Gross sales rose 26% during the second day of the Tattersalls December Mare sale due to two broodmares, Diary and First, selling for more than 1 million guineas each and the completion of Henrietta Bedford’s breeding stock dispersal of 18 mares and fillies from Bloomsbury Stud. The session saw a total of 163 lots sell for 19,263,500 guineas ($31,452,300), a rise of 26% from the comparable session of 2009. The average and median also registered significant increases, rising 23% and 59%, respectively to 118,181 guineas ($192,959) and 50,000 guineas ($81,637).
The star of the second day was the Green Desert mare Diary who was sold from The Castlebridge Consignment. The dam of the Prix de l’Abbaye (Fr-I) winner Total Gallery and the group 1 Fillies’ Mile runner-up Lady Darshaan was offered in foal to Europe’s leading stallion Galileo. Lodge Park Stud’s Seamus Burns started the bidding at 500,000 guineas but Australian Paul Makin, who commonly makes audacious opening bids countered with 1,000,000 guineas. The large jump looked to have worked initially but Hugo Merry entered the fray and finally Tweenhills’ David Redvers, standing alongside client Sheikh Fahad al Thani from Qatar, made the winning bid of 1,300,000 guineas ($2,122,560).
“She has been bought for Pearl Bloodstock,” said Redvers. “She could go to any stallion that we want, but we would like to send her to Dubawi and try and replicate the mating that produced Makfi. Of course, we might not get in to Dubawi, but you would think that Darley would be thrilled to get a mare of such quality for him.”
The sale of Diary proved was a windfall for her owners who purchased her for 11,000 guineas ($21,748) at the 2005 Tattersalls February Sale.
The highlight of Bedford’s Bloomsbury Stud dispersal and the second mare to top the million for the day was the Highest Honor mare First, whose colt by Singspiel sold for 320,000 guineas during the Tattersalls December Foal Sale last week First is also the dam of the listed winning pair Law Lord and Perfect Stride, and the grand-daughter of Bloomsbury’s foundation mare Mrs. Moss. She was purchased by Charlie Gordon-Watson’s for 1,100,000 guineas ($1,799,940).
“I don’t know what to think just now. From a purchase of 2,100 guineas to a sale of over 1 million is amazing,” said Bedford after the last of her horses had sold, referencing to her purchase of Mrs. Moss in 1975. “I was just so lucky. I am very sad that my husband wasn’t here to witness this—he would have thought it was amazing.”
The dispersal of fillies and mares from Bloomsbury Stud brought a total of 2,987,000 guineas ($4,887,660) for the 18 sold.
The Tattersalls December Mare Sale continues at 10 a.m. Dec. 1.