Solid edition of the September Yearling Sale & Part II

A son of the talented Al Kazeem, the four-time Group 1-winning son of Dubawi, produced the top price for Part II of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale when selling for €42,000 to Dubai-based owner Nasir Askar (Lot 645).

The colt will go into training with County Kildare's Mick Halford, who already trains a small string of horses for the purchaser, including the 86-rated Sky Seven.

"We just loved this horse," said Mick Halford. "We selected him on pedigree and on physical - he was one of our picks of the week."

 The top-priced filly, a daughter of the popular sire Dandy Man (Lot 608 - pictured), was sold by Ballygowan Stud to Federico Barberini for €27,000, an Epaulette colt (Lot 644) was sold by Grange to trainer Shaun Keightley for €26,000, while David Appleton, assistant to bloodstock agent Alex Elliott, went to €24,000 for a colt by Sir Prancealot. Elliott and Appleton will be hoping that lighting strikes twice - Elliott purchased Stone Circle (No Nay Never) at last year's September Yearling Sale. The colt was this year's winner of the €300,000 Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sale Stakes at The Curragh on Irish Champions weekend.

 Today's one-day sale produced a turnover of €1,091,400 from a 32-lot smaller catalogue than in 2018. The average price for the 175 horses sold was €6,201, a 14% fall compared with 2018, while the median value of €4,500 was a drop of 10%. Clearance rate improved from 66% in 2018 to 74%.

 At the conclusion of the September Yearling Sale, Tattersalls Ireland CEO Matt Mitchell said; 

"There was a consistent solid trade as indicated by the clearance rate for both Part I and Part II. The decision to reduce the number catalogued was correct as it focused purchasers on the quality lots. The reduction in the median / average indicates that the market, at a certain level, is at best in a pause mode. No doubt, Part I of the sale lacked an additional number of yearlings at the €100,000 plus mark, the opinion put your horse in a sale that it will stand out comes to mind.

 "There was a large number of international buyers present at all levels of the market reflecting the cooperation between Tattersalls Ireland and Irish Thoroughbred Marketing. It was pleasing to have a number of Irish trainers appear on the list of purchasers. There is no doubt that this year's graduates will continue to deliver the high rate of two-year-old winners on the track both in numbers and quality."

 All yearlings catalogued and offered at the 2019 September Yearling Sale and Part II are eligible for the €300,000 Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sales Stakes 2020 (T&C's apply).