2010 December Mare Sale Day 2 Press Release

The Tattersalls December Mare Sale burst into life on the second day with the broodmares DIARY and FIRST both selling for more than 1 million guineas and the sale of the eighteen mares and fillies from Bloomsbury Stud completing the dispersal of Henrietta Bedford’s breeding stock. The session saw a total of 163 lots sell for 19,263,500 guineas, a rise of 26% on the corresponding session in 2009. The average and median also registered significant increases, rising 23% and 59% respectively to 118,181 guineas and 50,000 guineas.

The star turn on the second day of the Tattersalls December Mare Sale was the GREEN DESERT mare DIARY who was consigned from The Castlebridge Consignment. The dam of the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye winner TOTAL GALLERY and the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile runner-up LADY DARSHAAN was offered in foal to Europe’s leading stallion GALILEO. Lodge Park Stud’s Seamus Burns got the ball rolling with an opening bid of 500,000 guineas but Australian Paul Makin, who is used to making such audacious opening bids countered by upping the ante to 1,000,000 guineas. The large jump looked to have worked initially before Hugo Merry entered the fray before Tweenhills’ David Redvers , standing alongside client Sheikh Fahad al Thani from Qatar, made a final and winning bid of 1,300,000 guineas.

"She has been bought for Pearl Bloodstock," said Redvers. "She could go to any stallion that we want, but we would like to send her to DUBAWI and try and replicate the mating that produced MAKFI. Of course, we might not get in to DUBAWI, but you would think that Darley would be thrilled to get a mare of such quality for him.

"She will comes back to Tweenhills now and I will have sleepless nights looking after her!

"Sheikh Fahad is thrilled to be buying the very best of bloodstock, both stallions and broodmares, and it is a fantastic time to invest in horses. We valued her to within 100,000gns of her sales price.

"This mare really has got it all. Her stock will be bred to race and sell - all sorts." 

The sale of DIARY proved a triumph for her owners who had purchased her for 11,000 guineas at the 2005 Tattersalls February Sale.

Late in the evening DIARY’s daughter LADY DARSHAAN was knocked down to agent John Warren for 600,000 guineas after he saw off the efforts of Blandford Bloodstock’s Tom Goff who was standing alongside Coolmore’s Paul Shanahan, and Guy Mulcaster, seated alongside Malaysian owner Dato Yap. The three-year-old daughter of HIGH CHAPARRAL was purchased by Warren on behalf of Newsells Park Stud’s Andreas Jacobs.

The dispersal of Henrietta Bedford’s Bloomsbury Stud was always going to be the highlight of the Tattersalls December Sale, especially following the success of the sale of her foals at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale last week. The highlight of the dispersal and the second mare to top the million for the day was the HIGHEST HONOR mare FIRST. Already the dam of the Listed winning pair LAW LORD and PERFECT STRIDE, the grand-daughter of Bloomsbury’s foundation mare MRS MOSS is also the dam of the SINGSPIEL colt foal who realised 320,000 guineas last week.

Paul Makin was once again prominent, opening the bidding at 500,000 guineas and staying in well into the high-hundreds, along with Turkish buyer Ibrahim Araci but it was the Aga Khan Studs’ Stud Manager Pat Downes who made the bid that took her price into seven figures. He was beaten to the prize, however, when he was unwilling to top Charlie Gordon-Watson’s bid of 1,100,000 guineas.

After the last of her draft had gone through, a naturally emotional Henrietta Bedford commented;

"I don't know what to think just now. From a purchase of 2,100 guineas to a sale of over 1 million is amazing," she said referencing to her purchase of MRS MOSS in 1975 from whom FIRST, along with many of the Bloomsbury Stud mares, descend.

"I was just so lucky. I am very sad that my husband wasn't here to witness this - he would have thought it was amazing."

"I would have loved the Aga Khan to have bought her - Pat Downes did buy BURN THE BREEZE on his behalf, who is of course from one of the Aga's families, but to have had so much interest from breeders such as the Aga Khan has been amazing.

"And when someone such as Paul Shanahan tells me that FIRST's foal was the most beautiful foal he has ever seen, and that he hopes he will see me in the winners' enclosure at Epsom, it has been just wonderful."

The dispersal of fillies and mares from Bloomsbury Stud realised a total of 2,987,000 guineas for the eighteen lots sold.

Late in the evening the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) winner ELUSIVE WAVE was sold to Coolmore’s MV Magnier for 800,000 guineas after he saw off Haras de Saint-Pair’s Andreas Putsch and the Japanese group representing Eishin Farm. The four-year-old daughter of ELUSIVE CITY out of the RAINBOW QUEST mare MULTICOLOUR WAVE was consigned to the sale by European Sales Management who enjoyed a very successful December Sale, consigning eight lots in total, and selling seven for a total of 2,190,000 guineas including the Listed placed COUNTESS LEMONADE for 700,000 guineas.

The third highest price for the day was 850,000 guineas for the Group 3 winning filly GRACE O’MALLEY who was offered in foal to SHAMARDAL by The Castlebridge Consignment. The daughter of REFUSE TO BEND and the DARSHAAN mare LIONNE was fourth in the Group 1 Irish Oaks last year and is out of a half-sister to the Group 1 Derby winner SIR PERCY. Bidding on the mare was an international affair with interest from Shadai and Eishin Farms from Japan, Ibrahim Araci from Turkey and Hugo Lascelles, standing next to Claiborne Farms’ Bernie Sams from the US. But it was Tony Nerses who was successful with a bid of 850,000 guineas. Nerses bought GRACE O’MALLEY on behalf of the Kuwaiti based businessmen Salah Al Homaizi and Imad Al Sagar and indicated that she would visit OASIS DREAM next year.