A Galileo filly, which is a full sister to this year's Investec Epsom Oaks (Eng-I) winner Was, topped the second session of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October yearling sale. She commanded 1.5 million guineas ($2,522,940 in U.S. funds) Oct. 10 in England, becoming the highest-priced yearling sold in the world this year.
The second-most-expensive yearling of 2012 is another Galileo filly that brought 1.3 million guineas ($2,186,552) in the same Book 1 session. She is a full sister to 2011 Irish champion Together, who won the 2011 Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup Stakes (gr. IT) at Keeneland. The yearling also is a half sister 2009 Criterium International (Fr-I) winner Jan Vermeer (by Montjeu).
Book 1 second-day results included a gross of 25,022,000 guineas ($42,086,100) for the 140 yearlings that were sold. The average price was 178,729 guineas ($300,616) and the median price was 112,500 guineas ($189,221).
Compared to the same session last year when 148 horses were sold, the gross rose 58.4%. The average increased 39.2% while the median grew 12.5%. The gross was the highest single-day total ever for Book 1 of the October sale, surpassing the previous mark established during this year’s Oct. 9 opening session of 23,016,000 guineas ($38,843,490) .
The second session’s clearance rate was 82.8%, down from 83.1% in 2011.
Nicholas de Watrigant of the Mandore International Agency fought off John Magnier of Coolmore Stud to acquire the 1.5 million guinea Galileo filly. Bloodstock agent James Delahooke also tried to buy the yearling, which was bred in Ireland.
"She’s the one that you would like on your farm," said de Watrigant. "She is a lovely filly with a classic pedigree, and she moves very well. She will be trained in France."
Bred and consigned by Seamus Burns’ Lodge Park Stud, the yearling is out of the winner Alluring Park (by Green Desert). The mare finished second in the Aga Khan Studs Blenheim Stakes and third in the Rochestown Stakes in 2001 in Ireland. Alluring Park’s other offspring include Janood (by Medicean), who captured the 2010 Matalan Washington Singer Stakes in England.
Magnier won a bidding battle against Grant Pritchard-Gordon of Badgers Bloodstock and David Ingordo of Kentucky-based Lane’s End Bloodstock to buy the 1.3 million guinea Galileo filly. Timmy Hyde’s Camas Park Stud consigned the bay yearling bred in Ireland by Camas Park and Lynch Bages Ltd.
"She is a lovely filly," said Coolmore associate Demi O’Byrne. "She is from a family that we know well and is quite a similar sort to Together. I had seen her at Camas Park ahead of the sale. I thought she was the best filly here."
The yearling is out of the winning Pennekamp mare Shadow Song.
The top five most expensive horses in Book 1’s second session all were by Galileo. In addition to the top two fillies, they included a colt out of Alexander Goldrun that bought 950,000 guineas ($1,597,869) from O’Byrne. The others were a filly out of Secret Garden that brought 925,000 guineas ($1,558,165) from Blandford Bloodstock and a filly out of Witch of Fife that brought 900,000 guineas ($1,513,764) from Waratah Thoroughbreds.