Records tumble at Craven Breeze Up Sale

Prospective buyers at the yearling sales really have only two things to weigh up to help them reach a decision in making a bid or not; the animal’s pedigree in the sales catalogue and how it looks in the flesh.

Breeze Up sales for young two-year-olds, which are put through their paces in a racecourse gallop prior to going through the ring, on the other hand, introduce a third factor for would-be buyers to consider. The breeze up gives buyers a first chance to look ‘under the bonnet’ of these untried horses. If two or more parties like what they see in the same individual, the potential is there for the bidding to skyrocket, which is exactly what happened at this week’s Tattersalls’ Craven Breeze Up Sale.

The long-standing record price at the Craven Breeze Up dated from 2014 when a colt by War Front, later named General Marshall, was sold for 1.15m million guineas. Until this week, he was one of only two seven-figure purchases at the sale, having been joined last year by Galileo’s last unraced foal to go through the ring, Royal Officer, who was bought by Godolphin for a million guineas.

On the first day of this week’s Craven Breeze Up, a new record was set when a colt by Acclamation was bought by Anthony Stroud on behalf of Godolphin for 1.4 million guineas, but that didn’t last long as it was eclipsed 24 hours later when a colt by Havana Grey raised the bar when selling to Amo Racing – the underbidders on the Acclamation colt – for 1.75 million guineas.

At yearling sales, you would expect to see at least one Group 1 winner close up in the pedigree of most lots who fetched those sorts of sums, but at the breeze ups pedigree takes something of a back seat to what the two-year-olds show in the three furlongs or so that they gallop at the Rowley Mile. At least, that was the case for this week’s two record breakers.

As Alex Elliott, who was doing the bidding on behalf of Amo to secure the Havana Gold colt, put it: ‘It is a performance-based sale and when a horse performs, it will get a premium.’

Consigned by Mocklershill Stud who had also sold General Marshall, the Acclamation colt had been bought for just €70,000 at Goffs last October. Acclamation, who died at the age of 25 late last year shortly after being officially retired from stallion duties, is the sire of seven Group/Grade 1 winners, including last year’s champion sire Dark Angel, Hong Kong champion Romantic Warrior, last year’s Prix de l’Abbaye winner Makarova and another Abbaye winner Marsha who as a broodmare made her own record at Tattersalls when selling for six million guineas at the December Sale in 2017.

The Godolphin purchase is the fourth foal out of his dam Blue Willow, a maiden who showed just modest form (Timeform rating 58+) in five runs at up to a mile for Clive Cox as a three-year-old. She’s the dam of two winners to date; Viridian (rated 67), also by Acclamation, who got off the mark in a seven-furlong handicap at Kempton last year, and Carry On Aitch (rated 62), a filly by Fast Company whose only win came in a five-furlong handicap at Windsor.

Blue Willow is also the dam of three-year-old gelding Pure Tenacity (by Sea The Moon) who looked a hard ride when a tailed-off last at Brighton on his only run last year; he’d been sold at last year’s Craven Breeze Up for the more modest sum of 55,000 guineas.

There are some more notable winners further back in the pedigree, however. Grandam Coyote was a listed-placed daughter of Caramba, winner of the Nassau Stakes and Falmouth Stakes when they were Group 2 contests and a half-sister to the champion two-year-old filly of 1993 Lemon Souffle. Coyote has bred seven winners, including Oh Goodness Me, who won the Group 3 Park Express Stakes and was third in the Irish 1000 Guineas, and the Hamilton listed winner Eradicate. She is also the dam of Lingfield Oaks Trial runner-up Colima whose winners include Amiloc, a promising three-year-old for Ralph Beckett who won both his starts last year.

Moving on to Amo Racing’s purchase by Havana Gold, his sire was also responsible for the colt who jointly topped the 2023 Craven Breeze Up and reportedly clocked the fastest gallop that year. That was 625,000 guineas purchase Vandeek who transferred his breeze up promise to the racecourse in no uncertain terms as a two-year-old, winning all four of his starts for the Crisford stable that year, including the Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes. Vandeek featured on the back cover of this year’s Craven Breeze Up catalogue, along with some of the sale’s other recent notable graduates - 1000 Guineas winner Cachet, Irish 2000 Guineas winner Native Trail and last year’s Futurity Trophy winner Hotazhell.

Vandeek had champion sprinter Anabaa among his relatives, but Havana Grey’s latest sales topper, who had sold for just 55,000 guineas as a foal, comes from a more modest family albeit a largely speedy one. The only black type in the first three generations was gained by Mantoba, a son of the great grandam, who was third in the listed Quebec Stakes at Lingfield. The colt’s dam Show Stealer was a useful sprint handicapper (Timeform rating 105) for Rae Guest who enjoyed a very successful career at her level, winning nine races over five seasons of racing.

She was precocious enough to win her first two starts as a two-year-old but was better than ever at the age of six when making the frame in the Portland and Ayr Silver Cup. Show Stealer is one of six winners out of the poor sprint maiden Winifred Jo, the others including fair handicapper Sir Maxi who has won a couple of times on the all-weather this year.

If either of this week’s seven-figure purchases win a race of any sort, they will at least have achieved more than either General Marshall or Royal Officer mentioned earlier. Being by Galileo, there’s time yet for Royal Officer to start living up to his sale price, though he’s been gelded after finishing no closer than fifth in his three starts at two. As for General Marshall, he was placed in all five of his two-year-old outings for Aidan O’Brien but never managed to get his head in front in a total of 17 starts, ending up contesting low-grade handicaps in Dubai.

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