Tattersalls sale’s Book 2 sees mixed results

The Tattersalls October yearling sale’s Book 2 portion posted mixed results on Wednesday in Newmarket, England, as a smaller session catalog trimmed gross receipts but average and median prices increased.

Wednesday’s session-topper was a 200,000-guinea Exceed and Excel colt who is a half-brother to Group 2 winner Prime Defender. The Hong Kong Jockey Club bought the colt after Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum’s agent, John Ferguson, pulled up at 180,000 guineas. The hammer price was the equivalent of about $336,000.

Wednesday’s session was the third of four Book 2 days and sold 190 yearlings for about $12,810,840. The average price was about $67,425 and the median was about $56,280. Compared year-to-year in the auction’s currency, guineas, the gross was down 3 percent compared with last year’s equivalent day, when 206 yearlings sold. But the average price advanced by 5 percent, and the median was up 27 percent. The session’s buyback rate was 17 percent, up from 12 percent from a year ago.

The Tattersalls October Book 2 sale was to continue through Thursday.