Lot 63, a filly by Dark Angel out of an Entreat mare (Picture: Tattersalls.com).
Dark Angel Filly Sells for Record 900,000 Guineas at Tattersalls December Yearling Sale
The DARK ANGEL half-sister to Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère winner CAMILLE PISSARRO sold for 900,000 guineas at a record-breaking renewal of the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale. Three of the five highest prices in the history of the sale were recorded on Monday including the record top lot, whilst the turnover, average and median all set new benchmarks and wide margin year on year increases.
Lot 63: Dark Angel (IRE) / Entreat (GB)
Lascelles Strikes for Record Breaking Dark Angel Filly at 900,000 Guineas
Henry Lascelles was the successful bidder at 900,000 guineas on the DARK ANGEL filly out of ENTREAT after seeing off a plethora of bidders including underbidder Yuesheng Zhang, Oliver St Lawrence, Will Douglass and Jason Kelly. The sale represented a record price for a yearling at this sale surpassing the 700,000 guineas set in 2006 for the subsequently named MOONSTONE, who went on to Classic glory in the Group 1 Irish Oaks.
Consigned by James Cloney’s Clara Stud, the filly is a half-sister to this season’s Group 1 winning two-year-old CAMILLE PISSARRO and a three-parts sister to the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup winning sire GOLDEN HORDE.
“She has got an amazing pedigree, two of her siblings will be stallions and there is a lot of Pivotal coming through,” commented Lascelles. “She is not going to be an early type, she will be a broodmare of the future and has been bought for a British owner-breeder. She will be trained in England but plans have yet to be made. She is a big girl and will take a bit of time, but the mare is an amazing producer. We thought with that pedigree, we would have to get to that sort of price.”
Breeder and consignor James Cloney said: “She was due to sell in October Book 1 but, typically, just as you get the update you get a set back – she got cast in her box two days before her sale date! These things happen but it is great for Tattersalls to put on today and deliver this result.”
He added: “She’s some mare, she just pours pure class into her stock. It’s an emotional rollercoaster with her but when she does it, she does it so well. As breeders we’re all dreamers, and you do kind of dream for this to happen. It’s unbelievable that it just keeps happening with this mare. It’s kind of exciting, especially because Entreat has travelled to Justify so we’re expecting a nice foal by him in early January. She’s back with me now, she came back home in May, so she’ll be getting an extra scoop of nuts this evening!
“With her, I feel she’s so unique. Sometimes you get mares who produce good racehorses but they don’t perform at the sales. But in my eyes, and I think in a lot of peoples’ eyes, she ticks every box because she’s able to throw the stock and then they go and back it up. There are not too many mares with two Group 1 winners under their belt, or four Stakes winners, especially all by different stallions.
“She stamps her stock no matter what stallion she goes to. This is a big strong filly and I’d draw a lot of comparisons with Camille Pissarro. I know I might sound biased but I actually thought she might be that little bit stronger at the same stage.”
A winning daughter of PIVOTAL, ENTREAT was purchased by BBA Ireland on behalf of Cloney for just 14,000 guineas at the 2016 Tattersalls July Sale.
