Silent Film Tops Exceptional Tattersalls Ascot June Sale
A quality Godolphin consignment offered at the Tattersalls Ascot June Sale provided the main draw for buyers at the one-day sale. Trainer Ian Williams, always a keen buyer from the draft, purchased the day’s top lot for £120,000 bidding via the online platform.
SILENT FILM, a son of New Approach, has run 14 times and is a four-time winner. He is BHA rated 100 and ran twice this spring at Meydan finishing third on his last start and fifth on his Dubai debut; he has good form with the Williams-trained,100-rated Spirit Of Light.
"We are keen to set up a base in the Middle East this winter to enable our clients to enjoy the advantages of racing there and he is a horse very capable of competing in that arena," reported the trainer, adding: "He has been bought on spec."
Williams was the leading buyer through the session, repeating the feat from the Tattersalls Ascot March Sale when he also topped the buying bench after purchasing eight lots from Godolphin.
Durcan Bloodstock / G L Moore Racing went to £100,000 to buy THROUGH THE AGES (Lot 57), a three-year-old Golden Horn gelding also from the Godolphin draft.
"Gary [Moore] loves the sire and he has been lucky with the sire before," reported Durcan. "This is a lovely big stamp of a horse, he vetted well. He is fine horse and is a perfect horse for Gary to run on the Flat and further down the road over hurdles, let's hope he is a fun horse."
The gelding has run twice collecting second and third placings at Newcastle and Kempton over 1m2f and 1m3f. He is out of the Listed winner Rumh (Monsun), the dam of six winners, including three black-type winners and headed up by the champion two-year-old filly Wild Illusion and the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) winner Yibir.
Godolphin sold 15 horses for a turnover of £385,500 and filled the top four prices.
Accolades for the highest-priced mare in the sale went to TURBULENT POWER (Lot 12) consigned by her breeder and trainer Brian Rothwell.
The five-year-old dual-purpose mare has run 26 times and, though yet to win, has been placed four times, including last time out when second at Catterick over 1m4f and beaten just a neck.
"She is for an existing client," reported trainer Philip Kirby after going to £32,000 to secure the dual-purpose daughter of Power. "He has a couple of youngsters with me and wants one to get to the races with now. She finished second to one of ours a couple of times recently, and I think ours is okay. Off her current mark she will be competitive, she goes on any ground, hopefully she will give my owner some fun days out.”
The store horse section of the mixed sale was topped by an ELUSIVE PIMPERNEL three-year-old (Lot 79) sold for £20,000 by Doug and Pauline Harkin. The May-born gelding is a second foal out of Popaway (Nomadic Way), the winner of four chases under Rules, 16 point-to-points and placed 12 times.
The sale’s highest-priced NH horse in training, the Paul Nicholls-trained 108-rated novice chaser Magistrato (Lot 132), made £22,000 and was bought by Knowle Racing.
The one-day session produced a record turnover of £929,700, an average of £8,854, the first time the statistic has bettered £7,000, a median of £5,000 and a clearance rate of 91 per cent.