Business As Usual, a 3-year-old winning Invincible Spirit colt, became the most expensive horse ever sold at the Tattersalls July mixed auction when he brought 460,000 guineas ($731,784 in U.S. funds) on the third day of the 2010 auction July 8 in England.
Alastair Donald of the Kern/Lillingston Association purchased the bay 3-year-old and said Business As Usual would join trainer John Moore’s Hong Kong-based stable.
The previous record for the auction was held by Mastermind, who sold to Richard O’Gorman for 380,000 guineas in 2001.
Bred by Paulyn Limited in Great Britain, Business As Usual was consigned by trainer Michael Jarvis’ Kremlin House Stables. Jarvis conditioned Business As Usual for owner Paul Makin. The colt had won two of his four career races.
Business As Usual is a half brother to two winners, including Guilia (by Galileo), who finished second in the 2006 Swettenham Stud Trial Stakes and third in the 2007 E.B.F. River Eden Fillies’ Stakes in England. Their winning dam, Lesgor (by Irish River), was third in the 1998 Prix de Psyche (Fr-III), and their second dam, Let’s Sgor (by Creag-an-Sgor) was a champion in New Zealand and the producer of North American stakes winner Smart Score (by Clever Trick).
The July auction’s third day results included a gross of 2,069,000 guineas ($3,291,435) for the 138 horses that sold. The average price was 14,993 guineas ($23,852), and the median price was 7,250 guineas ($11,533). Compared to last year, the gross was up 5.3% and the average rose 16.7%. The median increased 11.5%.
The clearance rate of 86.8% was down from 90% in 2009, when 153 of the horses offered found new homes.