TATTERSALLS, ENGLAND – Godolphin paid the ultimate compliment to unbeaten juvenile Avicenna by spending 900,000gns on his full-sister on day two of the Book 2 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. The Starspangledbanner filly was bred by Sue Ann Foley and described by the Islanmore Stud manager Nigel Anderton as “a queen”. It was Anthony Stroud, bidding on behalf of Godolphin, who saw off the attention of bloodstock agent Ed Sackville as underbidder. That purchase took Godolphin's total spend between Book 1 and 2 to over £20 million.Stroud said, “She is an exceptionally good-looking filly and we have the full-brother. He's done absolutely everything correctly and we thought this was a very good individual. She was very well prepared by Islanmore – a lovely filly. She is a bit of a standout – top price and she's a beautiful-looking filly. She's also an incredible mover and the pedigree is hot.”He added, “She is quite similar to Avicenna. In many ways, she is more attractive. It's hard to compare one sex to the other but I think she's a pretty outstanding-looking filly.”The Tuesday sale-topper is over 20 years in the making given that JP McManus's son Kieran purchased the granddam, Potion (Pivotal), at Book 1 here in 2005 for 230,000gns. Potion carried Foley's recognizable black silks to victory on two occasions when in training with David Wachman, while her daughter, Love Potion (Galileo), won once in five starts for Aidan O'Brien. The pedigree, however, has gone to another level through the exploits of Avicenna, who landed the Flying Scotsman Stakes at Doncaster last month. Meanwhile, the Starspangledbanner-Galileo cross was put in lights when Precise landed the G1 Fillies' Mile at Newmarket last Friday. Islanmore Stud boss Anderton commented, “We weren't expecting that. She's a gorgeous filly and must have had around 200 shows. Each and every time that she came out, she was just a beautifully-balanced filly who walked like a queen all week. We arrived here on Thursday, started showing on Friday, and we had a big update with Precise, who won the Fillies' Mile. She's out of a Galileo mare as well. We bought the granddam here over 20 years ago in 2005. It's a really good-looking family and we have raced most of the stock.”He added, “With Love Potion herself, we got a big touch out of her last year with Avicenna [who sold for 450,000gns at Book 2]. He provided us with a big update since the catalogue was printed and a big thank you goes to Mr Stroud, who bought him, and Mr Varian, who trained him so well. Hopefully he will go on to be a Group horse next year. A big thank you must go to the team at home. She has been very well-minded and Johnny Mulcahy, who led her up, has been coming here for 40 years but the legs have been walked off him all week with this filly. He's due to go on holiday next week so it's fantastic.”The day two turnover was down by 13% to 21,521,000gns compared to last year, which was actually a record day of trade for Book 2 prior to Monday of this week. The median was down by 7% to 70,000gns while the average dropped by 12% to 101,038gns. The clearance rate was also down by 2% to 89%.La Motteraye Rewarded For Spreading The LoveIt's amazing how a good sale can change your perspective on life. One minute, La Motteraye's Gwen Monneraye was cursing his decision to book himself into the White Hart Hotel in Newmarket for the duration of Book 1 and 2, pointing to the loud music being played at the premises as a major bugbear. The next minute, the native of France was thanking his lucky stars that loud music was all he had to worry about. What caused this sudden shift in Monneraye's outlook? The sale of lot 936, a Siyouni filly that was bred by Haras Voltaire, for 525,000gns to Ross Doyle probably had something to do with it alright. That, and the fact that the leading consignor could now afford an upgrade to the Bedford Lodge Hotel perhaps. He joked, “You know, the White Hart is not such a bad hotel after all! Honestly, we knew she was nice and that we were about to have a good sale, but we were not expecting such a price. We are really happy and the filly has been so straightforward. She is very easy to deal with. She is a Siyouni with scope and a big walk – there are not many of them.”He added, “She reminded me a lot of Laurens and, also, on the dam's side, there was a big update with the half-sister winning a very good maiden at Deauville by three lengths. That all helps. We know the family very well and it went according to plan – better than we could have planned, actually!”This is not the first time that La Motteraye has been rewarded for spreading the love between Arqana and Tattersalls. In the case of the Siyouni filly, Haras Voltaire – which is managed by Laurent Benoit – was more than happy to sell in England. Monneraye explained, “Especially with Haras Voltaire, they sell a lot. They have a lot of horses at Arqana in August and in October, so I think it is always good not to have all of your horses in the same sale just in case it is a bad sale. So they like to spread their horses around and Laurent [Benoit] is keen to do that.”The Siyouni filly won't have to wait long to return to her homeland, however, given Doyle purchased her on behalf of Magne Jordanger, whose horses are trained by Pia Brandt. Doyle said, “She is a lovely filly and the cross is very good. She is gorgeous, physically, with a nice bit of size to her, and is probably a backend two-year-old type – a Classic filly for the future. It is a big shout, but I hope that is what she ends up becoming.