Galileo colt brings 400,000 guineas

A 400,000 guineas Galileo (Ire) colt out of 2004 Prix Saint-Alary (Fr-G1)

heroine Ask For The Moon (Fr) (Dr Fong) stole the show at Friday's flagship

penultimate session of the December Foal Sale at Tattersalls in Newmarket. Demi

O'Byrne signed for the well-developed January-born colt. High-stakes pinhooker

Eugene McDermott of Kennycourt Stud was the underbidder on Lot No. 991.

"He's for the usual team and has been bought to race," O'Byrne said. "He was

very mature and you could almost put a saddle on him now. He was a lovely strong

horse out of a good mare. He'll come back home and go into training when the

time comes."

The colt, bred by A-Mark Racing et al, was prepared for the sale by

Jacqueline Norris's Jockey Hall Stud on behalf of James Hanly's Ballyhimikin

Stud.

"In my 15 years doing this job, he was the most impressive foal I have

prepped," Norris said. "He probably had 200 shows before going through the ring

and just had everything."

It was a day where most of the top lots went to end users, rather than

pinhookers, and so was the case with Lot 933, a filly by Medicean. Purchased by

Alan Cooper on behalf of Maria Niarchos and family, the half-sister to Epsom

Derby (Eng-G1) runner-up Dragon Dancer (Sadler's Wells) realized a 320,000

guineas final bid. Blandford Bloodstock's Tom Goff was the underbidder on the

filly, who comes from the outstanding family of Kirsten Rausing's foundation

mare Alruccaba (Crystal Palace).

"She's a lovely filly and the Machiavellian (Medicean's sire) on a Hernando

(Fr) mare is our blood," Cooper said. "We have the three-parts brother -- Ajaan

-- with Henry Cecil and we hope he goes on next year. This  family of

Kirsten's is extraordinary and let's hope the filly can run."

Another filly bought as a long-term breeding prospect was a sister to this

season's Fillies' Mile (Eng-G1) runner-up Lady Darshaan (Ire) (High Chaparral

[Ire]), sold by Shanaville Stables for breeders Seamus Kennedy and Michael

Woodlock. Hugo Lascelles, acting for Anthony Oppenheimer of Hascombe and Valiant

Studs, bought the filly with Eddie O'Leary of Lynn Lodge Stud coming out second

best when the bidding hit 300,000 guineas.

"She was an absolute queen and I thought she was the best filly in the sale,"

Lascelles said. "There's a lot to look forward to with Lady Darshaan, so you've

got a lot of chances with something like her."

"She's for Mr. Oppenheimer to keep and race and is one for the long haul that

will come to the stud eventually. We try and upgrade the stock when we can."

Eugene McDermott, who was underbidder on the sale-topping Galileo, had

earlier fought off John Ferguson to get a 240,000 guineas Oasis Dream (GB) colt

bred by Ptarmigan Bloodstock and sold through Kirsten Rausing's St Simon Stud.

"He'll come back to my Kennycourt Stud and then be reoffered and we hope to

make a profit," McDermott said. "We tend to trade at the high end of the market

and I thought this colt was the pick of the day. I think that everything about

Oasis Dreams is the tops.

"We got eight foals at Goffs and this was the fourth one we have got here and

I'm definitely optimistic about the yearling market next year."

But despite Dubai's current economic problems, Ferguson was as busy as ever

stocking up on 2011 racing prospects for Sheikh Mohammed. He was the day's

biggest spender after getting eight foals for 1,115,000 guineas, headed by a

colt by Invincible Spirit who brought 260,000 guineas. Offered late in the

session as Lot 1022, the colt -- bred by former jockey Walter Swinburn and sold

from his family's locally-based Genesis Green Stud -- is a half-brother to

French Two Thousand Guineas (Fr-G1) winner Landseer (GB) (Danehill).

Although still adrift of the 2007 record-breaking figures, the sale bounced

back from a disappointing renewal 12 months ago. The 9,951,900 guineas turnover

was up 55 per cent, the 61,813 guineas average rose by 21 percent and the 40,000

guineas median was up 14 percent. The clearance rate was 80 percent, compared to

69 percent last year.