Eight yearlings sold for 1 million guineas or more on the Oct. 4 second day of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October yearling sale, taking the number of seven-figure lots to 12 during the first two days of the three-day auction.
Last year, there were nine sold for more than a million during the entire sale.
The seven figure octet was comprised of five Dubawi (IRE) yearlings, two by Galileo (IRE), and one by Frankel. The second day saw a total of 114 lots realize 33,724,000 guineas (US$46,915,155), a rise of 28% on 2016, while the average and median rose 47% and 33% to 295,825 guineas ($411,537) and 160,000 guineas ($222,584), respectively.
Leading the way was the first foal of the champion race mare Sky Lantern, whose group 1 victories included the Qipco One Thousand Guineas, Coronation Stakes, Moyglare Stud Stakes, and Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes. Her yearling colt (Lot 222) by Dubawi, who was consigned by Highclere Stud on behalf of Rockcliffe Stud's Keswick family, was knocked down to M.V. Magnier for 2,000,000 guineas ($2,782,300) after he saw off Qatar Racing's David Redvers, trainer Roger Varian, and agent Alastair Donald.
"We are obviously delighted," said Ed Sackville, manager for the Keswick family, and purchaser of Sky Lantern as a yearling. "We have a policy of selling the colts and keeping the fillies, and while we'd liked to have raced this horse ourselves, it is wonderful that he has sold so well. Sky Lantern had a Dubawi colt this year and is in foal to Frankel, so we've plenty to look forward to."
"He is out of a brilliant race mare who was a champion 2-year-old and who went on to win the One Thousand Guineas and the Coronation Stakes and become a champion 3-year-old," said Magnier, who bought the horse on behalf of a partnership including Mayfair Speculators. "She was a very quick filly. We are all about finding the right horse."
One of the most exciting pedigrees in the catalog was the Galileo filly out of Prix Saint-Alary (G1) winner Vadawina whose foals include group 2 winner Vadamar as well as this season's JRA Tyros Stakes (G3) winner The Pentagon who is the early favorite for next year's Epsom Derby (G1) at 10-1.
Consigned by David and Diane Nagle's Barronstown Stud, the filly (Lot 281) caught the attention of Narvick International's Emmanuel de Seroux and Broadhurst Agency's Laurent Benoit but neither of the pair could match U.S. agent Justin Casse whose bid of 1,550,000 guineas ($2,156,280) secured the prize.
"She is a collector's item," said Casse. "She is for a U.S. client who has had horses in the U.S. for a long time but this is his first foray into racing in Europe. She will stay in Europe.
"There are four or five sires in the world that everyone wants, and Galileo is top of that list," Casse continued. "With her pedigree page she has great residual value and with The Pentagon such a prospect we could have a couple of fun years."
