Wild Coco Tops Tattersalls Mare Sale Session

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Park Hill Stakes (Eng-II) winner Wild Coco topped the third day of the Tattersalls December Mare Sale when she was purchased for 985,000 guineas ($1,664,863) by Keisuke Onishi on behalf of Tomoyuki Nakamura's KI Farm.

The new owner plans to keep the 4-year-old daughter of Shirocco in training with Sir Henry Cecil.

"I was just hoping the auctioneer would drop the hammer," said Onishi, who outlasted competition from Niarchos' Alan Cooper and Newsells Park's Julian Dollar. The filly out of the Sternkoenig mare Wild Side was offered by Cecil's Warren Place Stables on behalf of her breeders Gestut Roettgen. "She is a good-walking filly, with a good body, and a good temperament."

For the day, 211 lots sold for 7,383,500 guineas ($12,479,714), down 0.5% when compared guineas-to-guineas with the same session in 2011. The average for the day was 34,993 guineas ($59,146), while the median was 17,000 guineas ($28,734). The clearance rate was 80%.

The 4-year-old filly Rainbow Springs had been one of the horses plenty of people had been talking about and the Selkirk mare certainly did not disappoint, selling to Blandford Bloodstock's Richard Brown for 440,000 guineas ($743,695). Brown saw off US-based agent David Ingordo for the mare who was consigned from Whatton Manor Stud in foal to Oasis Dream.
 
"She was a stand-out today," said Brown of the group I-placed Rainbow Springs. "She has been bought for Langton Stud's Michael and Caroline Wates. Michael was just coming out of the dentist while I was bidding.
 
"They are looking to upgrade the quality of their broodmare band and this mare fitted the bill—she was a class performer, is a young mare, has a great page—I love the Selkirk, Nureyev, Alleged in her pedigree. They are all great broodmare sires.
 
"She is also very well covered by Oasis Dream, who is a great stallion and whom Michael has had some success with. Langton had some great foal sales last week and is putting together a boutique broodmare band."
 
The draft from Juddmonte Farms is always one of the highlights of Wednesday at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale and this year's consignment from Khalid Abdullah's operation was no exception, with 32 lots selling for a total of 1,259,000 guineas ($2,127,983).
 
The Tattersalls December Mare Sale concludes with 258 lots cataloged on Dec. 6.
 

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