Record Turnover at Tattersalls July Sale
The third and final day of the Tattersalls July Sale saw trade continue in robust fashion, pushing the turnover for the sale past the previous record set ten years ago. A total of 175 lots were sold for 2,660,700 guineas on day three, at an average of 15,204 guineas and a median of 8,500 guineas. This took the three-day totals to 572 lots sold for 12,311,329 guineas, a rise of 38% on the corresponding session last year. The average was 21,523 guineas and the median 10,000 guineas.
The star turn on the final day was the four-year-old gelding FANCIFUL ANGEL who was offered from Marco Botti’s Prestige Place. The son of DARK ANGEL, who was offered with a ‘Timeform’ rating of 113, won the Listed International Stakes at Lingfield as a three-year-old and was runner up in the Group 2 German 2000 Guineas in Cologne. He was knocked down to Global Equine’s Adam Driver for 135,000 guineas.
"He is a lovely looking horse, the best today, and he is for Touchgold Racing which is run by Mike Kaye," said Driver. "He will stay in training with Marco Botti and will run in Dubai this winter."
FANCIFUL ANGEL already has experience of Dubai - last January he won a Meydan handicap off a mark of 106, picking up prize-money earnings of £48,979.
Top Qatari trainer Jassim Ghazali was again to the fore on the final day, securing GENERALSHIP for 120,000 guineas at the expense of fellow Qatari trainer Ibrahim Al-Malki. The son of NEW APPROACH broke his maiden just two days ago when winning a handicap easily at Kempton off an official mark of 78.
Ghazali also secured the four-year-old gelding FELIX LEITER for 80,000 guineas during the evening session. The five-time winner was officially rated 100 and has been a model of consistency over the last two years. Ghazali purchased 10 lots over the three days for 656,000 guineas.
At the conclusion of the 2016 Tattersalls July Sale, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony commented;
“It is a special year for Tattersalls as we celebrate our 250th anniversary and we have enjoyed another successful July Sale. Turnover for the July Sale has reached unprecedented levels with more than 12 million guineas changing hands, surpassing the previous record set back in 2006. The Tattersalls July Sale consistently attracts an extraordinarily diverse cast of buyers and yet again we have welcomed buyers from every continent in the world. Of particular note has been the impact made by first time visitor Mr Zhang Yuesheng whose China based Yulong Investments has made a major contribution to the success of this week’s sale.
“We should also pay tribute to our vendors whose support for this fixture has been rewarded with a clearance rate of around 90% and sustained demand at all levels of the market, especially for quality breeding stock. While the catalogue lacked a few stars amongst the horses in training, the quality of the broodmares and fillies more than compensated and the outstanding Godolphin draft was particularly well received. The global appetite for quality bloodstock remains as strong as ever and there can be no doubt that buyers have also been encouraged by the current weakness of sterling."
The next sale at Tattersalls is Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale which takes place October 4 – 6.