Horses In Training Sale week

Last week was Horses In Training Sale week, which is always quite a depressing one. For sure, it can be an exciting one, if one is on the look-out for a new prospect - but even if one is, it's always hard to escape the twin aspects of a catalogue largely composed of people's broken dreams, and of horses whose lives can be in for a big upheaval, and often not a positive one. However, I'm pleased to say that my experience of it was good. I did as little as possible through the week, on account of a heavy cold, but my one assignment at the sale was to try to find a horse to race for Tony Le Brocq in Jersey. The last horse I'd sent out to him was a huge success - Minnie's Mystery, a 700 gns buy at Doncaster who won a stack of races out there including the Derby and Guineas, and who is now, thanks to Tony's typical generosity, back in my ownership in her retirement, and in foal to Largesse - so I doubt if this one can be as good a buy, but I'm very happy to have secured for him Hamilton House, for 3,000 gns out of Mark Tompkins' stable. He seems a sweet horse and a durable one too, so fingers crossed he will be able to race there successfully for an extended period, proving a pleasure for all involved with him, and then look forward to a life of happiness in his retirement, being made even more of a pet than he will be while he is in training. At horse sales, it is easy to get the impression that, for the vast majority of 'traders' present, the horse is a commodity first and foremost, and a creature to be protected and loved (at best) second, and that the actual sport of racing horses is merely incidental to the trading - so what a pleasure it was to have gone there solely to seek a horse who now has his future secure and whose new connections are really excited about the prospect of welcoming him home, so that they can enjoy the thrill of racing him and the pleasure of looking after him. He came from, and on the recommendation of, our neighbour Mark Tompkins (one of the few people in racing that I would trust enough to take his recommendation on face value) and was obviously loved in his previous home, and the icing on the cake was that Mark and his wife are as pleased that he is going to a nice home as his new connections are at the prospect of his arrival.

Really, I ought to be saying that was the full extent of my involvement in the sale, but of course the bidding bug had bitten me, and I couldn't let it rest there. Friday saw a day of yearlings, and a black day for vendors it proved to be. Supply exceeded demand to a huge degree, and even quite nice horses failed to attract a bid. Henry and Rosemary Moszkowicz were sellling four Largesses, through Greg Parsons' Upperwood Farm, so I met them up there on a gloriously warm and sunny morning. Henry and Rosemary appear to be retaining one which James Eustace bought, and the other three all found homes, albeit for small sums. I actually found myself bidding 2,000 gns for a sister to Bel Cantor and Lazy Darren, but she ended up being sold for 3,500 gns to go to Italy. My bidding lust was really up by this time, so I had to return to Tattersalls that evening to watch a smashing Sulamani filly being sold. As her dam was a half-sister to Prix Du Cadran winner San Sebastian and to the Listed winner Chesa Plana (better known as the dam of Japan Cup winner Alkaased), she was very well-credentialled to be a very good stayer, especially as those two horses are both by Sulamani 's sire Hernando. We felt she might not make very much, and she didn't at all by any normal standard, but the 9,500 gns for which Matt Coleman bought her (on behalf of Mick Easterby) was more than I felt in a position to outlay.

Fortunately or unfortunately (I'll tell you in three years time which one of those words applies) I decided to stay on to watch her fellow Genesis Green Stud offering being sold, a filly by Halling from a smashing damline (pictured). Her fourth dam is the 1,000 Guineas winner Full Dress II, her third dam is the Musidora place-getter Fairly Hot (dam of Dante winner Hot Touch), while her winning dam is a half-sister to Lingfield Oaks Trial runner-up Bunting, the dam of two extremely good horses, Winter Derby winner Parasol and Pretty Polly Stakes winner (and triple Group One place-getter) Mot Juste. As Parasol is also by Halling, she is obviously extremely well bred. I suspected that she might fetch very little, and that was indeed what happened: she fetched 1,200 gns, bought by me. Now, this isn't necessarily the bargain which I might have made her seem, because, although she is from a distance a very nice filly, she does have a few blemishes - most notably a thickening on the upper part of her near-fore tendon, which I am making an educated guess will be of no long-term signficance, but which would have made the majority of potential buyers run a mile - so I think that, especially as she is a May foal, I won't really be aiming to do much with her in the next twelve months. But - nothing ventured, nothing gained, so we'll see what transpires. I'll be very surprised if that purchase turns out to be the worst bargain I've ever secured. Furthermore, the other good thing is that I have proved to Emma that I do occasionally pay attention to what she says - and as I've often heard her, in her role of Darley publicist, quoting the statistic that 25% of all Halling's runners attain a Timeform rating of at least 100. This filly is nice enough, and her damline strong enough, for us to say that we can use that to give her a 25% chance of gaining that rating - on which basis 1,200 gns was a worthwhile sum to risk. I'll keep you posted - but don't expect too many bulletins too quickly.

