500,000 guineas
Blue Point is the leading first-season sire in Britain and Ireland in 2023 with 34 individual winners – headed by the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Rosallion – and this colt out of the Lawman mare Anna Law has the potential to be the star of his second crop in the Godolphin blue.
Anna Law has already made headlines as the dam of the outstanding Battaash, a former sparring partner of Blue Point and Timeform’s highest-rated sprinter in training every year between 2017 and 2020. She is also responsible for the smart The Antarctic, a dual Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed as a two-year-old when runner-up in the Middle Park Stakes.
Anna Law’s bright future as a broodmare perhaps wasn’t the easiest to predict given how little ability she showed in four starts for Charlie Hills, though there were clues in her own smart sprinting pedigree, a sibling to the Group 2 Champagne Stakes winner Etlaala and Britannia Stakes winner Defrocked.
Wootton Bassett – Entreat
Sold to M. V. Magnier & White Birch Farm for 1,250,000 guineas
Wootton Bassett covered 244 mares in his first season at Coolmore Stud in 2021 and the 2024 intake of two-year-olds at Ballydoyle seems sure to be littered with his sons and daughters, with a large group of homebreds being joined by a select few others the Coolmore partners have purchased at the sales.
This colt falls into the latter category and it's easy to see why he fetched such a hefty sum as a sibling to several talented sprinters. The pick of them is Golden Horde, winner of the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup and Group 2 Richmond Stakes, while the Listed winners Exhort and Line of Departure are others to have shown at least useful form.
The Pivotal mare Entreat was nowhere near as accomplished as a racehorse and she had just a Folkestone maiden victory to show from her eight starts for Sir Michael Stoute. However, she was already a very valuable commodity being out of a half-sister to the US champion Serena's Song, while her half-brother, Producer, gave the page another boost when winning multiple races in Group company for Richard Hannon.
🤩 A late highlight on day two at #TattsOctober Book 1 as MV Magnier & @WhiteBirchFarm_ strike again, this time for @ClaraStud's Wootton Bassett ½-brother to the Gr.1 winner Golden Horde at 1,250,000gns. pic.twitter.com/A2Oh12bxRk
— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) October 4, 2023
Lope de Vega – Bella Estrella
Sold to Sumbe for 1,100,000 guineas
Lope de Vega is well-established as one of the leading sires in Europe and this year he's responsible for one of the most promising two-year-olds in training in the shape of Iberian, a comfortable winner of the Group 2 Champagne Stakes when last seen.
Iberian is the second foal out of the High Chaparral mare Bella Estrella and that victory at Doncaster was a timely boost to the page of this colt, a full brother who has been bought to race in the familiar pale blue and yellow silks belonging to Nurlan Bizakov.
A Listed winner when trained by Dermot Weld, Bella Estrella is a full sister to the Group 3 winner High Heeled – who was also Group 1-placed when third in the Oaks – and a half-sister to the dam of the Irish 1000 Guineas winner Just The Judge.
✨ We've broached the million guineas mark again at #TattsOctober Book 1 as @sumbe_fr strikes at 1,100,000gns for @BallylinchStud's Lope De Vega own brother to the impressive Champagne Stakes winner Iberian. pic.twitter.com/0aGMijWVf6
— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) October 4, 2023
Ghaiyyath – Tickled Pink
Sold to Godolphin for 1,050,000 guineas
This colt is from the first crop of Ghaiyyath, the four-time Group 1 winner who covered 138 mares in his first season at Kildangan Stud in Ireland in 2021. The dual Group 3 winner Tickled Pink was one of those mares and the result of that mating was the most expensive son or daughter of Ghaiyyath sold at public auction thus far.
The Invincible Spirit mare Tickled Pink has already produced several winners, most notably the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Victoria Road, and she is a half-sister to the Irish 1000 Guineas, Nassau Stakes and Sun Chariot Stakes winner Halfway To Heaven, who is herself the dam of the multiple Group 1 winners Magical and Rhododendron.
They all descend from this colt's grandam, Cassandra Go, who was a smart sprinter in her own right with three Group 2 victories for Geoff Wragg, landing the King George Stakes as a three-year-old before adding the Temple Stakes and King's Stand Stakes the following year.
Dubawi – Shastye
Sold to Godolphin for 1,000,000 guineas
The Danehill mare Shastye sadly died in May last year shortly after producing this Dubawi colt, who added another chapter to his dam's remarkable legacy when becoming her sixth seven-figure yearling to sell at Tattersalls Book One this week.
The others include Japan and Mogul, both of whom went on to become multiple Group 1 winners for Aidan O'Brien, while Oaks runner-up Secret Gesture and Group 3 winner Sir Isaac Newton also played their part in helping to ensure that Shastye's subsequent offspring have all been highly sought after.
A half-sister to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sagamix, Shastye was mated with Galileo more often than not during her hugely successful career as a broodmare, but this colt is the result of her first mating with Dubawi, the most influential British-based sire of his era.
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