Bill's Columns

Ordinarily by this time of year we’re wrapping up the results of the European mixed sales which close out the annual North American and European auction marketplace, but of course this is no ordinary year, and the Goffs November Mixed Sale, originally scheduled to be held November 16-19, will now be held December 18-21, so we won’t be able to tally final totals for the auction market until then. But, following the trend that we’ve seen most of the year, gross sales have been off by around 20%, more a function of fewer top horses and pedigrees being offered than any fall in like-to-like prices.

Probably 80% of the European mixed sale market to date took place at the Tattersalls December Sale in Newmarket, with four days of foals November 25-28, and four days of mostly fillies and mares November 30-December 3; most of the rest came at Arqana’s December Sale at Deauville, December 5-8. In Newmarket, with 17% fewer foals catalogued than last year, the number sold was down only 5% (663 to 628) as the clearance rate from the catalogue jumped over 8%, from 59% to 67%, no doubt through highly motivated sellers. As a result the four-day foal sale gross was off just 11%, with the average down just 6%, from 44,251 gns in 2019 to 41,807 gns this year. There is a strong suspicion this sector is the truest gauge of this year’s European mixed sale market, which would be good news as it’s significantly less than the overall market and suggests the October rally in European yearling prices might actually be continuing.

Tattersalls’ four-day ’Mares etc’ sale was off significantly more, by 25% in gross and 32% in average, but as most market-watchers are aware filly and mare catalogues are very much at the mercy of what is offered, and there is strong evidence that many filly and mare owners elected to sit this year out, so there were significantly fewer top prospects in the catalogues. There’s no suggestion that prices at the top have declined more than incrementally, but what was very significant was that, after the top-priced 2.2-million gns mare Beach Frolic, the dam of top European 3-year-old miler Palace Pier, sold in foal to first-year sire Blue Point and signed for by M.V. Magnier, there were only three other fillies or mares which sold for 700,000 gns or more. Last year, after the top-priced mare, Coplow, dam of 2018 G1 English 1000 Guineas winner Billesdon Bess, and sold to M.V. Magnier for 2.1-million gns, there were 13 other fillies of mares which brought 700,000-gns-plus. Those ten missing 700,000+ fillies and mares accounted for half the drop in gross just by themselves.

There are another 759 foals catalogued for Goffs, so a lot of the sire averages will change, but not for the top sire of foals, Dubawi, who has none catalogued at Goffs but had three sell at Tattersalls for an average of 536,667 gns ($752,625), including the two top-priced colts at the sale, which sold for 700,000 gns and 600,000 gns to Godolphin. Frankel (7/avg $375,832) and Lope De Vega (7/$300,516) both edged above the $300,000 average mark, followed by Sea The Stars, who has had 12 foals sell for an average of $212,738. Dark Angel (4/$170,042) and Invincible Spirit (7/$169,520) come next.

Among the younger sire crops, the two leaders with first (Northern Hemisphere) foals of 2020 both stood at Tweenhills in England, namely Roaring Lion (5/avg $90,387), the top-class son of Kitten’s Joy who died after just one season at stud, and Zoustar (15/$88,989), a top young sprint sire in Australia who has now been reverse-shuttling. The top sires who had their first yearlings in 2020, and will have their first 2-year-olds in 2021, are both Coolmore sires, namely Saxon Warrior (11/$125,731) and Churchill (16/$84,266), while Belardo, a G1 Dewhurst winner from Lope De Vega’s first crop who has four Black-Type winners, including one G2 winner and two G3 winners in his first crop, was top sire with first 2-year-olds, with four foals averaging $133,592, including a 280,000 gns colt bought by agent Alex Elliott.

Beach Patrol’s 2.2-million gns sale in foal to him propelled Darley’s Blue Point to the top of the list of covering sires of in-foal mares, with a total of six mares in foal to him averaging $684,385. Five proven sires also averaged over $400,000 for their in-foal mares: Juddmonte’s Kingman (5/$457,053) and Frankel (2/$434,034); Ballylinch’s Lope De Vega (4/$428,759); Coolmore’s No Nay Never (9/$420,266); and France’s leading sire, Haras de Bonneval’s Siyouni (7/$419,088).

A total of seven European sires who covered their first mares were among the 23 sires who averaged $100,000+ as covering sires of in-foal mares. Besides Blue Point, these included: Ballyhane Ireland’s Soldier’s Call (2/$216,950); Coolmore’s Ten Sovereigns (11/$169,854), Magna Grecia (6/$128,501), and Calyx (10/$111,248); Germany’s Gestut Auenquelle’s Best Solution (2/$103,031); and England’s National Stud’s Advertise (9/$100,615). Two other young sires, both with their first yearlings in 2020, also had a six-figure in-foal mare average: Coolmore’s Churchill (9/$261,982) and France’s Haras d’Etreham’s Almanzor (13/$113,527). A word also for Almaznor’s sire, Wootton Bassett, the European sire story of the season after his big-money transfer from Etreham to Coolmore. Off €40,000 seasons this year, he’s had 10 mares in foal average a very healthy $194,828.

For more articles by Bill Oppenheim, APEX ratings, and Brianne Stanley’s Worldwide Sales Ticker, please visit www.billoppenheim.com. Twitter @billoppenheim