There are still plenty of shopping days left before Christmas, but the ones that really count in the bloodstock world are the three days of the Tattersalls December Mare Sale (Dec 1-3), with the compelling Sceptre Sessions red-ringed on the calendar for months.
The catalogue for the whole three days is, as might be expected, thrillingly heavy with precious black-type. However, the Sceptre Sessions, with 82 lots are due to be sold over two select tranches on the first two days of the sale, provide the undoubted highlight at the Park Paddocks complex in Newmarket.
Tattersalls December Mare Sale (Dec 1-3) catalogue
These select offerings comprise proven top-level producers and the next wave of potentially breed-shaping fillies with superlative records on the racecourse.
There may be greater financial prudence involved in purchasing proven stock for racing or breeding as opposed to dealing in looks and pedigree pages at the yearling sales, and last year’s Sceptre Sessions showcased that attitude in spades.
The second day of the sale was the highest-grossing day in European auction history with more than 55 million guineas in turnover, with three lots fetching 3m-plus as outlined below.
This will be the fourth year of the Sceptre Sessions, named after the celebrated filly Sceptre who won four of the five British Classics in 1902 and was also fourth in the Derby.
Her career as a broodmare was almost inevitably less spectacular – at one stage she became the property of Tattersalls chairman Edmund Somerville Tattersall, who, in highly unorthodox fashion, made the final bid on his own auctioneering as she went through the ring in 1911 – but her impact on the history of the Turf still sustains and these two select sessions are a fine memorial.
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“In its short history, the Sceptre Sessions of the Tattersalls December Mares Sale has established itself as one of the highlights
of the worldwide bloodstock sales calendar, providing a showcase for the very best fillies and mares available in Europe and from further afield,” says Edmond Mahony, chairman of Tattersalls.
Outstanding broodmares
“This year’s renewal looks the equal of any of the previous editions with four Group/Grade 1-winning fillies on offer alongside outstanding broodmares.
“The December Mares Sale has for decades been the source of fillies and mares who go on to be the cornerstone of breeding operations around the world, and we look forward to welcoming the usual international cast of buyers to Newmarket for the most influential breeding stock sale in Europe.”
They will come in droves, and for the biggest players in the game the first name on their list is likely to be Porta Fortuna(lot 1734), a four-time G1 winner described by Mahony when the news of her sale was announced as “a true champion and a rare jewel, the first champion three-year-old filly to be offered in/out of training”.
Porta Fortuna, trained by Joseph O’Brien, won the Cheveley Park Stakes, Coronation Stakes, Falmouth Stakes and Matron Stakes, as well as finishing runner-up in the 1,000 Guineas and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. The daughter of Caravaggio won her only start this year as a four-year-old and is a sporting bet to be top lot, although the competition for that honour will be fierce.
Another certain to be prominent on all Christmas shopping lists is Tamfana(lot 1743), a daughter of Soldier Hollow trained by David Menuisier to win the G1 Sun Chariot Stakes and hit the board in the Prix de Diane and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. She was also fourth, half a length behind runner-up Porta Fortuna, in the 1,000 Guineas.
A quartet of G1-winning fillies/mares in training is completed by Barnavara(lot 1753), recent winner of the Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp, and Choisya(lot 1717), who landed the Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in April.
Pedigrees and prowess
Those sought after for their pedigrees rather than their prowess on the racetrack may be headed by Magic Ring(lot 1751), an unraced daughter of Dubawi out of three-time champion Minding and therefore a sister to G1 winner Henry Longfellow. She is in-foal to the late, much-lamented sire sensation Wootton Bassett.
Another eyecatcher is Caliyza(lot 1452), a half-sister to the top-class Calandagan, winner of both the King George and Champion Stakes at Ascot this year. She is offered in-foal to Gleneagles, the sire of Calandagan.
These are merely six of the best among a host of potential headliners, and despite their allure it may yet take a fierce bidding duel among those with the deepest pockets in order to match or exceed the prices demanded at previous editions of the December Mares Sale.
Last year Park Paddocks resembled Oxford Street on the last Saturday before Christmas as buyers spent lavishly and rapidly, with those three fillies passing the 3m-guinea mark amid a flurry of other seven-figure purchases.
Top of the shop was You Got To Me, a G1-winning daughter of Nathaniel who became another landmark acquisition for the empire-building Kia Joorabchian when the gavel fell at 4.8 million guineas, the third-highest price ever recorded at the Mares Sale. When the dust settled, Joorabchian outlined the ethos that drives this market.
“We [he and the underbidder] were getting to a point where we both thought ‘this is well overpriced’, but she could be very cheap in the long run. At least we know she’s proven,” he said.
US owner John Stewart paid 3.2 million guineas for G1-winning two-year-old Vertical Blue as part of a shopping spree that stretched to 4.8 million guineas, while other must-have missions led to a final bid of three million guineas from the Coolmore set for multiple G1-placed sprinter Believing, a purchase that paid dividends when she made her G1 breakthrough in the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan in April.
Proud tradition
This trio were continuing a proud tradition of major investments at the December Mares Sale. Indeed, few big-money deals have had the impact of the one authorised by Zhang Yuesheng that secured Via Sistina for 2.7 million guineas at the 2023 sale.
The Fastnet Rock mare has gone on to become the best horse in Australia, winning 11 G1 races and covering her cost several times over.
In 2017, before the advent of the Sceptre Sessions, a final bid of six million guineas from the Coolmore partners made the sprinter Marsha the highest-priced horse ever sold at a European auction, a position she still retains ahead of multiple G1 winner Alcohol Free, who fetched 5.4 million guineas – also to Zhang Yuesheng – at the 2022 Sceptre Sessions.
“It’s impossible to value those blue-chip fillies off the track, they’re collector’s items because they don’t come on the market very often,” said Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland, who made the final bid. “They’re like Picassos – they’re a rare commodity.”
Picassos do not appear on the typical lists scribbled more in hope than expectation at this time of year; even Father Christmas has his limits.
Yet the equivalent – a prime Porta Fortuna, perhaps, a choice Choisya, a magical Magic Ring – is up for grabs at Tattersalls as the festive season begins to hit its stride. Who will get what they want for Christmas this year?
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