Howard Johnson is becoming a regular big-money name at the Doncaster Sales
Pavilion and it was the dual-purpose trainer who secured a much sought-after
colt by Pivotal during Thursday’s final session of the Breeze-Up. Consigned by
Eamon Fitzpatrick’s Kilminfoyle House Stud, Hip No. 175 boasts as his second dam
the outstanding sprinting champion Marwell (Habitat), who produced the equally
talented Marling (Ire) and top-class Caerwent (Caerleon). After a tussle with
David Redvers, the County Durham-based conditioner had the final say at 125,000
guineas for his main patron Graham Wylie.
That combination also snapped up a couple of smart prospects earlier in the
session, paying 55,000gns for a colt by Noverre and 51,000gns for a son of Namid
(GB). Offered by Willie Browne’s Mocklershill Stables as Hip 167, the Noverre
colt is a half to two minor winners and hails from the family of sire Second Set
(Ire), while the Namid colt is Church Farm Stables’ Hip 135, from the family of
2002 Epsom Oaks (Eng-G1) third-placer Shadow Dancing.
Of the fillies, the page of Hip 196 was a stand-out as it included the great
Hasili (Ire), and the two-year-old proved the main attraction among her gender
on Thursday, selling for 75,000gns. The filly, from the draft of Bobby and
Sheila O’Ryan’s Kirriemuir Stud, which also consigned the opening day and
overall topper by Danzig, is by Rock of Gibraltar (Ire) and has considerable
broodmare potential. That was recognized by the vendor’s cousin Robin O’Ryan,
who revealed that she will enter training with Richard Fahey.
Peter Doyle is another regular at this venue and he was in action late when
paying 52,000gns for Gaybrook Lodge Stud’s Hip 216, a Tagula (Ire) half-brother
to last year’s smart juvenile Holdin Foldin (Ire) (Fayruz).
As has become customary at this auction, records fell, with a hike in the
overall average of nearly 25 percent and median of 15 percent.
“A record price, a record average for the eighth successive year and a record
median means that the 2007 Breeze-Up Sales have, once again, proved highly
successful,” DBS Managing Director Henry Beeby said. “We were confident that our
vendors had helped us put together the best catalog we have ever produced on
paper and the Breeze-Up work on Tuesday was also better than ever. These factors
combined to produce the significantly improved figures and returned a remarkably
consistent trade which was helped by significant new faces from Japan, France
and Spain as a result of personal visits and marketing campaigns in the lead up
to the sale.”
Beeby also explained that a four-furlong all-weather strip will be installed
at the racecourse.
Full results can be viewed at www.dbsauctions.com.