Strong Trade Rolls onto Part II of September Yearling Sale

A colt by leading sire Lope De Vega topped today’s one-day Tattersalls Ireland September Sale Part II when fetching €52,000 bought by Italian agent Valfredo Valiani, who purchased him from The Castlebridge Consignment.

“He is for an existing client,” said Valiani, who has bought ten horses over the two sections of the September Yearling Sale. “I am not sure yet whether he will be going to Italy or France, we need to make some plans. He is a lovely horse, a very nice mover, and it is not easy to buy colts by Lope De Vega.”

Of this week’s sale, he added: “There has been some nice horses here and they have sold for the right money.”

Yearlings by the three-time Group 1 winner Space Blues took the second and third top spots with a filly sold by Noralla Stud Farm (Lot 551) making €50,000 and a colt from Ballygallon Stud fetching €40,000 (Lot 683).

Out of the unraced Pivotal mare Private Advisor (Pivotal), who has produced two winners, the filly’s granddam is Cheveley Park Stud’s Group 1 Prix de Diane winner Confidential Lady.

Noralla Stud’s manager Tina Dargan said: “We bought the mare from Cheveley Park carrying this filly, and the covering of Space Blues was attractive as we liked the cross. We thought the Pivotal line with Space Blues might get us a fast two-year-old type, and that is just what this filly looks to be.”

Dargan added: “She just loved being up here, and she’s done her job. We wanted to come to this sale with her – we have always been lucky here and we are delighted with that price.”

The well-grown colt by the Kildangan Stud-based stallion was bought as a breeze-up prospect by Robson Aguiar on behalf of Anderson Bloodstock.

The colt cost the new connections €40,000 and he is out of the three-year-old winner Find It Within (Teofilo), dam of one winner from three runners, including Siren, the winner of six races.

“We are delighted with that,” said James Byrne, stud manager at Ballygallon. “It was more than we expected, but he deserved it as he is a fine colt. He is going to very good connections.”

It proved to be a good day for Space Blues as he also sired the Group 3 Tattersalls Stakes winner Fuel The Jet. The two-year-old is trained by Tom Clover, who was also online purchaser, with J S Bloodstock, of Lot 658, a Baroda Stud-consigned filly by Hurricane Lane for €35,000.

“I looked at her yesterday with Billy Jackson Stops and we really liked her as a type,” said Clover from Newmarket. “She is a lovely, good-bodied filly with plenty of strength and looks a nice type for the future. She is by Hurricane Lane, and he was a very good racehorse. She has a pedigree, and it just makes a lot of sense. She has been bought on spec.”

Clover knows the family well as trainer of the Camelot half-brother Tabletalk (Camelot). The five-year-old has eight stakes-race placed performances to his name and this year has finished second in the Red Sea Turf Handicap (G2), the Geoffrey Freer Stakes (G3) and the John Smith’s Silver Cup (G3).

The aggregate of €2,039,100 is an increase of nine per cent on 2025 and is the second time in the sale’s history that it has topped €2 million and the first time since 2017. The clearance rate ended at a satisfactory 85 per cent.

For the second year in succession the combined aggregate of the September Yearling Sale exceeded €20 million.

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.

All lots sold or bought in under the hammer are eligible for the Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sales Stakes 2027, staged at The Curragh next September. The race carries a minimum prize fund guarantee of €250,000 and offers prize money to tenth place.

The final flat sale of 2026 will be the Sapphire Sale, taking place on Tuesday 15th December. Purchasers are reminded that incentives are in place ahead of the 2027 yearling sales, with much sought after places guaranteed in yearling sales once the foals reach a specified price in the Sapphire Sale.