Havana Grey Filly Tops Second Day of Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale

The Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale concluded with a filly by exciting stallion HAVANA GREY topping the sale late on the second day at 140,000 guineas. Turnover for the sale, held over two days for the first time, was a record 8,927,500 guineas as was the 59 lots that sold for 50,000 guineas or more.    

Havana Grey Filly to Elliott and Amo for 140,000 Guineas    

Bloodstock agent Alex Elliott secured the top lot on the second and final day of the Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale when Whitsbury Manor Stud’s HAVANA GREY filly out of the TWILIGHT SON mare STEP SISTER was knocked down to him for 140,000 guineas, after he saw off underbidder Jono Mills and breeze up consignors Willie Browne and Jim McCartan.  

Elliott purchased a total of 8 lots at this two-day sale and commented: "She was the stand-out filly for me over the two days, she could have been offered later in Book 2 but Ed Harper does an outstanding job and brought her here to stand out. I love the pedigree and I bought a horse called Study Up under the second dam in Book 3 in 2022. He is with Clive Cox and he won his three-year-old maiden on his career debut - it is a pedigree that never misses."  

STEP SISTER is a half-sister to the Group 2 Sapphire Stakes winner and multiple Group 1 runner up STEPPER POINT and the Listed winner and Group placed LADY IN FRANCE, as well as to the dam of the Group placed ADAAY TO REMEMBER and the aforementioned STUDY UP.    

Elliott continued: "She is quite young so there is a lot of improvement to come to her, and she has a bit of length to her. She just has loads of quality and I loved her when I first saw her. I thought she was the one to get and luckily, Amo Racing’s Kia Joorabchian thought the same."  

Of her price he said: "We had to take breeze up men on for a long way, her sister sold well at this year's Craven Sale when bought by William Muir and after seeing what Havana Grey has brought at the breeze up sales this year I knew the breeze up men would be on her to a level - it was nice to buy for an end user."  

He added: "The quality horses at a sale such as this shine through. It is not a select sale, and there are a few horses who could have been in different books, but people have brought them here to stand out and I think generally have been well rewarded for doing so."  

Cotai Glory Colt from Houghton Bloodstock Sells for 100,000 Guineas  

The top priced colt on the second day of the Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale was the son of COTAI GLORY out of MILLVINA, consigned by Houghton Bloodstock and purchased for 100,000 guineas by Alex Elliott and Billy Jackson-Stops.  

"He is for Valmont and Michael Blencowe," reported Elliott. "We set up the partnership last year and we actually run a horse tonight called West Acre. We think a bit of him and he is a horse we like. This horse was George Scott's pick of the day. We are delighted to get him, he has a very fast pedigree and comes from a very good farm. He looks like a type of horse we can really get on with. Dutch Art is a broodmare sire I like, and Cotai Glory consistently punches above his weight. This is a very exciting horse."  

Explaining the strategy a little further, Elliott said: "We will aim to buy six together and two will go to George Scott, two to Andrew Balding and two to Ralph Beckett. For George we have focused on getting some fast type of two-year-old sorts, he has excelled with that sort of horse, while for Andrew and Ralph we will probably get later developing types."  

The DUTCH ART mare MILLVINA is a half-sister to the Group 2 Temple Stakes winner PRICELESS and to BALLYALLA, the dam of Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes winner INQUISITIVELY and  granddam of another Temple Stakes winner in KERDOS as well as WATCH MY TRACER, a Listed winner earlier this year for Scott.    

Amo Racing Buy Chasemore’s Sergei Prokofiev Colt for 90,000 Guineas  

Bloodstock agent Alex Elliott enjoyed a productive day in the Tattersalls sales ring, also signing for the Chasemore Farm consigned SERGEI PROKOFIEV colt out of the KINGMAN mare SASSY DRESSER for 90,000 guineas after seeing off the attentions of underbidder Matt Coleman.    

"He has been bought for Amo Racing," revealed Elliott. "They have obviously had great success with Arizona Blaze, who is from the first crop of Sergei. He is out of a Kingman mare who has bred Regal Gem, who is rated 96 and is the winner of two races as a two-year-old this year. Matt Coleman was the underbidder and he said to me that the colt could have been in Book 1, and physically I don't disagree, he is a very good model."  

Amo Racing have also enjoyed success already with progeny of the sire bought at the Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale with their Listed National Stakes winner ENCHANTING EMPRESS a 62,000 guineas purchase at last year’s sale.  

