RWITC Auction Sale returns to Mahalakshmi - By Anil Mukhi
Posted on - 05 Feb 2018
RWITC AUCTION SALE RETURNS TO MAHALAKSHMI
By Anil Mukhi
The first two parts of this article appeared during the last two weeks and can be accessed here and here.
As should have become evident by now, Arazan[IRE] received some of the best credentialed mares in his book of 2015. The next three by him are all out of stakes winning mares. Lot No. 136 is a colt out of a track record setting Gr.3 winner in Klipspringer from the family of Storm Bird, while Lot No. 138 is a colt from English Listed winner Lady Angharad[IRE], whose additional claim to fame is that she has bred a star abroad in the shape of Barefoot Lady prior to her export to India. Finally, Lot No. 144 is the sixth foal of Lombardia, winner of the Gr.3 Nizam’s Gold Cup.
Staying with the same vendor, one finds siblings to proven performers like the Arazan[IRE] half-sister to Gr.3 winner Meritocracy (Lot No. 152 out ofMawaheb[IRE]), the Arazan[IRE] half-brother to the speedy Gr.1 Poonawalla Breeders Multi-Million heroine, Ruffina (Lot No. 158 out of Miss Danehill [IRE]) and the Excellent Art[GB] half-sister to Gr.2 Golconda Oaks victress, Heather (Lot No. 160 out of French Listed winner, Mooring[GB]).
That like frequently begets like is demonstrated by the Equus Stud’s homebred Native Quest. Winner of the Gr.2 Golconda Oaks, she returned to her birthplace after a short spell at the Chettinad Stud and duly came up with Quest For Cash, victorious in the Gr.3 Forbes Breeders’ Juvenile Fillies Championship. That was the mare’s second foal and her twelfth is Lot No. 164, a colt by Varenar[FR].
A very speedy racemare, One Magic Moment gained her Graded Stakes honours in the Juvenile Sprinters Million at Bangalore. She has bred half a dozen winners, a couple of which were very useful, and is represented here by her Leitir Mor[IRE] colt in the Poonawalla consignment (Lot No. 172).
The grey mare Personal Allure[USA] was an economical buy – she cost $10,000 – at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale of 2010. Her then three-year-old, Turallure, blossomed as an older runner, retiring as the earner of $1,378,997 with his scalps including the Gr.1 Ricoh Woodbine Mile and the Gr.2 Bernard Baruch Handicap. Here she has a grey daughter for sale (Lot No. 183) who is by – who else – Arazan[IRE]!
As a full-sister to Smart Chieftain, Classical Act and Southern Empire, the unraced Priceless Glory fully deserved her place at stud and struck gold with her first foal, the talented Southern Bay (Gr.1 Golconda Derby). She has since produced several above average earners from a total of six winners. Here she has anArazan[IRE] filly, who will roll as Lot No. 188. A very closely related filly, being by the same sire from the same female family, comes up four lots later – this is the half-sister to Gr.1 Indian Oaks winner, Isn’t She Special.
Hazara Stud gave the Indian Turf the superstars Be Safe and Quasar. Statistically, every “got-abroad” cannot be as good and Tamarai (the 2007 filly imported in utero out of Hazara’s purchase Queen Consort[GB]) was moderate. But the mare quickly made amends with her first Indian-conceived offspring, Tiberius, whose record reads 27-6-2-1-₹27,08,882, winner of the Gr.3 Heeroji Lad Bangalore Juvenile Million. The mare has a Corporate Jungle[USA] filly, Lot No. 191.
Who would not covet an own-sister to a Gr.2 Bangalore Oaks victress, out of a Gr.3 Mysore 1000 Guineas winner, that too by the current champion sire? Well, all you have to do is to bid big to secure Lot No. 196, an Usha-foaled daughter of Multidimensional[IRE] out of Real Excellence, the next dam being the top class Allaire!
From the same nursery comes Lot No. 227, the third foal of the Vijay Mallya-campaigned Smashing, winner of the Gr.1 Indian Oaks and runner-up in both the Gr.1 Indian Derby and Gr.1 Indian Turf Invitation Cup. This March-foaled colt is by the exciting newcomer, Speaking Of Which[IRE], and hails from the family of last year’s leading filly in Ireland, Winter.
Any buyer who failed to obtain one of the preceding Arazan[IRE] two-year-olds out of stakes-winning mares gets another chance with Lot No. 234. The dam, Star Angel, won an incredible 24 races, 18 of which were under MRC rules. But she did annex both the fillies’ classics at Calcutta and placed 3rd in the Gr.1 Calcutta Derby for good measure. The two-year-old on offer is an own-sister to the useful Justice Angel.
The last Group winning mare with offspring in the catalogue is listed as Lot No. 248 and hails from the vast Poonawalla consignment. Tartouche[GB] won 7 races in England, including the Gr.3 Lily Langtry Fillies Stakes at Goodwood under the tutelage of Lady Herries (wife of England cricket captain Colin Cowdrey). It’s fair to say that none of the mare’s offspring has matched her in ability but who knows – her Leitir Mor[IRE] colt, who arrived after three lost offspring (who said breeding was easy?) might be the one!
Without physically inspecting all the lots, it is impossible to say which of those not discussed would be worthy of a bid. Certainly, there are sure to be bargains amongst these. Whether your preference is for relatives of proven stock or for taking a chance elsewhere at a different price range, there is likely to be something for every budget in the sale. Often lots “fall through cracks”, meaning buyers are not paying attention and the wise – and alert – owl gets the worm. The only way to ensure that one does not miss something desirable is to be there. So mark your calendars for Monday, February 12th 2018 and Tuesday, February 13th 2018. The sale will be held, commencing at 3 p.m., in the paddock at Mahalakshmi Racecourse, Mumbai.
