A who’s who of major racing and bloodstock figures from both sides of the Atlantic will be on hand in Newmarket vying for blue-blooded stock at Europe’s premier yearling sale, which starts on Oct 7
In each and every walk of life, there exists a pinnacle. For professional footballers there is the UEFA Champions League and musicians have the Glastonbury Festival, while the world’s finest chefs aspire to cook in restaurants with three Michelin stars.
There is also a pinnacle in the yearling sales calendar, where the best breeders and the biggest buyer conduct the lion’s share of their business. As far as Europe is concerned, that pinnacle is Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.
Tattersalls October Yearling Sale – Book 1 catalogue (Oct 7-9)
The key names involved in this event rate a who’s who of the high-end racing and bloodstock scene. This applies equally to both human and equine participants.
Walk around the hallowed Park Paddocks sales grounds during Book 1 and there is a fair chance you will cross paths with the likes of Sheikh Mohammed, Sheikha Hissa or John Magnier, Aidan O’Brien, Charlie Appleby or John Gosden, or just about any of the world-class horsemen and women who ply their trade in Britain and Ireland.
Similar comments apply to the horseflesh on show. Catch sight of a yearling being shown to prospective purchasers and there is a high likelihood they will be by an elite stallion – a Dubawi, Frankel or Sea The Stars – or a sibling to a Group 1 winner. Or both.
Pedigree aficionados await the release of the Book 1 catalogue like kids at Christmas. This year’s 537-lot offering appears, on paper at least, to have been well worth the wait.
For a flavour of what’s in store, there are contained within the catalogue’s page 11 yearlings by Dubawi, 30 by Frankel, 33 by Lope De Vega, 34 by Night Of Thunder and 50 by the late Wootton Bassett. Remarkably, almost ten per cent of the yearlings set to come under the hammer over the three days boast a G1 winner among their siblings.
There aree – take a deep breath – full-brothers to Arc heroine Alpinista and champion miler Charyn, full-sisters to Persian Force and Time For Sandals, half-brothers to Anthony Van Dyck, Ghaiyyath and Jannah Rose, as well as half-sisters to Battaaash, Field Of Gold, Goliath, Perfect Power, St Mark’s Basilica and Waldgeist, to name but a few.
All of this is underpinned by the lure of the lucrative £25,000 Tattersalls Book 1 Bonus, which every yearling who passes through the ring at Book 1 is eligible for. Having already passed the 400 winner milestone, the Book 1 Bonus is rapidly closing in on paying out £10,000,000 in prize-money to owners.
“It’s the sheer quality that the sale offers, and the depth of that quality, that makes it so enticing,” says Mike Ryan, one of the world’s most respected bloodstock agents. “The standard of horses at Tatts Book 1 is outstanding.
“There’s some exceptional turf sires in England and Ireland, and the female pedigrees in Tatts Book 1 are the best of England and also the best of many Irish farms.”
That has been borne out on the racetrack this year, with Book 1 graduates winning nine G1 races worldwide. These range from a top-class two-year-old in France in Prix Morny heroine Venetian Sun, a five-year-old Irish St Leger scorer in Al Riffa, through to the six-year-old Royal Patronage, who won the Canterbury Stakes in Australia.
While Classic success has been one of Book 1’s hallmarks down the years – Derby winners Australia, Authorized and Camelot have passed through this sale, as have Oaks scorers Alexandrova and Was – there has also been a flood of recent juvenile successes to shout about too
It took Godolphin’s Wise Approach less than 12 months to progress from 1,000,000gns Book 1 buy to G1 winner in the Middle Park Stakes, while the aforementioned Venetian Sun is the sixth Prix Morny winner in succession that has passed through the Tattersalls ring. It is not just on the track that the traditional Book 1 profile is evolving, either.
A new chapter
Last year saw arguably the most remarkable chapter in the blue-chip sale’s storied history. Records were set across the board during the three-day event, with turnover reaching an unprecedented 127,823,000gns.
In turn, the average and median price indices also returned new high marks, the former at 370,500gns and the latter at 250,000gns. It was heady stuff.
But it was not merely how much was spent, but who was spending it. While the upper echelons of Book 1 are so often reserved for the established superpowers – prior to last year Coolmore and Godolphin accounted for nine of the previous ten top lots – 2024 witnessed a shake up of the established order.
Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing threw a cat among the pigeons by purchasing 17 high-profile recruits. A further eight signings were made with partners including Al Shaqab Racing and Anthony Ramsden’s Valmont outfit. By the close of play, the Amo brand had appeared on the ticket of 25 yearlings with a market value of 22,940,000gns. No other entity spent more.
The spree took in four of the top ten lots, including the headline act, the Frankel filly out of the Royal Ascot winner Aljazzi, who fetched a cool 4,400,000gns. Subsequently named Partying, the seven-figure youngster is in training with Amo Racing’s in-house trainer, Kevin Philipart De Foy.
Last year’s top lot was sold by Newsells Park Stud, whose general manager Julian Dollar reflected on events by saying: “It has been an amazing sale and I wish I had more horses to sell! I’m not that long in the tooth, this is my 19th year doing the Newsells draft. I worked for Cheveley Park Stud before I went to America for a spin, and I’ve never known a market like this, I really haven’t.”
The sales-topper was only the tip of the iceberg. Amo Racing’s haul also included a son of Wootton Bassett and the Galileo mare Park Bloom, who became the most expensive colt in European public auction history when hammered down at 4,300,000gns. He has since been named Poker and debuted for Karl Burke.
He hails from a pedigree that already holds a place in the record books. His dam is not only a full-sister to Oaks heroine Was, but also Al Shaqab’s Al Naamah, who became the most expensive yearling ever sold in Europe when bought for 5,000,000gns at Book 1 in 2013.
Joorabchian has publicly stated his intention to spread Amo Racing’s investment more widely this year. Nonetheless, his involvement rates a fascinating subplot to this year’s sale.
Global gathering
While Book 1 offers the cream of the British and Irish yearling crop, the fact that buyers come from far and wide makes this an event of genuine global significance. Last year saw the local buying bench joined by major players from Australia, China, the Gulf states, Hong Kong, Japan and the US.
American buyers in particular have had a major bearing on recent renewals of Book 1, and in turn Book 1 has had a major bearing on the Graded stakes races of North America. No one has enjoyed more success on this front than Mike Ryan, a key ally to the likes of Chad Brown, Seth Klarman and Peter Brant.
The Irish-born Kentucky resident has signed for close to 120 yearlings since his Book 1 buying missions began in 2017. Of the 120, 24 are stakes winners, 17 of the 24 are Graded stakes winners and a remarkable seven of those are G1 winners.
Six of those – namely Digital Age, Domestic Spending, Dynamic Pricing, McKulick, Newspaperofrecord and Program Trading – carried the colours of Klarman’s Klaravich Stables, while In Italian was sourced on behalf of Brant’s White Birch Farm.
Ryan expands on why, when he has several thousand yearlings to choose from in Kentucky each year, he and his clients journey over 4,000 miles to Newmarket.
“It’s very simple: we go to Tatts Book 1 in search of high-quality grass horses,” he says. “There aren’t too many grass stallions in Kentucky, only a handful, but almost 50 per cent of the Graded stakes in America now take place on turf, and probably 40 per cent of the Breeders’ Cup races are on turf too.
“We enjoy going over there. The quality of stock is amazing and there’s a great feel to the sale. The consignors are very gracious and appreciative and Tattersalls really looks after us. It was the first European sale we attended and we’ve had so much success there, there’s no reason not to continue to shop there.”
The source of Ryan’s success has not gone unnoticed among other US-based buyers. While Book 1 may have relied almost solely on European purchasers once upon a time, recent editions have become increasingly international.
“When we first started going to Book 1 in 2017 I don’t recall any other American entity there,” says Ryan. “Last year there were at least ten or 12 different American entities at Tattersalls. Over the years the number of US buyers has certainly increased. Based on the results of the Klaravich horses, they’ve realised it’s a great source of top-quality grass horses.”
Only time will tell exactly how many American-based buyers descend on Tattersalls this October, but we can be certain that at least one group will be making the trek across the pond.
“We’re coming back again this year, for sure,” says Ryan. “I watch the weather every day; most years you need some wet gear but it looks like the weather is going to be fabulous this time! This sale is very high on our priority list. I think it’s fair to say it’s the premier yearling sale in Europe.”
As last year proves, Book 1 can be relied upon to deliver drama, surprises and a heap of significant equine talent. One thing is for sure this time around: you won’t want to miss it.
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