Two weanlings from the first crop of the stallion Teofilo were the most expensive horses sold on the second day of the Tattersalls December foal sale Nov. 26 in England. A colt brought 165,000 guineas ($286,000), and a filly attracted a final bid of 150,000 guineas ($260,000).
Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock purchased the colt from Trickledown Stud. The weanling is out of the winning 9-year-old Hector Protector mare Triton Dance and is a half-brother to the winner Count John (by Intikhab), who finished third in this year’s Dylan Thomas E.B.F. Tetrarch Stakes (Ire-III). Triton Dance is a half-sister to 2004 Chippenham Lodge Stud Cherry Hinton Stakes (Eng-II) winner Jewel In The Sand (by Bluebird) and 2002 German stakes winner Davignon (by Highest Honor).
Angus Gold, acting on behalf of Sheikh Hamdan’s Shadwell Estates, bought the filly, which was produced from the 10-year-old Common Grounds mare Anbella, who was a 2001 stakes winner in France. Bob and Jeanette McCreery’s Stowell Hill Stud consigned the weanling for Simon Tindall.
Teofilo (by Galileo), a European champion, scored in the Darley Dewhurst Stakes (Eng-I) and the Laing O’Rourke National Stakes (Ire-I) in 2006. Retired from racing following an injury, he entered stud at Sheikh Mohammed’s Dalham Hall Stud in England.
The auction’s second day results included a gross of 4,709,800 guineas ($8.16 million) for the 174 weanlings that sold. The average price was 27,068 guineas ($46,900), and the median price was 20,000 guineas ($34,600). Compared to the corresponding day’s figures in 2008, the gross rose 39.3% while the average price and median price increased 21.7% and 53.8%, respectively.
The clearance rate improved from 70.7% last year to 81.3% this year.