With Europe’s premier two-year-old auction set to take place in Newmarket on April 14-16, Steve Dennis compiles a list of some glittering jewels unearthed in recent years – and they include a serious Classic contender for 2025
The search starts here. The Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale [April 14-16] is the premier European two-year-old auction of the year, offering the first major opportunity to purchase ready-to-run juveniles with an eye to the prestigious prizes on offer at Royal Ascot, Glorious Goodwood and delightful Deauville in the summer.
“The Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale is unquestionably Europe’s leading breeze-up sale for Group 1 winners,” says Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony. “The calibre and consistency of Group 1 winners sourced from the sale are a testament to the outstanding quality that Europe’s leading breeze-up consignors offer year after year, and this year’s catalogue is no exception.”
Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale catalogue for 2025
The breezes take place on the Watered Gallop at Newmarket’s fabled straight Rowley Mile track ahead of the course’s opening meeting of the year, the welcome signal that the Flat season has really clicked into gear. All horses in the sale are eligible for two lucrative bonuses, £125,000 for the first Craven Breeze-Up graduate to win a two-year-old race at Royal Ascot, and the same amount for the first graduate to win a European two-year-old G1 contest.
The latter bonus was won by Native Trail in 2021 and Vandeek in 2023, and both colts appear on this list of the best Craven Breeze-Up alumni over the last 20 years, the pick of a pack that always contains plenty of aces.
Ambiente Friendly
b c Gleneagles - Roxity (Fastnet Rock)
2023 purchased for 80,000gns
Buyer: Freddie Tylicki Bloodstock
Consignor: Grangecoor Farm
Subsequent record: 2 wins from 8 races (also 2nd G1 Derby, 3rd G1 Irish Derby)
Improved markedly when moved up in distance at the beginning of his sophomore campaign, with the impression formed from a clear-cut score in Listed grade enough to make him second-favourite for the Derby at Epsom. He looked the likely winner three furlongs out but had no answer to the brilliance of champion City Of Troy and was beaten 2¾ lengths, while finishing well clear of the third Los Angeles. He fell slightly below that level when third behind Los Angeles in the Irish Derby at the Curragh and his form evaporated thereafter, but he stays in training in 2025.
Cachet
b f Aclaim - Poyle Sophie (Teofilo)
2021 purchased for 60,000gns
Buyer: Highclere Agency
Consignor: Hyde Park Stud
Subsequent record: 3 wins from 14 races (inc. G1 1,000 Guineas)
A busy, eight-race juvenile season hinted at future glory – third in the G1 Fillies’ Mile behind Inspiral, a close fourth at Del Mar in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf – and so it came to pass, with success on her three-year-old debut enabling a bid for the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket. Despite anonymity in the betting market at 16-1 she took the race by main force, leading throughout and fending off all challengers to prevail by a neck. She missed out on a Classic double by just a head when pipped in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches at Longchamp.
Contributer
b c High Chaparral - Serisia (Exit To Nowhere)
2012 purchased for 130,000gns
Buyer: Angie Loder Bloodstock
Consignor: Oak Tree Farm
Subsequent record: 8 wins from 18 races (inc. G1 Ranvet, Chipping Norton)
A career that fell neatly into two halves, with nine races in Britain crowned by success in the Wolferton Handicap at Royal Ascot, a victory that earned him a one-way ticket to Australia – certainly more pricey than the proverbial ten-pound Pom – for nine races in Group company. He reached his peak in a heady five-week spree the following summer, taking the G2 Apollo at Randwick before graduating to G1 level. A gritty win in the Chipping Norton at Warwick Farm preceded a more impressive victory in the Ranvet back at Randwick, but he could not embellish his record in four subsequent starts.
Fleeting Spirit
b f Invincible Spirit - Millennium Tale (Distant Relative)
2007 purchased for 90,000gns
Buyer: Anthony Stroud Bloodstock
Consignor: Bansha House Stables
Subsequent record: 5 wins from 16 races (inc. G1 July Cup)
Six furlongs was the limit for this durable speedball, who finished in the first four in G1 company across four seasons. At two she came up a neck short in the Cheveley Park at Newmarket, at three she was beaten three-quarters of a length in the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot, at four she broke through into the big time in the July Cup at Newmarket. Despite tracing a crooked line through the final furlong – first hanging left, then right, then left again – she had plenty in hand, winning by a length and a quarter. It was her finest hour, and final victory.
