NEWMARKET, UK – If Book 1 set the tone, the opening Book 2 session of the October Yearling Sale kept the market humming along nicely at Tattersalls on Monday. A healthy demand for horses sustained respectable trade, which was headed by Ballyhimikin Stud's wildcard offering by Blue Point, with the colt knocked down to Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock for 600,000gns. A 215,000gns foal purchase alongside Johnny McKeever here in December, the Blue Point colt represented an outstanding piece of pinhooking profit. However, it all seemed to be in the balance last week, when the half-brother to the Group 1-placed Flotus (Starspangledbanner) missed his initial engagement in Book 1 due to travel sickness. Monday's sale provided a timely reminder that there is always another day. Jack Hanly, son of the Ballyhimikin maestro James, said, “It has all worked out in the end and was perhaps for luck. He was not right after travelling and we felt there's a big market there to sell them this week in Book 2 so we just took a chance by doing so. Tattersalls has been very good in advertising the horse – it was an exceptional job that they did. He is a beautiful horse and deserved to make what he has.”Hanly continued, “The team has done an absolutely super job with him. We bought him as a foal [from Norelands] and we loved him then and he has just done super on the farm. The team at home is the reason why we're able to get these horses here and get them to this position.”This pedigree has a history of big-money transactions at Tattersalls as it was here in 2021, during the December Mares Sale, where Flotus sold to Katsumi Yoshida for 1 million gns. Sadly, the dam, Floriade (Invincible Spirit), is reported to have died this year. Brown commented, “He is a beautiful colt and I think he would have stood out last week – he certainly stood out today. I am a big fan of the stallion and the mare's obviously already produced a good one in Flotus. I am delighted to get him. I think that is his value – I do think that whatever sale a horse is in, they tend to make their value. We're the lucky ones as I do think he is a really smashing colt to get our hands on.”The agent added, “He showed brilliantly right from the start, but it shows how much we ask the horses to do and how small the margins can be. It was just a great plan by all parties that this sale could be accommodated this week rather than waiting through to December.”Stroud Lands Lope De Vega Filly For “Complete Legend” Peter HarrisAnthony Stroud labelled owner and former trainer Peter Harris “a complete legend” after signing for a 550,000gns Lope De Vega filly from Hillwood Stud deep into the session. Harris, the owner of Mill Stream along with a string of other high-class runners, is reported to have bought four horses during Book 1.Stroud said, “Lovely filly. We all loved her – it was a little bit more than I thought she was going to cost. She will be owned by Peter Harris, and I am very grateful for his involvement, enthusiasm and direction. He bought four last week. He's fantastic. I mean, he's just an amazing man.”The agent added, “He'd hate me saying this but he's just a complete legend. I've been buying horses for him since I was 22 – I used to buy his jumpers. We bought a lot of good jumpers and it's fantastic that it [the relationship] goes on.”The Lope De Vega filly put the icing, cherry and sprinkles on top of a memorable day for Hillwood Stud. The operation's Charlie Vigors sourced the dam of the filly, Listed scorer My Eyes Adore You (Profitable), for 380,000gns at the December Mares Sale in 2023. All told, Hillwood Stud ended Monday as the leading vendor with seven horses selling for a grand total of 1,557,000gns. Vigors commented, “She's a lovely filly and she's just shown beautifully the whole time she's been up here. We are absolutely delighted. She's a very good first foal. She is incredibly well-balanced, she's always been very athletic, and is just a lovely filly.” Amo Racing And Emmet Mullins Strengthen Partnership With 475k Frankel ColtAmo Racing pledged its support to Emmet Mullins in pretty emphatic fashion by signing for one of the most expensive horses on the day, a 475,000gns Frankel colt from Hillwood Stud. Highly-rated Flat handicapper Dallas Star (Cloth Of Stars) provided the new owner-trainer partnership with the best possible start when making a successful hurdling debut at Navan last month. That victory has paved the way for Kia Joorabchian to back Mullins with more ammunition on the level ahead of his