Godolphin secured the most expensive colt ever sold at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale when landing a well-bred son of Kameko from Tweenhills Farm and Stud at a cool 1 million guineas (US$1,370,000, 1 guinea=US$1.37) Oct. 16.
The youngster came to the ring armed with a major pedigree update as he is a full brother to New Century, who became his sire's first top-flight winner when landing the Sept. 14 Summer Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine. That was not the only update in the Qatar Racing-owned colt's profile, as he also landed the Stonehenge Stakes on his penultimate outing.
"I think he's a very nice horse and he's a full brother to a grade 1 winner," said Anthony Stroud, who stood beside Charlie Appleby during the bidding. "Kameko has had a very good start; (the colt's) a beautiful, quality horse and he'll go to Moulton Paddocks. It's great to have him, although the valuation was on the higher side of what we'd thought."
The colt is out of Potent Embrace, who joined the Tweenhills-based broodmare band when purchased by David Redvers for €150,000 at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale in 2016, where she was sold by Godolphin. The daughter of Street Cry has now bred two bold black-type winners as her first foal is Passion And Glory, who carried Sheikh Mohammed's royal blue silks to victory in eight races, most notably the 2021 Glorious Stakes (G3).
"He's actually more like his dad than his brother," said Redvers. "His brother looks a proper 2-year-old but this horse, I can see him being a bit scopier really. The thing in common with all of the Kamekos though is they have this incredible temperament, which is why the brother was able to go across to Canada and come back and go on to America. He takes it all so well. The mare died foaling this lad in Ireland. It was one of those cruel twists of fate, but she has left quite a parting gift."
The transaction marked a successful return to selling at the October Sale for Tweenhills, which last sold yearlings under its own name back in 2012. The seven-figure trade is the latest positive step in Kameko's burgeoning stallion career. His debut juvenile crop contains 10 European winners, two of which have stuck in black-type company. New Century is joined by Wimbledon Hawkeye, a comfortable winner of the Royal Lodge Stakes (G2) on his latest outing.
Despite breaking into seven-figure territory Godolphin's latest purchase could not quite reach the record price for Book 2, which belongs to the listed-placed filly and four-time winner Tarhib, a 1.05 million guineas signing by Shadwell back in 2019.
Facts and Figures
A tighter catalog saw 697 lots offered, 37 fewer than 12 months ago. But that did not stop the number of sold lots increasing by six, with 632 yearlings finding a buyer at a clip of 91%. Those transactions yielded an aggregate of 68,517,000 guineas (US$93,868,290), which was up fully 27% year-on-year, despite the smaller catalog.
The three days produced a six-figure average for the first time in Book 2's history, closing at 108,415 guineas, (US$148,529). The median price was 70,000 guineas (US$95,900), which showed a 13% increase to equal the benchmark posted in 2022.
In his regular end-of-sale address, Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said: "The results from Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale last week were pretty remarkable and certainly instilled some confidence leading into Book 2, but yet again the level of trade has outstripped the most optimistic of presale expectations.
"The extraordinary success of Book 1 has been well and truly replicated in Book 2 and again it is the outstanding quality of the yearlings and the sale's reputation for consistently producing racehorses of the very highest caliber which have brought the buyers to Tattersalls in overwhelming numbers. Every year British and Irish breeders and consignors place enormous faith in the two weeks of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and the unrelenting demand throughout Book 2 shows that their confidence has been fully justified."
He added: "Above all, however, we can reflect on another Tattersalls yearling sale which has exceeded expectations at a time when confidence has sometimes understandably been in short supply. It has not all been plain sailing in recent years, but we work hard to bring as many buyers as possible to Tattersalls for the October Yearling Sale and as we move on to Books 3 and 4 we can look forward with a little more optimism and look back on another Tattersalls sale which has brought a collective smile to the face of the British and Irish Thoroughbred breeding industry."
