The Hong Kong Jockey Club was active at the DBS (Doncaster Bloodstock Sales) Premier Sale in England last week, purchasing two colts with speedy profiles for a total of £195,000.
The Club went to £105,000 to secure Lot 416, a chestnut youngster with a Hong Kong connection. The Compton Place colt is a close relation to Sha Tin Class 1 winner Able Speed, winner of the G2 Richmond Stakes in the UK as a two-year-old.
“He’s a three-parts brother to Able Speed, a three-time winner in Hong Kong, and he’s just the type of athletic individual that should do well here,” said Mark Richards, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Executive Manager, International Sale.
Lot 296, an Excellent Art yearling related to several Black Type sprinters, among them the G3-winning 2012 juvenile Bungle Inthejungle, was knocked down for £90,000.
“The Excellent Art colt was very popular,” said Richards. “He’s a particularly strong type from a family that is a proven source of good quality winners and he also strikes me as the right type for Hong Kong.”
Purchase details:
Lot 296 b c Excellent Art ex Cheap Thrills (Bertolini) £90,000 (approximately HK$1.18 million).
Lot 416 ch c Compton Place ex Heliograph (Ishiguru) £105,000 (approximately HK$1.37 million)
Pedigree notes:
Compton Place was a top-class sprinter whose racing high point came with victory in the G1 July Cup (1200m). A proven speed source, his best offspring include dual G1 Nunthorpe Stakes (1000m) hero Borderlescott, G2 British Champions Sprint (1200m) winner Deacon Blues and G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas (1600m) second Shifting Power. Lot 416 is the first foal born to the Ishiguru mare Heliograph, making him a three-parts brother to Hong Kong winner Able Speed (Compton Place), successful in the G2 Richmond Stakes (1200m) in the UK when known as Prolific. The family has also produced G2 Royal Lodge Stakes (1600m) winner Atlantis Prince, as well as the G3 winner and multiple G1-placed Majestic Desert.
Excellent Art made his name with victory in the G1 St James’s Palace Stakes (1600m) and a hat-trick of runner-up finishes in the G1 Sussex Stakes, G1 QEII Stakes and G1 Breeders’ Cup Mile at the same distance. Lot 296 is the third foal of three-time winner Cheap Thrills. The mare’s first foal has already won twice from four starts in minor grade as a juvenile this year. Cheap Thrills, a Bertolini mare, is one of nine winners produced by the two-time winner Licence To Thrill (Wolfhound) whose best offspring to date is 2012’s sharp two-year-old Bungle IntheJungle (Exceed And Excel), winner of the G3 Molecomb Stakes (1000m) and G3 Cornwallis Stakes (1000m) in the UK. This youngster’s third dam is the precocious G3 Cherry Hinton Stakes (1200m) winner Crime Of Passion, who also ran second in the G2 Queen Mary Stakes (1000m) and third behind the French champion Ma Biche in the G1 Prix Robert Papin (1200m) during her juvenile season.
