Dubai Millennium filly tops record sale

Trade over the two days of the Tattersalls Houghton Yearling Sale saw 110 yearlings sold for a 29,340,000 guineas for a new record average.

The last Dubai Millennium yearling to be sold, but also his only filly to be offered anywhere in the world, was knocked down to Charlie Gordon-Watson for 1.2million guineas.

The filly is from the same family as the brilliant Bosra Sham and is half-sister to five winners and most notably Passinetti, successful in the Grade One San Juan Capistrano Stakes.

However, she was not the top lot when just minutes later Coolmore supremo John Magnier paid 1.25million guineas for a filly from the first crop of Giant’s Causeway.

Magnier also stepped in to secure the third seven-figure transaction of the evening when he bought a Sadler’s Wells three-parts brother to Ribblesdale Stakes winner Fairy Queen for 1.2million guineas.

At the conclusion of the record breaking Sale, Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said: “Small can sometimes be beautiful. In an ideal world we would have preferred to have catalogued closer to 200 yearlings for this week.

“But the smallest Houghton catalogue ever has broken records for average price and median, and even managed to exceed last year’s turnover which was in excess of 28,000,000 guineas.”