Mayo people—fans of the Gaelic football team—know the pain of defeat from the dark nights trudging home from the cathedral that is Croke Park after another agonizing experience in the All-Ireland final, so when success in one form or another is achieved it's not a familiar feeling.
Vet Barry Judge looked dazed as his homebred Starman filly etched her name in the Tattersalls Ireland annals Sept. 25 as the first horse to break the six-figure ceiling in the history of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale Part II.
Judge watched on almost uncomprehending as bids rained down on the ring for the brown filly, the first foal out of winning Showcasing mare Bella Caelia. Willie Browne and Jim McCartan combined to purchase the filly for €105,000 (US$122,429, €1=US$1.17) as a breeze-up prospect.
As photos were taken and members of the bloodstock team from Tattersalls Ireland arrived to share their congratulations with Judge, he was still processing what had just unfolded.
"This is the best result we've had at the sales, we sold a Space Blues filly here yesterday (Lot 428) for €45,000 and we've had good results in the past but this is the first time we've had a six-figure sale," Judge remarked.
"We bought the mare for 7,000 guineas at Tattersalls in July, she's by Showcasing and from a really fast family so I thought she'd make a nice broodmare."
Starman's talented first crop has yielded the Prix Morny (G1) winner Venetian Sun and three group winners so expectations are for a fee hike from his 2025 fee of €10,000, but Judge will consult the O'Callaghan family about plans for Bella Caelia.
"She could go back to Starman," Judge said. "I'll have to talk to Tony and Anne! He will be a lot more expensive than he was when I sent her to him. I've used Tally Ho stallions since I started out, Tony and Anne have always been so good to me."
Expense was on the mind of the filly's new owners who were determined to land themselves a yearling by the 2021 July Cup (G1) winner but were forced to wait until today to reel one in.
"We saw her a couple of days ago and she was our pick of the sale," McCartan said.
"We wanted to buy a Starman, he looks like he could be an exceptional sire, and I have been lucky with Dutch Art. She is a lovely athletic and strong individual. She could be one for the Craven Sale. We have now bought three this week, it has been an expensive sale!"
The international appeal of the sale was reflected in the variety of names on the buyers' list with Italy's Razza Latina the biggest spenders on the day, Cristiana Brivio's total Part II outlay €147,000 for six horses.
The tightened catalog produced astonishing results with 131 yearlings generating €1,871,800 (US$2,182,509) in receipts, an increase of 51% year-on-year and from more than 50 fewer horses.
That trade saw record average and medians posted for Part II with the average of €14,074 (US$16,410) a leap of 112% on 12 months ago. The median grew by an even more astounding 150 points in that time—from €4,000 to €10,000 (US$11,660). The clearance rate was an outstanding 92%.
