Tattersalls nmbers down

A Fantastic Light broodmare carrying a Sakhee foal sold for about $411,600 as the top-priced horse Tuesday at the opening day of the Tattersalls July sale in Newmarket, England.

The 5-year-old mare, Welsh Cake, sold for 200,000 guineas to Mike Caddy's Horizon Bloodstock on behalf of Caddy's farm, Heatherwold Stud, in Berkshire. A daughter of the Green Desert mare Khubza, she is a half-sister to two group winners, Trans Island and Welsh Diva.

Kevin and Sue Mercer's Usk Valley Stud consigned Welsh Cake to the auction.

The first of four sessions sold 157 horses for about $6,898,827, resulting in an average of approximately $43,942. In the local currency of guineas, both gross and average were down as compared with last year's opener, when 200 horses sold. Gross receipts dropped 27 percent this year, while the average price was off by 7 percent.

The auction features broodmares and broodmare prospects, horses in training, and yearlings. It was to run through Friday at Tattersalls headquarters in Newmarket.