A Gainsborough Stud-bred Indian Ridge colt out a half-sister to Breeders’ Cup Sprint (gr. I) winner Lit de Justice (El Gran Senor) brought 25,000 guineas (about $54,000) to top part four of the Tattersalls October yearling sale Nov. 1.
Trainer John Gosden signed for the colt, offered from Peter Stanley’s New England Stud.
The part-four sale figures fell short of last year’s total, though the overall numbers for the October yearling sale were up.
For part four, 94 horses for 488,100 guineas (about $1 million), down from 179 horses sold for 1,131,200 guineas (about $2.5 million) 2006. This year’s average of 5,193 guineas (about $11,000) was down from 6,320 guineas (about $13,800), and the median of 3,200 guineas (about $7,000) was down from 3,500 guineas (about $7,500).
Overall, 1,490 horses sold for 95,015,000 guineas (about $207.6 million) compared with 1,472 sold for 83,866,400 guineas ($183.3 million) last year. The average of 63,768 guineas (about $139,000) was up from 56,974 guineas ($124,500) last year, while the median of 32,000 guineas (about $70,000) was up from 30,000 guineas (about $65,500) in 2006.
“It would be wrong to pretend that today’s yearling trade has been plain sailing,” Tatteralls chairman Edmond Mahony said. “The number of yearlings on offer throughout Europe has never been greater, and the impact was evident at the lower end of the market.
“Demand for quality commercial yearlings, as seen in particular throughout the record-breaking books one and two of our October sale, has rarely been stronger, but that level of demand could not be sustained all the way through to the end. Managing the extreme numbers is an issue to which we will give plenty of thought over the coming months.”