Receiving 900,000gns (US$1,233,000, 1 guinea=US$1.37) for a filly bred from a mare that cost just 14,000gns might sound like the kind of result every small breeder dreams of. But, in so many ways, this was just another day in the life for James Cloney, who has been on one heck of a journey with Entreat (GB), a bargain buy who turned into a blue hen producer.
Cloney added Entreat to the Clara Stud broodmare band in July 2016 when the daughter of Pivotal was in foal to Lethal Force. The colt she was carrying turned out to be Golden Horde, who fetched £65,000 (US$68,288, £1=US$1.05) as a yearling before going on to land the Commonwealth Cup (G1). Golden Horde now stands under the Sumbe banner at Montfort et Preaux.
In 2017, Cloney sent Entreat to visit Mehmas, and the result from that tryst was the listed-winning sprinter, and £260,000 yearling, Line Of Departure. The mare then visited Coolmore for the first Irish season of Wootton Bassett, to whom she duly bred Camille Pissarro. The 1,250,000gns Coolmore and White Birch Farm yearling purchase was last seen winning the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (G1).
Those exploits drew a host of bidders to Tattersalls Nov. 25 when the mare's Dark Angel filly was presented at the December Yearling Sale. Plenty took an interest in the bidding but matters ultimately boiled down to Henry Lascelles and the team from Yulong Investments, including the organization's principal, Zhang Yuesheng.
Lascelles won out with a bid of 900,000gns, a record price for the December Yearling Sale. The previous high was set in 2006 when Demi O'Byrne signed at 700,000gns for Irish Oaks (G1) heroine Moonstone.
"She's some mare, she just pours pure class into her stock," said a delighted Cloney. "It's an emotional roller coaster with her, but when she does it, she does it so well. As breeders, we're all dreamers and you do dream for this to happen. It's unbelievable that it just keeps happening with this mare. It's kind of exciting, especially because Entreat has traveled to Justify, so we're expecting a nice foal by him in early January. She's back with me now, she came back home in May, so she'll be getting an extra scoop of nuts this evening."
Monday's transaction took Entreat's yearling sale receipts to a colossal £3,191,500 since she was purchased for the equivalent of just £14,700 eight years ago. It would be a major understatement to say the 18-year-old is now worth many multiples of that humble price tag, but Cloney said he has never been tempted to cash in by selling "the family pet and a complete star."
He said: "With her, I feel she's so unique. Sometimes you get mares who produce good racehorses but they don't perform at the sales. But in my eyes, and I think in a lot of peoples' eyes, she ticks every box because she's able to throw the stock and then they go and back it up on the track. There's not too many mares with two group 1s winners under their belt, or four stakes winners, especially all by different stallions."
The yearling session of the December Sale ensured that a big two weeks at Tattersalls got off to a notably buoyant start.
Turnover rose 50% year-on-year to reach 7,170,000gns (US$9,822,900). The median price also climbed 50% to hit 30,000gns, having been 20,000gns 12 months ago. The average price of 51,957gns showed a 38% increase. The clearance rate was a solid 82% as 138 lots sold from 168 offered.
Trade continues Nov. 26 when the four-day December Foal Sale begins at 11 a.m. local time.
