When bloodstock agent Colm Sharkey, who was standing next to top jockey Jamie Spencer, placed a bid of 220,000 guineas (US$288,200, 1 guinea = US$1.31) for the elegant Godolphin horse Galashiels on Jan. 30 during the first session of the Tattersalls February Sale, it was the high point of an otherwise ordinary selling session. During his time with Andre Fabre, the 6-year-old Australian won five races, his most notable victories being in the Longchamp and Clairefontaine listed races. The signing of the six-figure contract, Sharkey mentioned, “He’s been bought by Ciaron Maher Racing,” implying that Galashiels will continue his racing career on the other side of the world. Ciaron was eager to recruit him due to his strong profile in Australia.
“He passed the vetting process, and his pedigree and form fit up nicely. He truly is self-explanatory. Ciaron chose Jamie. All I am is a helpful hand. He will occasionally have some free time before boarding the plane for Australia. Even if that turned off others, it wasn’t a deterrent because we’ve previously bought off Fabre. Galashiels was bred by Stonethorn Stud in Glenmayne, a listed half sister of Millisle, who won the 2019 Cheveley Park Stakes (G1). After being upgraded to the Godolphin ranks at Tattersall’s October Yearling Sale Book 2 in 2020 for 115,000 guineas, he was making his second public auction appearance.
Godolphin-consigned lots dominated the market throughout the draft, with 36 lots trading hands for receipts totaling 1,394,500 guineas. Consequently, the consignment accounted for 56% of the day’s turnover and nine of the top ten prices. Despite Godolphin dominating the consignors’ standings, Alessandro Marconi had much bragging rights among buyers. In terms of the number of lots bought and the total amount spent, the agent comfortably won the title of top buyer for the day after acquiring 17 recruits for a total of 533,000 guineas. His purchases varied from the haul’s average price of 31,353 guineas to the 130,000 guinea Scarlet Princess, a twice-raced Godolphin-bred daughter of Kingman and 2008 Prix de l’Opera (G1) heroine Lady Marian. Picked up for the minimum bid of 1,000 guineas apiece were two-year-olds by Expert Eye, Starman, and Ten Sovereigns.
The haul will be split among multiple trainers and locations, and training schedules are still subject to change, the government said. “We’re happy to be expanding in the Middle East and Europe at the moment, and there’s a big syndicate in Libya that has been very active,” he said. They’re happy to go back to Tatts in the hopes of getting lucky again because they’ve had some success there in the past. You must purchase at all market levels if you wish to identify the quality ones. 114 of the 131 goods that were offered during the hectic selling session were bought, resulting in a solid 87% clearance rate.
As a result, those transactions raised the amount to 2,509,500 guineas (US$3,287,445), which is 78% more than it was on the same day a year ago.
The median price increased by 107%, from 7,000 guineas in 2024 to 14,500 guineas (US$18,995) on Thursday, while the average price increased by 56% to 22,013 guineas (US$28,837). At 10 a.m. local time on January 31, the Tattersalls February Sale will resume.