move to Jim Bolger's historic Glebe House base in County Kilkenny, which he bought for an undisclosed figure recently. Joorabchian said, “I told Emmet that I am the most successful jumps owner in his yard! We have had one runner and one winner – a 100 per cent strike-rate! Joking aside, they have spent a lot of money and have taken over Jim Bolger's place. He's got unbelievable facilities. It's going to be his first year there, so he's going to have to be patient, but we have a few jumps horses there and now a few Flat horses, so we'll see. I came to know Emmet through Paul Byrne and another friend of mine, Peter Trainor. It's another partnership so, fingers crossed.”All told, Amo Racing spent 1,120,000 gns on six yearlings. On the Frankel colt, Joorabchian added, “Very happy. I actually thought he looked like a Book 1 horse. He has a lot of the right Frankel attributes but he is a fast-looking Frankel, so fingers crossed. He's going to be ready early. He's going to Emmet Mullins so hopefully he will get him out and win the first maiden of the year at the Curragh. I think he is a well-bought horse.”That result, along with the Lope De Vega filly that came a little later in the day, contributed to the memorable day of trade for Hillwood Stud.Vigors commented on the Frankel colt, “He was bred by Fortescue Bloodstock, long time supporters, and he has always been a nice colt. He is probably slightly more precocious-looking than a lot of Frankels and we wanted to hold him for this book because we felt he'd be a better fit. Last week, he would also have been up against the Frankel out of Get Ahead [which Hillwood sold to Godolphin for 1.8 million gns] in our own draft.”Vigors added, “He's got plenty of presence and the two-year-old full-sister [Probing] was a very encouraging second first time out on Saturday in a maiden at Newmarket. She is with Ralph Beckett, looks very promising and that performance has been very timely to help the page. Kurious had a Lope De Vega filly this year and was covered by Mehmas.”Cheveley Park Brings Entire Spend To Over 3 Million GnsFollowing on from a 2.15 million spend during Book 1, Cheveley Park Stud added two well-bred fillies by Night Of Thunder and Havana Grey to the team for a combined sum of 825,000gns. That spend was headed by the 450,000gns Night Of Thunder filly from Carisbrooke Stud. She is out of the Listed-placed Impulsion (Footstepsinthesand), who was purchased by Cathy Grassick on behalf of her owner-breeder Yvonne Jacques as a yearling for €40,000 almost a decade back. “I'm delighted to see who has bought her,” Jacques said. “She has gone to a great home, will end up going to a top trainer, is staying in England and will hopefully be a broodmare for Cheveley.”She added, “Cathy selected her and we paid just €40,000 for her as a yearling. She went into training with Roger [Varian]. We always try to do the best we can with our mares stallion-wise, and I was dead lucky to get Night Of Thunder when I did. I love my horses deeply, so does the staff at home, and for us it is always difficult to sell, but we do run a commercial operation. I also have a Night Of Thunder filly in training. Impulsion has had a lot of fillies, too, and so it made sense to sell this filly. The Carisbrooke Stud team has done a great job and I can't thank them enough.”Cheveley Park Stud also spent 375,000gns on a full-sister to Shouldvebeenaring from Whitsbury Manor Stud. Speaking after signing for the Night Of Thunder filly, Richardson joked, “It was a bit of an Impulsion really! She's a lovely, athletic filly with a wonderful mind, and Night Of Thunder is a sire who's had a phenomenal year. For us, she ticked all the boxes and we're prepared to give her a bit of time. Obviously Carisbrooke, Yvonne Jacques, is a breeder we know well and she breeds good horses, so we're happy to buy this filly from her.”He added, “Mrs T will be discussing training plans at lunchtime, but nothing has been decided as of yet. Several trainers have approached us already asking if there's a chance. We bought four fillies last week and Mrs Thompson is enjoying the sales and getting some new blood in. Night Of Thunder is doing really well and we're fans. We're looking forward to a few homebreds that we'll be putting into training. He looks like he's probably going to fill the shoes of Dubawi and I'm sure the nomination price will go up again, so I think this was a good time to invest.”Emmet Mullins: partnered up with Amo Racing on the 475,000 gns Frankel colt | TattersallsSubplotsA good, solid opening: