An impeccably bred Sea The Stars filly out of the group 3-winning Soldier Hollow mare Sconset, whose only previous foal is this year's Schwarzgold-Rennen (G3) scorer Santa Catarina, led the way at the Baden-Badener Auktionsgesellschaft Yearling Sale in a baking-hot Baden-Baden Sept. 4 when bought by Jeremy Brummitt for €600,000 (US$696,000, €1=US$1.16).
Suzanne Roberts was the underbidder on the attractive bay, who has already been named Saxifraga by her breeder and consignor Gestut Ebbesloh.
"She's for Newsells Park Racing Syndicate 27, which is an enterprise to race horses in the hope that they can go to the top level, win a classic, and be retired to Newsells and breed the next generation of classic winners," said Brummitt, who has signed for top-notchers Tamfana and Lazy Griff in previous editions of Germany's premier yearling sale.
The transaction provided Gestut Ebbesloh with the perfect way to celebrate its 100th year of operation. The farm, based near Bielefeld, was founded by Richard Kaselowsky in 1926 and is now run by his granddaughter, Ingeborg von Schubert and her son, Paul.
"That's a record for an unraced horse for us," Paul said. "We expected something like that, as we sold another Sea The Stars filly for half a million some years ago but, of course, you never really know what the market will be like.
"Sconset has no foal, but she's in foal to Fantastic Moon, who stands with us. This is the 100th year of Gestut Ebbesloh's existence, so it's all the more satisfying."
A Juddmonte First
Juddmonte made its first purchase at BBAG when it gave €460,000 for one of the clear picks in the catalog—Gestut Rottgen's Frankel colt out of blue-hen mare Wellenspiel, the dam of two Deutsches Derby (G1) winners in Windstoss and Weltstar.
Juddmonte's nominations manager Shane Horan, who did the bidding, said of the yearling: "He's a fine horse. Simon Mockridge (Juddmonte general manager) was here earlier this week and had a good look at him, and liked what he saw and, hopefully, he'll prove to be well bought.
"Wellenspiel has a serious page, this is a proper classic family, and so she deserved to go to a stallion like Frankel. She's a complete outcross to Frankel and one thing we've learned is that Frankel is especially effective with outcross mares. Something like half of his classic winners are bred that way."
This year's BBAG Yearling Sale drew a large international crowd, including many other owners, trainers, and agents from Britain and Ireland. William Haggas, who was sitting with Brummitt when the top lot was sold, was making his debut at the auction.
The visitors' expenditure contributed to total turnover of €9,316,000 (US$10,806,560), up by 15% last year, but with 16 more lots sold than in 2025, the average dipped by around 1% to €55,124 (US$63,944). The clearance rate improved by four points to 81%.
