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Australian buyers came to the fore at the first two sessions of the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training sale in England earlier this week with the three top-priced gallopers all destined for careers in Sydney and Melbourne.
The top-priced lot on the opening day was Prospector purchased by Grant Pritchard-Gordon, who declared the winner of three races was Australia bound, but wouldn't confirm the identity of his client.
Pritchard-Gordon made the opening bid of 240,000 guineas for Prospector, which was to prove a winning move. The agent revealed he had adopted this sale-ring tactic successfully in the past.
The colt was initially purchased by Coolmore for £1.4 million ($3 million) as a yearling. He is a half-brother to one of their successful shuttle stallions Mastercraftsman.
"Prospector has a profile of a very nice staying horse who should be suited to racing in Australia." Pritchard-Gordon said.
Chris Waller's bloodstock agent Guy Mulcaster bought three horses on day one but had to settle as the under bidder on the second-highest lot, Red Galileo.
Ed Dunlop ended up paying 155,000 guineas for Red Galileo who is Dubai bound, with the Mulcaster-Waller duo ending up with three tried stayers.
They bought Obsidian (Street Cry), a two-time winner for 60,000 guineas; Estikhraaj (Dansili) for 30,000 guineas, the winner of one race with two placings during his three-year-old career. Prescience (Kyllachy) cost 22,000 guineas after placing on four occasions this year in Britain.
On Tuesday Louis Le Metayer's Astute Bloodstock signed for the day's top lot at 230,000 guineas for Pilote D'Essai (Oasis Dream), the winner of three mile races in France from his six overall starts.
Astute bought the horse on behalf of Melbourne-based clients and said at this stage a trainer had not been decided. The horse was a late addition to the Tattersall's sales having been prepared by Andre Fabre.
The Waller-Mulcaster duo struck with Lot 661 - McCreery (Big Bad Bob) - which has had just four starts for two wins earlier this year and one placing.
Mulcaster said: "We really wanted McCreery. The biggest attraction was his form and he looks a very progressive type. We went to 200,000 guineas for the three-year-old and Chris should be able to syndicate him after last Saturday's Cox Plate success."
Mulcaster also bought another on day two, paying just 16,000 guineas for Lord Major (Lawman), which has been placed twice for Ed Dunlop.
The biggest spend for the Waller-Mulcaster team was at the third session with four buys for a total of 272,000 guineas. This gave them new additions for 600,000 guineas, averaging out at 66,667 guineas.
They bought Richard Of Yorke (Oasis Dream) for 120,000 guineas, Hipparchus (Champs Elysees) for 100,000 guineas, Scooter (Mizzen Mast) for 30,000 guineas and Quick Defence (First Defence) for 22,000 guineas.
Waller began his assault at the Tattersall's sales back in 2006 and he has prepared a huge number of winners including group 1 performers My Kingdom of Fife, Moriarty, Foreteller and Opinion.
It's obviously 12 months to the 2016 Melbourne Cup but won't it be remarkable if one of Waller's nine buys graduates to the race that stops a nation.
Hoofnote: There were two-high priced colts sold on the third day, with Convergence fetching the top price of 420,000 guineas. He will head to Qatar, while Rembrandt Van Rijn is off to the 2016 Dubai carnival after changing hands for 400,000 guineas.
Darley lifts US stallion fees
Darley has announced their 2016 stallion fees for their US base, Jonabell Stud in Kentucky, with Medaglia d'Oro having his covering costs raised from $US125,000 ($176,000) to $150,000.
The sire of 14 group 1 performers stood the 2015 Australian season at their Aberdeen base for $110,000 (inc GST) as a result of his two-year-old Vancouver winning this year's Golden Slipper Stakes.
Other shuttle stallions from Darley include Bernardini, which rises from $US85,000 to $US100,000 with Hard Spun and Street Sense both rising from $US35,000 to $US50,000, while Animal Kingdom remains at $US35,000.
Coolmore stallion Uncle Mo took the honours for being the busiest stallion in Kentucky in the 2015 breeding season with 221 coverings. Other Coolmore shuttle sires currently serving in Australia are also prominent with Declaration Of War (192) and Verrazano (183) coming in seventh and ninth respectively.
Winx boost for Street Cry
The 2015-16 Australian stallions premiership took a new look with Winx's record-breaking Cox Plate win last Saturday catapulting her sire Street Cry to a lead of close to $1 million over hot favourite Fastnet Rock.
It was quite intriguing to see the new top 10 including four stallions that are either deceased or infertile, with Street Cry having passed away at Darley's Australian farm in September last year.
Encosta De Lago (third) was retired on December 31 due to fertility issues at the Jerry's Plains Coolmore Stud, while High Chaparral (eighth) was euthanised at Coolmore's Irish base on December 21.
The remaining stallion is Northern Meteor (10th) who died on July 30, 2013 at Widden Stud, now the home of his best son Zoustar, which stands alternative seasons at the latter farm and also Woodside Park in Victoria.
Street Cry's winning total is $3,858,674 and he had a lead of $993,379 over Fastnet Rock after racing last Saturday. The latter, however, has a commanding lead in the number of individual winners with 66 successful to comfortably lead Not A Single Doubt.
The other top-19 stallions currently are Holy Roman Emperor (fourth), Lonhro (fifth), Redoute's Choice (sixth), Sebring (seventh) and Exceed and Excel (ninth).
No doubt the stallions premiership will have many more changes during the next eight days with the huge prizemoney on offer at the four Flemington meetings.
