Wootton Bassett conformation shot

Buyers Dig Deep For Galileo Mares In Foal To Wootton Bassett

Daughters of Galileo proved a hot commodity on the opening day of the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale, with all eight offered fetching six-figure sums.

Galileo mares in foal to sire sensation Wootton Bassett were particularly desirable, with the cross having produced this season’s Group 1 winning juvenile Al Riffa (Wootton Bassett). The most expensive of those on offer was Bobby Flay’s €925,000 purchase Glinting (4f Galileo - One Moment In Time, by Dansili). “Glinting was the mare that I wanted to get today,” the celebrity chef and successful owner/breeder later commented. “She is by Galileo and from a fantastic family. I thought she was one of the best mares here today.”

La Motteraye Consignment offered the four-year-old as Lot 219, her page heavy on black-type, as a full-sister to two Group winners, out of a full-sister to dual Group 1 winner Simple Verse.

One Way (3f Galileo - Butterfly Cove, by Storm Cat) boasted a similar profile, as a full-sister to top-class race mare and broodmare Misty For Me (Galileo), carrying her first cover to Wootton Bassett. The unraced bay was consigned by Haras des Capucines and brought a final bid of €870,000 from BBA Ireland.

Margaret O’Toole later secured unraced blueblood Hope Diamond (3f Galileo - Danedrop, by Danehill) carrying to Wootton Bassett for €390,000.