Irish breeding superpower Coolmore came out on the losing end of a titanic bidding war for the most expensive yearling sold in Europe this year.
The Tipperary stud were outbid by fellow heavyweights Godolphin who forked out €4.21m for a half-brother to Group One winner Barney Roy on Tuesday.
Coolmore, represented at Tattersalls October Yearling Sale at Newmarket by John Magnier's son Michael Vincent, were quiet early doors in the auction.
But when the bidding hit 1,000,000gns, Coolmore entered the fray to spark a battle of the heavyweights with Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation.
Magnier pushed the price from 1,700,000gns to 2,000,000gns with just a wave of his fingers.
Soon though the bidding between racing superpowers hit three million guineas.
And when Sheikh Mohammed instructed his team to increase their offer by anther 200,000gns, the auctioneer asked: "Does anyone else want in here now?" Don't be shy!"
Magnier threw in another 200,000gns but was instantly answered again by the operation owned by the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates.
Eventually the gavel went down at 3,600,000gns (€4.21m) with Sheikh Mohammed buying the the year's most expensive one-year-old colt.
It was a dream scenario for the horse's consignor Hazelwood Bloodstock to have the sport's biggest names renewing their long-running rivalry.
"I'm blown away," said the Newmarket-based operation's general manager Adrian O’Brien.
"He's a beautiful horse and never missed a trick. He's worked like a champion from day one, but that's an unbelievable figure. I couldn't have possibly predicted it.
"I'm over the moon and so grateful to our amazing clients for giving us this quality of stock. It's phenomenal. It's our third season consigning and only our fifth yearling sale.
"There was an awful lot of interest in the horse, everyone who saw him liked him, but for Godolphin and Coolmore to go head to head in the ring, it's what everyone dreams of."
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