(Edited Tattersalls press release)
Colts by Selkirk and Invincible Spirit led the way Oct. 13 in England during the second session of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October yearling sale, which enjoyed upswings in gross and average price. Each colt sold for 260,000 guineas.
Trainer Paul Cole purchased the Selkirk colt, fighting off Angus Gold, the racing manager for Sheikh Hamdan’s Shadwell Estate Co., and trainer Amanda Perratt. Cole said he was acting on behalf of Jim and Fitri Hay, who are based in Dubai.
Staffordstown, the Irish arm of Kirsten Rausing’s Lanwades Stud consigned the colt, which is the first foal out of the 6-year-old unraced Sadler's Wells mare Eminencia. The mare is a half-sister to English champion Moments of Joy (by Darshaan), and they are among the offspring of the 1996 Prix Vermeille (Fr-I) and 1997 Yorkshire Oaks (Eng-I) winner My Emma (by Marju), who was a champion in France.
Gold bought the Invincible Spirit colt from Peter Player’s Whatton Manor Stud, outlasting trainer Marcus Tregoning and Cole. The yearling is out of the 11-year-old winning With Approval mare Exclusive Approval, who is a full sister to stakes winner Be Elusive and a half-sister to added-money winners Vignette (by Diesis) and On a Cloud (by Silver Hawk). Exclusive Approval’s offspring include the winner In The Light (by Inchinor), who finished second or third in five stakes in England and France.
The second session results included a gross of 7,372,500 guineas for the 208 horses that sold. The average was 35,445 guineas, and the median price was 25,000 guineas. Compared to 2008, when 178 horses were sold, the gross was up 18.6% from 6,218,500 guineas. The average increased 1.5% from 34,935 guineas, and the median declined 10.7% from 28,000 guineas.
The buy-back rate fell from 26.1% last year to 16.5% this year.