Gronkowski
b c Lonhro - Four Sugars (Lookin At Lucky)
2017 purchased for 300,000gns
Buyer: Kerri Radcliffe Bloodstock
Consignor: Lynn Lodge Stud
Subsequent record: 4 wins from 17 races (also 2nd G1 Belmont, Dubai World Cup)
From Newmarket to Riyadh, from Saratoga to Meydan, he travelled the racing road on a journey that was defined not by what he won but by what he almost won. All his victories were gained in Britain, but his first brush with stardom came in the Belmont Stakes, when he played a game second fiddle to the virtuoso Justify as that champion swept the Triple Crown series. His form then deteriorated, but another change of address rekindled the fire and, as an unconsidered 28-1 shot, he went down fighting by a bare nose to Thunder Snow in the Dubai World Cup.
Hotazhell
b c Too Darn Hot - Azenzar (Danehill Dancer)
2024 purchased for 200,000gns
Buyer: Silverton Hill
Consignor: Lackendarra Stables
Subsequent record: 4 wins from 6 races (inc. G1 Futurity)
The latest high-profile graduate from the Craven Breeze-Up academy has the potential to be one of its best, if he can build upon a fine juvenile record. He improved with every race, hopscotching from maiden win to G3 and then G2 success in the influential Beresford Stakes at the Curragh, and set the seal on his year with a hard-fought victory in the Futurity Trophy over a mile at Doncaster. He showed admirable tenacity to deny the equally obdurate Delacroix by a nose – third horse a long way back – making him a leading contender for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket in May.
Mehmas
b c Acclamation - Lucina (Machiavellian)
2016 purchased for 170,000gns
Buyer: Peter & Ross Doyle Bloodstock
Consignor: Horse Park Stud
Subsequent record: 4 wins from 8 races (also 2nd G1 National, 3rd G1 Middle Park)
The practice of retiring high-class two-year-olds after just one season is not to be admired, and his career spanned just 142 days, but it was crammed with good things. He hit the board every time, coming off second-best in the G2 Coventry at Royal Ascot but making his name with narrow victories in the G2 July at Newmarket and the G2 Richmond at Goodwood. G1 success proved beyond him in the autumn, but his rapid translation to the breeding shed paid similarly immediate dividends, and he became champion first-crop (2020) and second-crop (2021) sire in Europe with progeny cast in his own image.
Native Trail
b c Oasis Dream - Needleleaf (Observatory)
2021 purchased for 210,000gns
Buyer: Godolphin
Consignor: Oak Tree Farm
Subsequent record: 6 wins from 11 races (inc. G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas, National, Dewhurst)
Here is the epitome of the breeze-up ethos, a champion two-year-old who progressed to Classic success at three. Four-for-four as a juvenile, earning end-of-year honours with comfortable scores in the premier contests in Britain and Ireland, he took his perfect record to Newmarket for the 2,000 Guineas but was thwarted by his stablemate Coroebus. Three weeks later he returned to the top step of the podium when dominating a moderate edition of the Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh, his final triumph, although third place in the ten-furlong G1 Eclipse at Sandown next time out was a far more accomplished performance.
Rio De La Plata
ch c Rahy - Express Way (Ahmad)
2007 purchased for 170,000gns
Buyer: John Ferguson Bloodstock
Consignor: Bansha House Stables
Subsequent record: 8 wins from 30 races (inc. G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, Premio Vittorio Di Capua, Premio Roma)
Like the Duracell bunny, he went on and on … and on; very few horses win a G1 at two and then repeat the feat at the age of five. He also hit the board in seven other G1s, including the Poule d’Essai des Poulains at Longchamp, and although he drew a blank at three (notably when a palpable non-stayer in the Derby at Epsom) and four he returned to his peak at five and six. The easier pickings available in Italy allowed him to thrive, and with the stamps of five countries in his passport he fitted Godolphin’s globe-trotting template perfectly.
Vandeek
gr c Havana Grey - Mosa Mine (Exceed And Excel)
2023 purchased for 625,000gns
Buyer: Stroud Coleman Bloodstock
Consignor: Glending Stables
Subsequent record: 4 wins from 6 races (inc. G1 Prix Morny, Middle Park)
Another fine validation of the allure of the breeze-ups, the most expensive purchase on this list justified the outlay with a four-race unbeaten juvenile season that brought him the crown of champion British two-year-old. Campaigned solely at six furlongs, he showed a different type of versatility to win the Morny in gritty fashion in the Deauville mud and then the Middle Park in swaggering style on fast ground at Newmarket. He could not build on those foundations in an abbreviated sophomore year, but he did add to his enviable record with third-place in the G1 July Cup at Newmarket on his last start.
• Visit the Tattersalls website and the Craven Breeze Up Sale catalogue
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