Coolmore Stud came out on top in a bidding duel with Sheikh Mohammed for a yearling son of top sire Storm Cat at the Keeneland Sales in Kentucky on Tuesday.
In the end Coolmore`s Demi O`Byrne had the final nod for the colt, consigned by Lane`s End Farm, at $6.8 million (approximately #5m), a record for the September Sale, over Sheikh Mohammed`s representative John Ferguson.
'I knew the colt would make a good price,' O`Byrne said. 'Going in, we expected that he would be higher than the top horse last year (a Kris S colt sold for $3.9 million).'
Ferguson, a bloodstock advisor to the Maktoum family, commented: 'We wish the best of luck to Demi and the rest of the group.
'Obviously, we both had the colt rated very, very high. They just had him rated one bid higher than we did.'
Lane`s End owner, William S Farish, said he was shocked by the colt`s steep price.
'I`m more than pleased,' he said. 'It was a fantastic sale. He`s one of the best we`ve ever raised and obviously we`re thrilled with the price.'
The yearling is by the sire of Giant`s Causeway, the winner of five consecutive Group One races this season for the Coolmore team of Michael Tabor and Mrs John Magnier, and is half-brother to a champion United States two-year-old filly, Storm Song.
And like Giant`s Causeway Coolmore`s latest purchase could go into training with Aidan O`Brien at Ballydoyle.
Later in the day, Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum`s Shadwell Estate Company bid $4.4 million for a filly by Storm Cat, out of the French-bred East Of The Moon. The price tag set a world record for a yearling filly.
