As the biggest names in Flat racing rolled into this little town on Tuesday, the anticipation that always precedes an auction of top-quality racehorse prospects was mixed with no little anxiety in view of recent news that the traditionally big‑spending Godolphin was cutting back on its bloodstock investments.
Nervous vendors noted that its founder, Sheikh Mohammed, who loves to attend this most high-profile of sales, was absent on this occasion but it turned out that his money was present and £2.73m of it was spent on one colt, now the most expensive yearling sold anywhere in the world this year.
That was an extraordinary vindication of the decision made by Philippa Cooper, who sold him, to send her young horses to auction for the first time in a decade. Cooper owns Normandie Stud in West Sussex, where she breeds what she has called “rich men’s horses”, which will hopefully come good eventually but require patience. Back in 2006, aggrieved that her yearlings were not attracting the bids she felt they deserved, she decided to keep them all and race them in her own familiar pink and white colours.
This colt was the first she has offered since opting to test the waters anew. Asked how she will feel about watching him carry someone else’s colours on the track, next year or the year after, Cooper responded with a sanguine: “I will be pleased that someone else is taking the risk. It does just get to the point that they are too risky to have ourselves. Look, I have to run the stud on a commercial basis or else it all comes to an end.”
In a sense, Sheikh Mohammed’s cash was supporting his own operation, as Cooper’s colt is a son of Dubawi, the Sheikh’s own stallion. The hope within Godolphin is clearly that Dubawi will, in due course, take over as the world’s most desirable stallion from Galileo, who is four years older but showing no sign of slowing down, having had the first three home in the Arc on Sunday.
Sheikh Mohammed’s man, John Ferguson, was doing the bidding again an hour or so later when another son of Dubawi fetched £1.26m. Ferguson offered high praise for the quality on offer here, noting that, even by its own standards, this Book One sale at Tattersalls’ sales ring had excelled. “We’ve had plenty of good years here but this is the one when you really feel we’ve got the cream,” he said.
“Yes, some of these horses make a lot of money but they deserve to. If you look at the pedigrees, these mares are worth a fortune. They’re being bred to the best stallions and then they’re hitting the jackpot because they’re breeding beautiful-looking individuals.
“That’s what the game’s about. If you’re not going to get paid here, you’re not going to get paid anywhere.”
While Dubawi and Galileo are the established names, Frankel is just getting going. His five sons and daughters sold here fetched sums from £262,500 to £708,750, putting them beyond the reach of all but the biggest spenders.
Frankel’s progeny have done him proud on the track this year, his first season as a father of racehorses, but bloodstock buyers know that it takes time for a successful stallion to prove himself and they are reserving judgment for the time being, even though lay onlookers imagine he has nothing more to prove.
His big moment here may come on Thursday with the sale of a son out of the mare Attraction, herself a 1,000 Guineas winner. The colt in question is the subject of admiring reports, admittedly from people who cannot themselves afford to bid.
Among Frankel’s many fans is the trainer John Gosden, who bought one of his colts for a mystery owner, bidding from an obscured position halfway down the back stairs so that his rivals could not know who they were up against. Gosden revealed that, four years ago, he had been an underbidder for this colt’s half-brother, Berkshire, who went on to win at Royal Ascot.
“Slightly different price range,” he observed, ruefully. While Berkshire sold for £63,000, this colt went for £472,000.
