Sheikh Rashid also purchased the second-highest priced lot of the evening, a Fantastic Light colt out of the Mr. Prospector mare Obscura, a three-parts sister to group I Cheveley Park Stakes winner Gay Gallanta. The half-brother to the listed-placed Semarang was in high demand following an impressive breeze, and as the price passed 100,000 guineas, it was Shunsuke Yoshida setting the pace before Sheikh Rashid, standing alongside bloodstock agent Anthony Stroud, took over. Irish-based bloodstock agent Bobby O'Ryan then joined the fray, but he was not able to match Sheikh Rashid's bid of 220,000 guineas. The sale was a triumph for consignor Malcolm Bastard, who acquired the colt for $172,466 as a yearling.Having been unsuccessful on the two top lots of the evening, Shunsuke Yoshida was to prove more successful with a colt by Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-I) winner King's Best, out of the group III-winning mare Aminata. The half-brother to the listed-winning pair of Swift Gulliver and Abderian was consigned from Derek Veitch's Friarstown Stud and purchased by Yoshida for 150,000 guineas. Yoshida indicated that the colt will return to his family's pre-training center at their Northern Farm in Hokkaido, Japan. The second and final session of the breeze up sale is scheduled for Thursday.
(Edited Tattersalls press release)The Tattersalls breeze up sale got off to a strong start Wednesday in England with 62 juveniles selling for a gross of 3,428,000 guineas, an average of 51,939 guineas, and a median of 38,000 guineas. The session compared favorably with last year's opening session with 10 lots selling for 100,000 guineas or more compared with five at last year's session that included the 500,000-guinea European record-priced 2-year-old. The average increased 3% while the median rose 17%.Sheikh Mohammed's son Sheikh Rashid set the pace on the opening day. He purchased seven horses for 849,000 guineas, including the two most expensive lots of the evening. The highest, at 240,000 guineas, was a chestnut filly by Swain out of the Conquistador Cielo mare mare Robest, a three-parts sister to the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) winner Danzig Connection and the grade II winner Roi Danzig. Consigned from Willie Browne's Mocklershill Stables, the filly was secured by Sheikh Rashid after a prolonged battle with Shunsuke Yoshida, son of Northern Farm's Katsumi Yoshida, who was making his first visit to a European breeze up sale. The price, which represents a record for a filly at a European breeze up auction, provided a huge return for Browne, who purchased the filly for $45,000 last year.