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James Harron secures two juveniles for Royal Ascot aims
Records were set in Doncaster on Thursday at the Goffs UK Doncaster Breeze Up Sale with a record 17 lots selling for six figures and the aggregate, average and median all showing gains on the 2021 figures.
The sales top lot was a son of Shadwell Stud's Tasleet (Showcasing) who was bought by Blandford Bloodstock for £230,000. The colt is out of the winning mare Silent Music (Peintre Celebre) who has produced three winners to date.
Tasleet's 2022 fee is set at £5,000, while the colt had been bought for £14,000 at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale last September.
Blandford Bloodstock's Richard Brown said the colt had been bought for Sheikh Rashid and will be trained by Richard Fahey.
"We're at a breeze-up sale and for me this colt did an outstanding breeze," said Brown.
James Harron, partnering with Blandford Bloodstock's Stuart Boman and Martin Buick of De Burgh Equine, made his presence felt buying two lots. The first of these was a colt by Kessaar (Kodiac) who was bought for £160,000.
Offered as Lot 26, the colt is out of the unraced mare Lady Lizabeth (Lord Shanakill) who is herself a half-sister to four winners.
"This is something a bit different as the horse has been purchased for James Harron Bloodstock," said Boman.
"James got in touch with Martin and myself just before the Craven with a view to trying to buy a Royal Ascot horse.
"This colt breezed in the quickest time for a colt in the sale. Time isn't everything, but in this instance, when you're trying to buy a five furlong horse, it matters."
Kessaar stands at Tally Ho Stud in Ireland where his fee is advertised at €5,000.
Operation top hat and tails is a go - secured this of a Kessaar colt at the @GoffsUK Breeze Ups for £160,000 alongside @sboman78 & @Deburghequine to squarely at @Ascot 2YO glory! See his breeze (best in the sale!!) here https://t.co/gnjRnzBqsd pic.twitter.com/wyAvYEnPKR
— James Harron (@jmeharron) April 21, 2022
Later on in the day that partnership went to £150,000 to secure a daughter from the first Northern Hemisphere-bred crop of Widden Stud's shuttler Zoustar (Northern Meteor). Sold as Lot 30, the filly is out of the dual Group 3 winning mare Ainippe (Captain Rio), who also placed at Group 1 level.
"She's a sharp filly and went very quick, she was in the top five times," said Boman.
"She's a filly with a pedigree and has some residual value and you don't need to explain what a Zoustar is to the Australians as he's a leading stallion down there."
Delighted to have two bullets aiming at our Royal @Ascot target with this speedy @widdenstud @Tweenhills Zoustar filly to go alongside our Kessaar colt secured with @sboman78 & @Deburghequine at the @GoffsUK breeze up sales https://t.co/3qQrWmelKO
— James Harron (@jmeharron) April 21, 2022
During the one-day sale 130 lots sold for £6,467,400, an increase in four per cent on the 2021 figure. The average rose two per cent to £49,750 while the median increased six per cent to £36,000.
Goffs UK managing director Tim Kent said: "Much of the talk during the last few days has been the search for Royal Ascot runners as this sale has an unrivalled record of success at the Royal meeting.
"This fact was not lost on James Harron and his team who will be donning their Top Hat and Tails in just eight weeks' time after buying two potential runners for new connections in partnership with Stuart Boman and Hubie De Burgh. It is always great to welcome new buyers to Doncaster and we wish them and others the very best of luck with their runners. We are sure that they will be following in the footsteps of Perfect Power and others at Ascot in June and we look forward to being there to cheer them home."
