Magic wand waves for Fairyhouse as September bargains take the Royal Ascot limelight once more

A chance of a winner at Royal Ascot is one of the biggest drivers for members of the world's elite spending millions at international auctions.

Friday's card demonstrated that it is not always necessary to dig quite as deep with both Group 1 winners costing less than €50,000. As both the Harry Eustace-trained Time For Sandals and Cercene came from the 2023 edition of Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, while the former's £16,000 stablemate Docklands, winner of Tuesday's Queen Anne, was sourced at the sale in 2021, organisers in Fairyhouse now have the cover of this year's event done and dusted.

Commonwealth Cup winner Time For Sandals was an astonishing €35,000 find by Eustace. Bred through Ballyhane Rathbride Unlimited, she is a first top-level winner and comes from the maiden crop of Sands Of Mali, resident of Ballyhane Stud who was drawn in the wrong place in the 2018 edition of this race and could never quite reel in Eqtidaar.

She is out of the winning Bachelor Duke mare Days Of Summer who, until Friday, had only produced minor winners largely in lesser jurisdictions. 

The dam, though, was very much more distinguished going back in her pedigree as a daughter of the magnificent Pharaoh's Delight, who won the Phoenix Stakes back in the days of it being known as the 'Heinz 57' back at the now-defunct Phoenix Park and was later third behind the outstanding Dayjur in the likes of the Nunthorpe and the Prix de l'Abbaye. Days Of Summer raced for Steve Parkin's Clipper Logistics and his Irish base, Rathbride Farm, bred a yearling full sister who is due to be offered this year. 

Pharoah's Delight joined Ballylinch Stud and the family has managed some success over the years, including with a Breeders' Cup Turf winner in Red Rocks but it was roaring back to life with a filly who is now a very valuable commodity for her owners the Bevan family.

Sands Of Mali, who won the Gimcrack as a two-year-old, landed the Group 1 Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes at this same course later in that 2018 season.

With a fee listed in 2025 as private, he could easily start attracting the interest of many more breeders. One of his three other Group winners was Ain't Nobody, a £30,000 transfer who took last year's Windsor Castle.

Cercene and Gary Carroll land the Coronation StakesCredit: Patrick McCann

This has already been a sensational about-turn in the career of Coolmore's Australia, who was rather treading water than exactly surfing a wave of success.

Not only was he the sire of this month's Derby winner Lambourn, his total of seven Group 1 scorers now include a Coronation Stakes over a mile with his surprise package Cercene.

She was bought one day after Time For Sandals, with her trainer Joe Murphy's Crampscastle Bloodstock picking her up for €50,000 from the Baroda Stud draft. 

Cercene was bred by the China Horse Club out of the international entity's winning Acclamation mare Tschierschen, who is a half-sister to Roodeye, dam of US Grade 2 winner Prize Exhibit and Sussex Stakes scorer Mohaather, while she is the granddam of the popular Accidental Agent.

The mare's filly by Starman proved more popular at that same auction last September when knocked down to Rabbah Bloodstock for €120,000.

Cercene's owner, Shane Stafford, bought into her after a promising debut outing at Gowran last July and she won her first start in his yellow colours at Naas in September.

When she was third behind Lake Victoria in the Irish Guineas, the sharks began to circle but the laid-back man from rural Queensland held firm.

"I bought some property in Ireland, sold our cattle properties in Australia and we ran into these lovely people," he said of the Murphys. 

"The filly did really well, we received a large offer for her but I didn't want the Murphys to lose the horse so I bought an extra share so it was kept in the family."

Stafford had very little to complain about as he also had some excitement from his share in Waterford Flow, who finished ninth in the King George V Stakes.

"They were my first two runners," he said. "I've only got two three-year-olds and they've both raced at Ascot."

Read more

Royal Ascot victory for Starman as Venetian Sun shines in the Albany Stakes 

‘We nearly threw the telly out of the window!’ – Group 1 glory not the only cause for celebration for Ombudsman’s savvy breeder