“Her Pinatubo half-sister Zalina, who won at Deauville on debut in August, was extremely impressive and, hopefully, will give us a black-type update. That would be helpful long-term as a breeding prospect, if all goes to plan for this filly.”He added, “Our client, Magne Jordanger's Stall Perlen, already has horses with Pia Brandt, has been leading owner in Scandinavia many times, has had horses with Richard Hannon for a time, has been a great client for many years with my father and now myself, and has been very loyal.”'Easy To Polish A Diamond,' says Swinburn after 550k SaleGenesis Green Stud supplied some of the early excitement on Tuesday when a Night Of Thunder colt, bred by an English-based client, sold to trainer Kevin Ryan for 550,000gns. Out of an unraced Mastercraftsman mare, who has already produced a highly-rated runner in multiple Group 2-placed performer Dhabab (No Nay Never), the Night Of Thunder colt was purchased on behalf of an existing owner of Ryan's.“Nice, very nice,” said Swinburn. “He is just a nice horse and always has been. Looking at him, it is very hard to think that he is a May foal as he is very strong. It's easy to shine a diamond!”Speaking about trade, he added, “We've been very lucky so far because we've been lucky enough to have had the right sires and we had the right horses as well. But it is just very, very selective.”For Ryan, the Night Of Thunder was one he wasn't going to leave behind.He said, “I'd seen him four times over the last few days. He's by a great sire and he has an amazing attitude; he's very laidback and has never put a foot wrong each time I went back to see him. Even when he came up here to the ring, he just had a great way of going about him. He's a great physical, even though he's a May foal there's a lot of strength there. I just hope he turns out to be a racehorse now.”Ryan added, “Following these Night Of Thunders in here, you just don't know what you'll have to pay. I'm delighted to get him, though. He's been bought for an owner in the yard. It's always hard trying to buy them but I'm very lucky to have owners with the money to come and buy these horses.”“Magical” Pinnhoking Profit For Vigors BrothersIt was worth waiting around for one of the stories of the day given just one lot from the end, young pinhookers Harry and Oliver Vigors turned their 72,000gns foal by Perfect Power into a 260,000gns yearling. It was Shadwell who landed the colt that was consigned by Hillwood Stud, which is operated by Charlie Vigors, father of Harry and Oliver. The colt had been sourced with the help of Hannah Wall and, to illustrate the goodwill behind the pinhooking profit, the young boys received a standing ovation upon walking into the Green Room restaurant shortly after the hammer dropped. “It was magical,” said Harry (16). “We were hopeful going into the ring but we weren't expecting anything of that sort of level. I just can't thank the guys enough, Lewis who's led him up the whole time he's been up here and the teams at Tweenhills and Hillwood, who've done an amazing job with him.”He added, “We found him at the foal sales last year. We went around on the Saturday and he was the one horse we liked. We were delighted to get him then and even more delighted now. He was the perfect stamp of a horse; perfect walk, perfect physical. You couldn't ask for more. All the right people were there and we'd just like to wish Shadwell the best of luck.” Will you be back at the foal sales this year? “I think we're going to have to now!”SubplotsOff the back of breaking his Group 1 duck with Cercene this year, trainer Joe Murphy has been notably strong at the yearling sales. Signing under Crampcastle Bloodstock, Murphy spent over €200,000 at Fairyhouse, close to €500,000 between Book 1 and 2 of the Orby at Goffs and, following on from the 80,000gns spent at Book 1 here last week, spent 220,000gns on a Baaeed filly from Ballyhimikin Stud on Tuesday. Nobody could accuse the Murphys of standing still, that's for sure. One of the major themes to emerge from this yearling season is how precarious the art of pinhooking has become. However, the Gleeson brothers of Michael and Lawrence have continued to produce the goods in what has become an ever-changing market. On Tuesday, the men behind Aughamore Stud sold a New Bay colt that they had sourced for €120,000 to MV Magnier for 300,000gns. “Relief,” Michael said of his overriding emotion shortly after the hammer dropped. “We knew that there was a lot of interest but to make that was beyond expectations.” Gleeson added, “He was a pricey foal, but the sire's stud fee was €75,000, so we had paid accordingly. He came from Pat O'Kelly's great farm and New Bay is a fantastic stallion. We brought him to Book 2 so that he would be a standout and he was.”Several of the most prolific American operators at Book 1 have been absent from the buyers' list this week, including Matt Dorman of Determined Stables and agent Mike Ryan, who acts on behalf of Klaravich Stables. Nevertheless, others have stepped into the fold to keep the stars and stripes flying high above Park Paddocks, at all levels of the market. Troy Levy of Tropical Racing has made four purchases over the first two days for a total of 335,000gns, while trainer Ben Colebrook has added two yearlings to his team at a cost of 175,000gns. Alex Solis, meanwhile, has stayed on after enjoying a productive time of things at Book 1. He has signed for two yearlings this week in tandem with Jason Litt, plus another three on behalf of Mike Repole.Thought for the dayWord on the street is that the best has been saved until last at Book 2, with many leading buyers and vendors saying there is some nice stock to be unveiled on Wednesday. The post Godolphin Swoop For “Standout” Starspangledbanner Filly At Tattersalls appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.