Tattersalls Horses In Training Sale 2016: Five To Follow

There were 1,515 horses catalogued to sell at the four-day Tattersalls Horses In Training Sales this week and, while they didn’t all take their places in the ring, most of those that did changed hands. The star of the show in money terms was the Timeform 118-rated Harlem, a four-year-old son of Champs Elysees who’d finished a close third in the Group 2 Grand Prix de Chantilly in June for Khalid Abdullah and Andre Fabre. However, his 520,000-guinea sale—the highest price reached at this specific auction since 2010—to Ed Sackville, Alastair Donald and Astute Bloodstock on Thursday now means he heads to Australia. Harlem’s goal will be to win the A$2 million Sydney Cup in 2017, a race won by ex-European horses for the last four years, and joining him heading away from this continent are other expensive buys Pleaseletmewin, Cloudberry (both going to Qatar) and Imperial Aviator (to Australia). Let’s instead look at some eye-catching purchases who are set to remain on British and Irish soil.

Final Venture (Timeform Rating 112) – 260,000 guineas

‘It's all about the sprinter’ according to the biography section of Leeds-based racehorse owner Andy Taylor’s Twitter page. Taylor has a dozen or so horses in training with Paul Midgley, including Monsieur Joe and Line of Reason, and he signed for the very progressive sprinter Final Venture out of the Alan Swinbank yard for 260,000 on Tuesday. Final Venture possesses fantastic early speed and he’s won four handicaps from his last seven starts, as well as finishing in the frame on the other three occasions, including when a neck fourth to Alpha Delphini in the listed Beverley Bullet most recently. Monsieur Joe raced at the Dubai Carnival every year from 2011 to 2015, winning there for his previous connections in 2012, and Taylor reportedly has that in mind for the BHA 104-rated Final Venture. Wherever he goes, he’s very much the type to win good sprint prizes in 2017.

Mengli Khan (108) – 155,000 guineas

Jumps trainers made their presence known at the sales this week, all trying to pick up a bargain for the core National Hunt season. Mengli Khan will have more to do than most to prove value for money, but his Flat form will make him among the pick of the three-year-olds going juvenile hurdling this term and he’s joined an outstanding trainer in Gordon Elliott. Mengli Khan was tried in the Racing Post Trophy after his maiden win at Nottingham last October and while that didn’t work out, nor did his first two starts this year, he bounced back in fine style when winning an 11-furlong handicap on the polytrack at Kempton last month. Mengli Khan couldn’t repeat that form in a better race at Goodwood this month, but the step up another further might just have stretched him—it may be that two miles will be his trip over jumps. Mengli Khan certainly has the physique to jump hurdles, while the fact his juvenile success came on heavy ground is another positive for the winter game.  

Edward Lewis (101) – 54,000 guineas

Nick Bradley was Bloodstock manager to the very successful Middleham Park Racing syndicates for a number of years but he’s since set up his own Nick Bradley Racing enterprise and has made an excellent start in 2016, responsible for such winners as Commissioned (Queen Alexandra Stakes at 12/1), Melesina (French Group 3 at 26/1) and Vona (York listed event at 25/1). Bradley can clearly spot good buys—he picked up Dainty Dandy for €16,000 as a yearling and she won £13,000 on her debut before being sold for £200,000 on the eve of the latest Royal Ascot—and he was very busy this week, buying allsorts from the likes of eight-year-old sprinter Spirit Quartz to juvenile fillies Rajar and Mums The Word. The fact that Bradley bought several out of the Richard Hannon yard, from where he sourced the 2014 Sprint Cup winner G Force for Middleham Park, was interesting, though the one Bradley purchase that really caught my eye was Edward Lewis from the John Gosden stable. Edward Lewis only made his debut in May and has run another seven times since, including when winning a Doncaster maiden in July and twice finishing runner-up in big-field handicaps at Haydock in September. He was only midfield at the latter track last time but might have just been feeling the effects of his busy campaign. It will be very interesting to see which trainer Bradley chooses for Edward Lewis as he could develop into a high-end sprint handicapper in 2017.

Monarch (97p) – 35,000 guineas

When Joseph O’Brien started up as a trainer many believed he’d be aided massively by choice offcuts handed to him by his father Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore partners. There’s no denying that there has been some of that—see Ivanovich Gorbatov, All The Answers and Arya Tara—but there’s also no doubt that Joseph is keen to be his own man, and he answered his critics in emphatic style when saddling Intricately to win the Moyglare Stud Stakes in September, beating four fillies trained by Aidan. Joseph took his independence a step further on Monday when, alongside bloodstock agent Aidan O’Ryan, he bought three horses from the Ballydoyle draught, with the most expensive being 35,000-guineas purchase Monarch. Monarch may not be 100% straightforward, and he disappointed in the Britannia at Royal Ascot when last seen in June, but his previous three starts had suggested he has plenty of ability. When Monarch won a big-field seven-furlong maiden at Gowran in May he did so by two and a quarter lengths from Flying Fairies, who recently turned over Zawraq in a listed race at Leopardstown. Other fascinating points with Monarch are that he’s a full brother to Roderic O’ Connor, who gave Joseph his first Group 1 winner as a jockey in the 2011 Irish 2000 Guineas, and that’s he’s been ridden in his last three outings by Donnacha O’Brien, who is more-or-less stable jockey on the Flat to his older brother Joseph. Monarch remains with potential and his new trainer can get just as much out of him as his father would have done.

King of Swing (87) – 16,000 guineas

At the lower end of the scale, one horse who could prove profitable to follow on the all-weather this winter is King of Swing who was bought out of the James Given yard by Richard Hughes, working with agent Stephen Hillen. King of Swing has not won in 11 starts since his successful debut at Haydock last September, but he has been placed four times this year, including on his penultimate outing when third to the highly progressive Depth Charge at Carlisle, and there’s no doubt his new stable will look to place him to best advantage. King of Swing did not fight out the finish on his two previous all-weather starts (both at Wolverhampton), but he at least matched his prior form on the first occasion, while his style of racing (shows plenty of speed) should stand him in good stead on artificial surfaces. What’s more, King of Swing could also do better returned to sprint trips.