Two colts were bought for over AED2 million in a frenzied and successful Dubai Breeze-Up Sale, where 63 young horses came under the hammer in one of the latest events associated with the run-up to the Dubai World Cup night.
The well-attended sale took place in the presence of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
On Monday, nearly 70 colts and fillies – capped at age two – performed an untimed breeze on Meydan’s training track in front of several owners and buyers from different parts of the world.
On Tuesday evening, these magnificent horses strutted in front of a packed Parade Ring of Meydan. Many of the new owners will be hoping they make the visit to the same place several times in the future on the designated fourth Saturday of March as winners on Dubai World Cup night.
Off the 63 horses being offered, 42 were sold. The total sale value for the one-hour auction was AED25.75 million ($7.01 million), which meant an average price of AED613,500 ($167,000) per horse.
The top lot was purchased by well-known owners Dr Jim and Fitri Hay, who made the winning bid of AED2.2 million ($593,240) for a bay colt sired by American Gun Runner and Brazilian Baby Go Far. The sale topper was sold by Powerstown Stud, who had also sold the sale-topping Culin colt last year.
The Hays also purchased the second horse that fetched over 2 million dirhams – a second bay colt by American Justify and Irish Say. The winning bid was AED2.1 million ($566,521) for the colt sold by Mocklershill.
The Hays recently tasted success in Dubai with the homebred Southern Artist in Jabel Ali, and are planning to expand their contingent of horses under reigning UAE’s Champion Trainer Bhupat Seemar, who is just one win away on the Dubai World Cup night to secure a second straight Trainers title.
“We supported the sale last year; we didn’t do very well with one of the purchases but nevertheless they were high-quality pedigrees,” Dr Jim Hays said. “The catalogue looked better this year and Steve (bloodstock agent Stephen Hillen) had a good look at everything.
“I think we’ve got eight or nine with Bhupat and now the plan is to build up a bigger string in Dubai because this is where the prize money is!
“We need to race here and Steve is looking at more and more dirt horses for us. The plan is to race them here, move them on to America and race them there.”
Eight horses were sold in the price range between €100,000 to €200,000 and 11 in the range between €200,000 to €400,000.
The auction sale last year was the first attempt of its kind in the Middle East as the region continues to become a major force in the thoroughbred industry.
Charlie Appleby, the trainer for Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin Stable, said it was a welcome addition to the huge celebration of racing that the Dubai World Cup is, and added it was too early to say if it has been a success.
“It’s obviously still in its infancy. Last year, it produced winners, and I thought it was a better stock again this year,” said Appleby, winner of more than 600 races for Godolphin, including the Epsom Derby and the Melbourne Cup.
“It’s very hard to assess, because they all look very pretty in the paddock. At the end of the day, you can only judge a sale by what it puts on to the track. So, hopefully, what we saw on the stock has gone to good individuals, and hopefully, they can go on to win this coming seasons. And I think that will help the sale because then they want to see winners come out of the sale to make it justifiable for an individual to go out there next year and have a look at buying something else.
“It is hard to assess how good it is yet because it’s still so young. But I think it’s a great initiative. It’s been well supported, and hopefully, we’re going to see it producing champions.”
The auction was conducted by Goffs, the Irish thoroughbred auction company – one of the two most prominent players in the business alongside the US-based Keeneland.
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