We brought this filly home yesterday morning, leading her through the town and across the bottom of the Heath, and she has happily settled into the herd. The other three yearlings are all very settled and they have accepted her into their gang. Two of the three are broken - Hernando and Catcher In The Rye - and Key Of Luck is almost ready to be ridden. This has proved a very straightforward process, and speaks a lot not only of the horses' temperaments, but also of David, Martha and Hugh, who have done the job with minimal assistance from me. And, of course, Pantomime Prince, as this picture shows, has been a perfect role model.

That's pretty much my review of the week. The one thing missing is a review of Friday's racing at Newmarket, but I wasn't there so I can't give you one. But I'm sure if I'd been there I'd have made item number one David Elsworth's reaction to his non-runner. I noted in the paper that one horse was scratched for an unusual reason ("wrong horse brought to course") and, as Elsie is renowned for his explosive temper, I bet that everyone on the Rowley Mile would have heard his reaction when he discovered the mistake. It would have been worth seeing - and hearing! I presume it took a while for anyone to notice, because his stable is only about a mile and a half from the track, so if it had been spotted as the horse arrived, there would still have been time to bring the right one over. The lad responsible for that error obviously wins black mark of the day, but the Genesis Green staff weren't far behind. The yearlings were being sold in the evening after dark, and obviously wouldn't be transported to their new homes until the next day. Under those circumstances, there is an unwritten rule that the vendor leaves the yearlings with feed to last them the night - because obviously purchasers don't come to the sale with any, and the majority of purchasers wouldn't even go round to the barns after the auction to look at their new horses anyway - and with a head-collar on. This latter aspect is now actually, I think, a written rule, because it is a basic safety precaution as well as a courtesy. Anyway - as you've probably guessed - when I went round to see my new purchase quarter of an hour after signing for her, she'd been abandoned with neither feed nor hay nor head-collar. Matt Coleman came round to see the Sulamani only because we were going round there, so it was more by luck than judgement that these two horses weren't stuck with just the choice that night of eating straw or nothing. The horses had clearly been prepared extremely well by the stud and were in great condition, having had the best possible care prior to the auction but it was disappointing to discover that the people concerned lost all interest in them once the hammer had fallen - you see what I mean about people at the sales regarding the horses as commodities to be traded, rather than animals to be cared for? And Tattersalls pay for the hay, so it wouldn't even have cost them anything to ensure that the horse had plenty to eat for the night. Amazing.

Anyway, it's been good to write plenty today, as it means I'm not talking, so I'm resting my throat. My voice has been semi-absent the past couple of days, but I need it back by tomorrow evening for my overnight stint as co-presenter for Flemington on At The Races. Fingers crossed I'll be ok. I'm really looking forward to the night, and hope that I'll be joining Dave Compton, who is excellent to work with and with whom I shared the job in 2004 and 2005. For what it's worth, my 1-2-3 is likely to be Zipping, Master O'Reilly and (to throw in a roughie, because you can't really just box up the first three favourites) On A Jeune. And Purple Moon and Gallic should be breathing down their necks. The draw is such a complicating factor this year, with nearly all the better chances drawn extremely badly drawn, so it'll be a fascinating race, as ever. I'm really looking forward to it.