Lope de Vega Colt Tops Tattersalls September Part II

Selling returned to Fairyhouse for Part II of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale Sept. 24, with the second session proving a more low-key affair than the opening two days of trade. Top-lot honors went to the only offering by Lope de Vega (IRE) in the catalog, as he sold to Valfredo Valiani for €52,000 (US59,280, €1=US$1.14) late in the day. Valiani purchased six lots for €133,000 during Part I of the Tattersalls sale, with the Lope de Vega colt among three purchases during Part II, in which he finished as the leading buyer with a total spend of €91,000. "He's for an existing client," Valiani said of the top lot. "I'm not sure yet whether he'll be going to Italy or France; we need to make some plans. "I thought he was a lovely horse, a very nice mover, and it's not easy to buy colts by Lope De Vega. I've bought 10 this week. There were nice horses here and they were selling for the right money." Offered by The Castlebridge Consignment, the colt is out of the Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum-bred mare Model Actress, who hails from the important Juddmonte family of group 1-winning champions Flintshire (GB) and Enable (GB). A larger offering fueled a rise in aggregate returns, with 204 lots offered, up 41% year-on-year. A total of 174 sold for a turnover of €2,039,100 (US$2,324,574), a rise of 9% and taking the aggregate past the €2 million mark for only the second time in the sale's history, and for the first time since 2017. However, with significantly more horses going through the ring, the average fell 17% to €11,719 (US$13,360) and the median was down 10% at €9,000 (US$10,260). At the conclusion of Part II of the September Yearling Sale, Tattersalls Ireland CEO Simon Kerins commented: "The excellent trade witnessed across the last two days continued into Part II, which saw consistent demand from the opening lot through to the finish, with turnover surpassing €2 million. Given the strength of the market on Tuesday and Wednesday, quite a few purchasers still had orders to fill, and a clearance rate of 85% highlights the strong demand that was existent throughout the day. "A particular mention must go to our international clients who were present across all levels of the market today and played a big part in the success of the sale. We saw buyers from Poland, Czech Republic and Italy featuring prominently on the leading buyers table having had outstanding success with their previous purchases at this sale, it was pleasing to see so many return to buy. "Pinhookers were also busy ahead of the 2027 breeze up sales, and earlier this year we saw a number of Part II graduates hitting the headlights in the sales ring. We look forward to seeing some of today's yearlings back here at our record-breaking Breeze up Sale next May."