Two-time Group 1 winner Saffron Beach is destined for the Saudi Cup (G1) after Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Abdulaziz’s Najd Stud was sold for 3,600,000 guineas on November 29 during day two of the Tattersalls December sale. Putina is set to stay with coach Jane Chapple-Hyam ahead of her international target.
Badgers Bloodstock’s Grant Pritchard-Gordon went to 2,900,000 guineas, but it was Northern Farm’s Shunsuke Yoshida who appeared to have sealed the deal before a final 100,000 guinea increase after much deliberation, who played the role of sub-bidder of the representative Najd Stud Saad. bin Mishraf.
“It’s a great thrill and a great honor and we have a good winter to look forward to,” Chapple-Hyam said. “I think he was waiting for the saddle to move on while he was doing a few bops in the parade ring. She’s in good shape and she’s tough and I think she’ll get the nine furlongs in Saudi Arabia. You never know about the (dirt) surface, but we’re going to try.”
Saffron Beach in the ring at Tattersalls December Great Sale
He has been offered an entry in the Hong Kong Mile (G1), which is worth $4 million to the winner, but Chapple-Hyam suggested the Saudi Cup will now be the main target.
Register for BloodHorse Daily
“She’ll rest a bit now and then we’ll get her ready,” she said. “I’ll have to do a really good racecourse gallop with her because when I sent her to the World Cup meeting in Dubai, even though I ran well in fourth, everyone in front of us ran, so I’m aware of that.”
The trainer added: “If Northern Farm had taken her she would have gone to stud, but with these owners buying her, they get another dance – and it’s a big dance! I’m excited, it’s going to be great.”
Saffron Beach’s race record was capped by victory in a number of top events, namely the Kingdom Of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes (G1) at 3 and the Prix Rothschild (G1) at 4. She won a further four times in apart from those triumphs, her 3 1/2 furlong in this year’s Duke of Cambridge Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot was her best Racing Post Ratings display, with the performance rated 121.
She was making a late second appearance at public auction, having originally been snapped up by Liam Norris of Norris/Huntingdon at 55,000 guineas ($73,851) during the December 2018 foal sale.
The intention of the partnership behind her was to bring her back to the market the following year, but after suffering a minor injury she was withdrawn from Book 2 and then from the December yearling sale. She also missed the July 2020 Sale when she was entered as an unraced 2-year-old.
What may have seemed like a calamity at the time turned into a significant piece of luck as owner Ben Sangster, whose son Ollie later joined the partnership, and James Wigan sent her to train with Chapple-Hyam, and she wasted little time in revealing her talents. She won twice at 2, including the Godolphin Lifetime Care Oh So Sharp Stakes (G3), and finished second. Mother planet in QIPCO One Thousand Guineas (G1) on second outing at 3.
Saffron Beach in the ring at Tattersalls December Great Sale
Saffron Beach claimed a third win in the Betway Atalanta Stakes (G3) before securing her first top-level success by a pair of three lengths in Sun Chariot when she comfortably reversed form with Mother Earth and also had a group later twice. 1 winner Dreamer of dreams back on the third.
Bred by China Horse Club, Saffron Beach is from the debut crop of Ballylinch Stud’s rising star sire New Bay . She has been a true flag-bearer for the son of Dubawi, who will carry the 2023 breeding season at a career-high €75,000 from the €20,000 launch price Saffron Beach was raised to.
She is the second foal out of Falling Petals, a daughter of Raven’s Pass who won a Lingfield maiden for John Gosden in the colors of Princess Haya. Falling Petals is out of the Listed Infinite Spirit, making her a half-sister to seven winners, including the Middle Park Stakes, Huntdown’s third. Another sibling, the unraced Continua, is the dam of Molecomb Stakes scorer and Tally-Ho Stud stallion Cotai Glory.