(Edited Tattersalls press release)
Coolcullen Times, a 3-year-old son of Rock of Gibraltar, brought the top price of the day and the sale of 155,000 guineas as the Tattersalls July mixed auction ended its three-session run July 9 in England.
Kentucky horsemen Joe Seitz, representing his Virginia-based client Jim Treptow of Hickory Tree Equine, purchased Coolcullen Times. The bay colt will be trained by Graham Motion in the United States.
Produced from the unraced Royal Academy mare Key to Coolcullen, Coolcullen Times has won three of his eight career races and finished third once while carrying the colors of Mrs. Jim Bolger. He was bred and trained by Jim Bolger, whose Glebe House Stables consigned the colt to the auction.
The results for all three sessions of the July auction combined included a gross of 5,546,700 guineas for the 438 horses that sold (from 503 offered). The average price was 12,664 guineas, and the median price was 6,500 guineas.
Compared to a year ago, when 507 horses were sold, the gross was down 26.2% from 7,515,200 guineas. The average fell 14.6% from 14,823 guineas. And the median declined 17.7% from 7,900 guineas.
During the final session, the 153 horses that sold grossed 1,964,800 guineas and averaged 12,842 guineas. The median was 6,500 guineas.
“With nearly 200 fewer lots catalogued than last year and a relative shortage of genuine quality, we knew, regardless of the prevailing market conditions, that the sale turnover would fall significantly,” said Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony. “But nobody would dispute that this has been a good sale from start to finish and a real boost for all concerned. Since the global recession took hold, bloodstock sales throughout the world have suffered in line with economic trends, but we have seen sustained demand at all levels of the market this week.
“Without doubt, the feature of this year’s July sale has been the extraordinary diversity of the buyers, which has contributed to an outstanding clearance rate,” Mahony continued. “Every year we do our best to cover as much ground as possible to attract international buyers and sometimes even we are surprised by the sheer number of overseas buyers who flock to Tattersalls. This year’s July sale has demonstrated that, even in tough times, there is an enduring appetite for the sport of racing, and it has been a genuine pleasure to have seen such depth to the market and so many satisfied vendors.”
