Wednesday 13 December 2023
SEA THE STARS is now the broodmare sire of five Group 1 winners, after the victories of Al Husn, Big Rock and Unquestionable in 2023. His daughters and in-foal mares were therefore highly sought after at the breeding stock sales, topped by the sale of Alpha Centauri for a record-equalling €6 million at Goffs in November. The multiple Group 1 winner, sold as part of the Niarchos draft, was carrying to SEA THE STARS and was knocked down to M V Magnier.
At the same sale, Gr.1 Pretty Polly Stakes winner Ambivalent sold for €925,000 carrying a full sibling to SEA THE STARS’ Gr.1 Prix Vermeille winner Teona.
Teona herself was the sales topper at Tattersalls in December, fetching €4.5 million from Juddmonte. “She is the best mare in the sale – a Group 1 winner out of a Group 1 winner,” said Simon Mockridge. “That's what they cost you. She's a beautiful addition and she's got a great pedigree. She's by SEA THE STARS who has made a fantastic start as a broodmare sire. She'll fit in very well.”
At Arqana, there were more seven-figure daughters of SEA THE STARS among the top lots sold, with Sea The Sky, a Stakes winning full-sister to Sea The Moon who was sold as part of the Gestuet Ammerland dispersal, fetched €1.25 million from Anthony Stroud for Godolphin. Earlier on, The Planets, a half-sister to Study Of Man and granddaughter of Miesque, sold for €700,000 to Gestuet Faehrhof.
Also at Arqana, SIYOUNI’s Group winning daughter Mise En Scene, whose dam is a half-sister to 1000 Guineas winner Speciosa, made an impact when sold for €800,000 to Dean Hawthorne Bloodstock and Badgers Bloodstock.
“Mise En Scene is a really good filly who will suit Australia,” said Hawthorne. “Obviously, she won a Group race at Goodwood, which is a good track, and SIYOUNI is getting a hell of a presence in Australia through Amelia’s Jewel and Amelia’s Dream. It’s blood we can do a lot with in Australia. Happy to get her and we had to pay for her but she was probably one of our main targets in the entire sale.”
SIYOUNI too is beginning to make his mark as a broodmare sire, and is already represented by the likes of Group 2 winning miler EREVANN and Classic-placed Times Square (ZARAK). Among mares in foal to him at Arqana was Mirakova, a granddaughter of the great Goldikova, sold for €850,000 to Sumbe.
Mares sold in foal to ZARAK at Arqana included Sea Shepherd, a winning SEA THE STARS half-sister to Classic winner Serienholde (dam of Schnell Meister), who made €360,000 when selling to Fabio Bloodstock Agency.
ZARAK’s foals – his first conceived at €25,000 – were also well-received, with a colt out of SEA THE STARS mare Brodie topping Sunday’s session when selling for €190,000 to Morten Buskop Bloodstock.
“My client is a very stubborn man when he decides he wants a horse!” said Buskop. “We like the ZARAKs and we thought there was a lot of Dubawi about this horse. The page is nice and the ZARAK-SEA THE STARS cross should do the job, and we liked that there’s some Linamix further back in the pedigree too.”