The colt is a grandson of the Listed Boadicea Stakes placed THE GOLD CHEONGSAM, who is a half-sister to the dam of Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp winner THE PLATINUM QUEEN and SEAGULLS ELEVEN, runner up in this year's Group 2 Superlative Stakes.    

Elliott added: "It is a deep family and this colt was liked by the whole team including Kia, who saw him yesterday with myself."

Bell Secures Space Blues Colt for 82,000 Guineas  

A colt by first-crop stallion SPACE BLUES was another to catch the eye of buyers when knocked down to Newmarket-based trainer Michael Bell for 82,000 guineas. The Clearwater Stud consigned yearling is out of the winning HARBOUR WATCH mare STAY FOREVER from the family of the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes winner PLEA BARGAIN.  

It is the top class family of TIME CHARTER, the Champion older mare of 1983, ancestress of the Champion two-year-old BEST TERMS and Group/Grade 1 winners CURSORY GLANCE and DIGITAL AGE.  

"I am a big fan of Space Blues, I think this horse is very athletic and he goes back to a really top-class family," said Bell. "Space Blues was a very tough and consistent horse, and as he was a speedy son of Dubawi he has every chance of making it. He looks very uncomplicated. I am hoping he is for an existing client but I need to make a couple of calls!" 

Kildallan Celebrating Again with Brother to Believing  

Kildallan Farm enjoyed a memorable day yesterday when Dermot Kilmartin's fifteen-year-old son Ruairi sold a DARK ANGEL filly pinhooked for €6,000 to Paul Corrigan for 70,000 guineas and the Co. Westmeath stud farm enjoyed further success on the second day of the Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale.    

Their INNS OF COURT half-brother to lightning fast filly BELIEVING, who finished second last time out in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes having won the Group 2 Sapphire Stakes in July, was sold for 75,000 guineas to the buying combination of Highflyer Bloodstock, trainer Eve Johnson Houghton and syndicators Middleham Park Racing. All three have enjoyed success from the Somerville Yearling Sale previously as the purchasers of Group 1 winner BRADSELL, Listed Windsor Castle Stakes winner CHIPOTLE and Group 3 winner EDDIE’S BOY respectively.

Middleham Park’s Tom Palin was on hand to discuss the purchase. "I thought he was one of the stand-outs of the sale, he walks for fun and the page is there for all to see as he is a half-brother to a fantastic horse," he said, before quipping: "Seeing is Believing!"  

Palin continued: "Obviously we have a big love affair with Inns of Court with Ziggys Dream and The Strikin Viking - for us the sire can do no wrong. I think this colt is good value, and he could look cheap in twelve months time! He goes to Eve Johnson Houghton who can ready horses and is an exceptional trainer. We have one horse with Eve already, but she is a trainer we had on our radar for a long time and we have wanted to get the right horses to her."  

Listed winner ZIGGY'S DREAM finished third last time out in the Group 3 Oak Tree Stakes for Middleham Park Racing and Alice Haynes, while the Kevin Ryan trained THE STRIKIN VIKING finished second in the Group 2 Railway Stakes and was subsequently sold to Wathnan Racing, going on to add a second placed finish in the Group 2 Richmond Stakes at Goodwood.

Chairman's Statement

At the conclusion of the 2024 Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony commented;  

“The Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale has made huge progress in its four year history with the inaugural one day sale in 2021 producing turnover below five million guineas and an average price of 21,000 guineas. This year’s renewal, while falling short of last year’s across the board records, is still a long way in advance of the 2021 levels and is a clear indication of a sale which has quickly established itself as an important fixture in the European yearling sales calendar.  

“Nevertheless, the demand for places and the conscious decision to reduce overall numbers in the two weeks of the forthcoming Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, has resulted in a two day Somerville Yearling Sale for the first time and a very significant increase in numbers all of which has contributed to a clearance rate which has fallen some way short of where we would like it to be. Certain sectors of the market have held up well, with a wide margin record number of lots selling for 50,000 guineas or more, but the evident softening of the market at the lower levels, which has been a consistent theme this year, also reflects prevailing economic realities which we are all aware of.  

“As with every sale at Tattersalls we will assess all the factors at play with a view to establishing the optimum format for the Somerville Yearling Sale going forward and in the meantime we look forward to Books 1 to 4 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and to seeing Somerville yearlings continue to excel on the racecourse where it matters most."

The next sale at Tattersalls is the one-day September Sale which takes place next week on Tuesday 10th September.