The beginning of a long-term Classic plan by Graham Smith-Bernal was hatched at the BBAG Yearling Sale with the purchase of a Sea The Stars filly from breeder Gestut Ebbesloh for €600,000.The daughter of the Group 3-winning Soldier Hollow mare Sconset is also a half-sister to G3 Schwarzgold-Rennen winner Santa Catarina (Zarak), who will bid to enhance her black-type record in Saturday's Listed Wackenhut Fillies' Cup at Baden-Baden. She was bought for a Newsells Park Stud syndicate by Jeremy Brummitt, who outbid Suzanne Roberts. Andrew Balding was also involved in the earlier rounds of bidding. Brummitt said, “This is the first time I have been asked to buy a horse for Newsells Park Stud. She is for the Newsells Park Racing Syndicate 2027, which is an enterprise to race horses in the hope that they can go to the top level, win a Classic, and be retired to stud at Newsells to breed the next generation of Classic winners. Nothing is more dear to my heart than trying to buy the dams of Classic winners. “I like the fact that we're looking at a Classic German family with staying roots and that the dam both won over a mile at Group level and bred a winner over a mile at Group level by Zarak, who isn't an influence for speed. So if you think Sea The Stars is the best stallion available to breeders and you've got a horse that is going to be Group class at a mile, can you think of a better way to breed an Oaks winner? I don't know if it is more important that she wins the Oaks or she [becomes] the granddam of a Derby winner.”For Paul von Schubert of Gestut Ebbesloh, this was a new record price for an unraced horse sold from his farm in the year it celebrates its centenary. “We sold another Sea The Stars filly [Enchanting Skies] for half a million some years ago, but of course you never really know what the market will be like,” he said.“We acquired the granddam [Monusun mare Sine Tempore] from Schlenderhan and she comes from a lovely Aga Khan Studs family. She gave us Sconset, who won a Group 3 and produced a Group 3 winner as her first foal, so we thought this filly must have a good chance of selling well.“She was bred on a foal share and so I'm happy that it went well as you always want to be a good business partner.”The breeder noted that Sconset has no foal on the ground this year but is now in foal to Deutsches Derby winner Fantastic Moon, a grandson of Sea The Stars.Von Schubert added, “This is the 100th year of Gestut Ebbesloh's existence, so it's all the more satisfying.”The post Newsells Park Stud Strikes at BBAG for €600,000 Sea The Stars Filly appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.