Tattersalls soars

The Tattersalls July sale featuring racing-aged stock and broodmares started its three-day run Tuesday with a record session. The Newmarket, England, auction house sold the 3-year-old Rainbow Quest mare Echoes for 130,000 guineas, or about $252,525, setting a new sale mark. The opening session also set a new mark for gross receipts and both average and median prices.

On Wednesday, at the auction's second session, a 3-year-old Nureyev gelding, Schapiro, also fetched 130,000 guineas to equal the new record. A son of Konvincha, the stakes-placed Schapiro is from the family of U. S. millionaire and Grade 2 winner Lottsa Talc and of stakes winner Appealing Guy.

A larger catalog helped the Tuesday session's total income reach a new height. The opener sold 154 lots, up from last year's 107, for gross receipts of about $4,812,155. The average price was about $31,247, and the median about $16,997. In the local auction currency of guineas, all three were records.

Tuesday's top lot, Echoes, sold in foal to the young stallion Where or When.