A Galileo filly out of Brigid lived up to her star billing at the Tattersall’s October yearling sale on Friday.  She sold to agent Charlie Gordon-Watson for 1.70 million guineas.

The chestnut filly was bought on behalf of Nurlan Bizakov who recently purchased Hesmonds Stud.

Australian owner Paul Makin joined the bidding with a single bid of a million guineas.  Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock came back in at 1.20 million and they duelled until Gordon-Watson had the final say.

“That was a lot more than I expected to pay,” said Gordon-Watson. “There are less and less good fillies available and you don’t get the opportunity to buy them like that very often.

“When you are starting a new stud and want foundation blood you go for the best.  I know the family well and I think Galileo is the best stallion in my lifetime, because of what he has achieved with two-year-olds as well as older horses.

“It is up to Nurlan Bizakov where she goes into training but he currently has horses with Sir Michael Stoute, Ed Dunlop and Jeremy Noseda.”

Nurlan Bizakov is based in Kazakhstan and is one of that country’s most successful businessmen.  He was chairman of the Shymkent oil refinery and, after being fired in 2000, mustered an armed guard in order to regain control.

The final day of Book 1 at Tattersalls saw a total of 121 lots seill for 17.68 million guineas.  The average climbed 37% to 146,190 guineas and the median was up 27% to 95,000 guineas.

The final sale figures for the three sessions of Book 1 saw 364 lots sold for 51.63 million guineas at an average that rose 32% to 141,852 guineas.  The final clearance rate was 86%.

Book 2 is scheduled for October 11 to 13 and Book 3 is on October 14.