Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale continued its record-breaking pace Oct.15 with the highest-grossing session in the history of the sale and six lots realizing 500,000 guineas or more.
Turnover surpassed 20 million guineas for the second consecutive day, the average and median both realized double-figure increases, and the clearance rate was a remarkable 91%.
The joint top lot on the second day of Book 2 was Lot 898, a Too Darn Hot filly out of the Galileo mare Lola Paige who sold for 600,000 guineas (US$823,691, 1 guinea=US$1.37) to the bid of agent Alex Elliott on behalf of Al Shaqab and Amo Racing.
The sale reduced Robert "Choc" Thornton, stud manager at Paul Dunkley's Appletree Stud, to tears. It is the highest price achieved to date by the farm.
"Paul puts so much into the stud," said Thornton. "She is a queen, I thought she'd get 200,000 guineas or so, and then thought maybe 400,000 guineas, but to do that... She has been a star all the way through, and of course, we were tempted to keep her, but the boss has put a lot of money in. He deserves to get some back.
Buyer Alex Elliott said: "She has been split between Al Shaqab and Amo. A trainer is yet to be decided, but we have a team of trainers who we are very happy with and she will go to one of those. Both sides gave her top marks, she is by Too Darn Hot, who is a global stallion now, and she is out of a Galileo mare."
The last lot into the ring equaled the session-topping price of 600,000 guineas (US$823,691) when knocked down to Jane Mangan on behalf of the Thoroughbred Racing Corporation after seeing off a determined effort from American agent David Ingordo.
The Sea the Stars filly out of the Siyouni mare Monaawara was consigned by Philipp Stauffenberg on behalf of Meadow Farm Stud.
Mangan, in charge of bidding, said: "We have been trying to buy the right type of filly for the last two weeks and we got two last week. This filly stood out, I thought she was the best filly in this book. She comes from a great farm, she is just very easy on the eye, there is no mystery here!
"We want to win classics, middle-distance classics. She fits that bill. She is by the right horse, she has a great damsire, she has got the scope to hopefully be good. I learned over the last two weeks that we all have a similar set of eyes, it doesn't matter what time of day a horse sells, people will go to the moon for the right horse."
On the session, 234 lots were offered, with 214 sold for 24,639,000 guineas (US$33,824,868). That total was up 36% from the corresponding session a year ago when 237 were offered and 205 sold. Tuesday's average of 115,136 guineas (US$158,061) was a 31% increase from last year, and the median of 75,000 guineas (US$102,961) represented a 14% year-over-year gain.
The third and final session of Book 2 is scheduled for Oct. 16.
