Ferguson Buys Shamardal Colt for 500,000 Guineas at Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up

A colt and filly by SHAMARDAL were the highlights on the second day of the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale which saw a total of four lots sell for 200,000 guineas or more, all on the second day which saw a total of 63 lots sell for 5,148,000 guineas at an average of 81,714 guineas and a median of 60,000 guineas. The two day sale saw a total of 117 lots sold, for 8,578,000 guineas, at an average of 73,316 guineas and a median of 57,000 guineas.

The top lot for the sale was the SHAMARDAL colt out of the SWAIN mare BALLOURA which smashed this year's sale top price when selling for 500,000gns.

In a head-to-head thriller, trainer David Marnane, taking instructions over the phone with Peter Kelly doing the bidding, pulled out all the stops to buy the SHAMARDAL chestnut, but in the end John Ferguson claimed the prize. The pair had been in battle right through from 100,000gns mark.

"He is easily our biggest sale," said a stunned Roger O'Callaghan of vendor Tally-Ho Stud. "We were hoping for 100 or 150,000gns, but this far exceeded our expectations. We have loved this foal from the day we bought him."

Amazingly, when O'Callaghan offered the colt as a yearling last year, he struggled to get a bid for the youngster, and ended up buying him back in. The Irishman was certainly rewarded tonight for his judgement having paid 53,000gns for the horse as a foal at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale in 2010.                          

The colt became the joint third best price for a breeze-up horse in Europe.                          

A few lots later the SHAMARDAL filly out of the SRI PEKAN mare BELLA BELLA became the second highest priced two-year-old in the sale and the top priced filly when she was knocked down to Richard Frisby for 360,000 guineas after he saw off the efforts of Mags O’Toole. The filly was consigned to the sale from Willie Browne’s Mocklershill.

In what was a frenetic half an hour, the filly by STREET BOSS out of the CHIMES BAND mare BELIEVE was knocked down to Blandford Bloodstock’s Richard Brown for 280,000 guineas providing a massive pinhooking result for John Collins’ Brown Island Stables who had purchased him as a yearling for just $22,000.

Earlier in the evening Marco Botti had seen off David Redvers to secure the CAPE CROSS colt out of THIELLA for 200,000 guineas.                            

"He is a nice horse, and he breezed very well. He has been bought for an existing owner and will be the type for 7f races this year, " said Botti. "I liked him physically, and he is by a good sire who has produced a lot of good horses. He is also out of a Kingmambo mare, which is a good cross."

The sale represented a great result for Hillwood Stud’s Charlie and Tracy Vigors who had purchased him as a yearling for £40,000. Catalogues are out now and available from Tattersalls and Tattersalls representatives or online at www.tattersalls.com.   

At the conclusion of the 2012 Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony commented;

“There has been plenty of competition at the top of the market this week, a number of spectacular pinhooking successes and the individual highlight of the 500,000 guineas sale topper which was the third highest price ever at the Craven Breeze Up. Buyers from throughout the world, most notably the Gulf region and Hong Kong, have had a major impact on the sale and we are naturally delighted that the key indicators of turnover, average, median and clearance rate have held up so well.                          

“The figures should also be placed in the context of conditions for the breeze which were far from ideal.The two year olds coped admirably in wind and driving rain and, as ever paid tribute to the professionalism of the consignors who brought some outstanding individuals to the marketplace. Nevertheless it would be wrong to pretend that all has been plain sailing over the last two days. The market has been selective at times and served as a reminder that the continuing economic uncertainty, particularly in Europe, continues to pose challenges. The positives that can be taken from this sale should however give cause for cautious optimism as we look forward to the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up and Horses in Training Sale which takes place here on May 3rd and 4th.