Bids rain in for Ballylinch Stud’s New Bay colt who sells for 425,000gns

Tattersalls October Book 2, Day 3

Lot 1264: Ballylinch Stud sells this colt by New Bay for 425,000gns to Anthony Stroud.

The colt is out of the dam Fact Or Folklore, who is by the farm’s leading sire Lope De Vega. Her dam Iuturna was a Listed winner in Italy, and was bought by John O’Connor. It is a family that O’Connor supports on the racecourse – he raced the mare to win three races and finished placed at Listed level five times. He has also owned in training her 2019 colt by Make Believe called Self Belief, who has won this year.

However, it is the mare’s 2018 filly by Lawman called Statement who has been carrying the flag for the immediate family. She was sold as a yearling by the farm to Dermot Farrington, and was sold again to Stephen Hillen Bloodstock at last year’s Tattersalls December Sale for 300,000gns. By then she had run in the 1,000 Guineas and had also collected a Group 3 second place to Alcohol Free in the Fred Darling Stakes and a Group 3 third place in the Princess Elizabeth Stakes (G3).

This year she has won the Listed Navigation Stakes and the Group 3 Concorde Stakes.

Of this colt, O’Connor said: “This horse was a beautiful horse, free-moving, well-balanced, and he took everything really well – there were a few who kicked off in the pre-parade ring and he handled it very well. He has got a racehorse mind I think.

“The trainers really like the New Bays, and with the kind of mares he is covering now he has the opportunity now to step to a higher level again. Every horse has to take that opportunity, but we believe he can. The major players are still here and they are still anxious to buy nice horses. There were plenty of bids coming for him from all over the sale ring.”

Fact Or Folklore had a colt by Night of Thunder this spring.

Anthony Stroud reported that the colt was bought on behalf of owner Peter Harris, and is going into training with Jane Chapple-Hyam who “has done so well with New Bays”.