Counting down to Tattersalls
We're getting to that nail-biting time now when our yearlings are all looking in fabulous shape for their date at Tattersalls in around a fortnight's time and we just have to keep them ticking over, hoping and praying that there are no dramas with any of them at this late stage. While Jenny and her team carried on with the yearling work at the farm last week I travelled down to Bordeaux with William on the hunt for some yearlings at the Osarus Sale at La Teste de Buch.
We were delighted to be asked by Charles and Zorka Wentworth to find a yearling to send to John Berry and in fact they ended up buying two really nice fillies, both of whom are now safely at Beverley House Stables in Newmarket. I haven't seen many yearlings by Silver Frost, whose eldest runners are three-year-olds, but I was really taken with a steel-grey filly by him (pictured right) who was my pick of the sale. She comes from a very good farm in Brittany which has bred plenty of winners and she is a strong, balanced first foal, so I was really pleased to be able to buy her for Charles.
The second filly was a scopey and elegant daughter of Myboycharlie (pictured below) with a nice pedigree that will stand her in good stead as a broodmare once her racing days are over. She will race for Zorka and also be trained by John. I hope both fillies are very lucky for them and I shall enjoy following their progress next year and beyond.
The Osarus Sale is growing in popularity and there were lots of familiar faces from home there this year but in my opinion it remains a place to find a horse for good value, and of course with those valuable French premiums. It's one I'll keep going back to, and not just for the good wine! Soon we'll be back in Newmarket for two of the most stressful weeks of the year but as ever I have complete confidence in the horses we are selling, all of whom I selected as foals last year. Is there a Shalaa among them? That remains to be seen. It would almost be too much to hope that another of our purchases can achieve what Shalaa has this year - and he may yet add a second Group 1 to his record in the Middle Park on Saturday. But I thought the same after Dancing Rain's Oaks victory, so who knows what the future holds? In the meantime I'll just keep searching for the best horses I can find and keep my fingers crossed that they do their best for the owners who put their trust in my judgement.