The mood on the ground was that Book 2 got off to a very respectable start. There were plenty of horses bought back by vendors throughout the day, but a lot of business was done privately to ensure a solid look to the figures. The 25,278,000gns turnover represented a marginal gain [1%] on last year while the 85,000gns median dropped by 6% and the average fell by 2%. The clearance rate dropped only by 3% to 88%.Turbo touches: When you look back at some of the turbo touches – Baroda Stud's 1.1 million gns Kingman colt or Yeomanstown Stud's 1.3 million gns Ghaiyyath colt, for example – that were landed throughout Book 1, they were achieved with six-figure foals. From talking to a number of big-hitters over the past few days, that seems to be the way forward. There are a couple of reasons why pinhookers are no longer excited about turning, say, 20 grand into 50 grand. The rising costs is one. But the fact that so many pinhookers are jumping in together to form syndicates, even when they double or even treble their money, suggests it's not proving a worthwhile exercise after the necessary deductions are made. If the conversation over the past few days is anything to go by, you can expect more and more pinhookers to be lining up for the punchier foals to try and shoot the lights out next year. Mullins making waves: Speaking of shooting the lights out, Emmet Mullins has wasted no time in stocking up on yearlings ahead of his move to Jim Bolger's old base at Coolcullen in County Kilkenny. Mullins expects to be up and running at his new yard in time for the new season and, if his recent spend is anything to go by, he has assembled an exciting cast – alongside some major partners – to go to war with. His name was dotted beside four yearlings that cost a grand total of 1,105,000gns during Book 1, while Mullins was also involved in the purchasing of three yearlings for 665,000gns on Monday. That spend comes off the back of a €1,380,000 outlay on eight yearlings at the Goffs Orby Sale. Safe to say, the young trainer, best associated with National Hunt heroics, plans on hitting the ground running on the Flat in the new year. Godolphin finding value: A lot is said and written about Godolphin's spend at this sale every year and, while nearly 27 million gns splashed on 25 yearlings during Book 1 will doubtless grab headlines, the powerhouse operation is clearly still open to sniffing out value when the opportunity presents itself. There were a couple of well-bought individuals within that mammoth Book 1 spend and the recruitment drive continued into this week where a 400,000gns Starspangledbanner colt from Glenvale Stud finished top of the pile. Interestingly, Godolphin also played at 85,000gns on a Mehmas colt from Mountarmstrong Stud midway during the session that saw a further 1,455,000gns invested into the market on five yearlings. Another talking point is the wide variety to their shopping list – with the progeny of Little Big Bear, Paddington and even Equinox featuring among the Book 1 and 2 haul.A great game best played slow: Breeze-up handlers were rendered bit-part players during Book 1 with very little business being done by that corner of the market last week. However, plenty of the bigger players got in on the action on Monday, with at least 17 horses down to chart that path judging by the buyers' sheet. Buy of the dayBlow it up ref. It might be time to discontinue this segment because there may never be a better buy than the 5,000gns that Anthony Bromley went to on a Lope De Vega colt from Fittocks Stud. Four legs? Check. A tail? Indeed. Two eyes and a head you might ask? Yep. Okay, in all seriousness, we obviously aren't privy to how the horse vetted, but he was bought by one of the best judges in the game and, physically at least, there was very little to crib about the colt apart from the fact he looked like he could do with a bit of time. At just 5,000 gns, which is around €190,000 less than the stud fee, lot 652 has to be deemed seriously good value. Frankly, it left an awful amount of people dumbfounded on the day.Thought for the dayIs there really a need for the outside podium at Tattersalls this week? We all know it serves a pretty obvious purpose during Book 1. But surely Book 2, and most definitely Books 3 and 4, needs as much atmosphere and momentum it can get in the ring in order to keep the tempo up throughout days that are traditionally prone to lulls. Something to think about, perhaps, although buyers might disagree. 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