Blue Point Colt Tops Tatts Yearling Sale

Pinatubo Colt Tops Tatts December Yearling Sale

The team behind Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf winner is set to smash their own record

A Pinatubo colt lit up the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale, when selling for 2,600,000 guineas to MV Magnier. The colt in question is the first foal out of the winning Oasis Dream mare Hana Lina and is from the family of German champion Lando, meaning he is not only a half-brother to last year’s Craven winner Berkshire Rocco, but also a direct descendant of his sire’s Group 1-winning half-brother Too Darn Hot.

Big Evs, who won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar for the AI-owned partnership of MV Magnier, Derrick Smith, Michael Tabor and Westerberg, has a pedigree that is steeped in top-level European racing. His sire, the sprinting phenomenon Blue Point IRE, became one of the most talked-about horses in training last year when he became the first horse since Choisir to win the King's Stand Stakes, Diamond Jubilee Stakes and Prix Maurice de Gheest in the same season. That famous campaign also featured an unforgettable victory in the Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes in which he defeated the brilliant Palace Pier and was followed by an unlucky fifth in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. He retired to Coolmore at the end of the season with earnings of over £2.7 million and a Timeform rating of 128.

Big Evs' dam Flanders Fields is by the Haras de Bouquetot sire Siyouni, a dual Group 1 winner in France who has also supplied the mighty Sottsass, the Oaks heroine Laurens, the Arc hero Study Of Man, the Melbourne Cup champion Verry Elleegant and the brilliant young stayer Hurricane Lane. She is out of the Montjeu mare Fleeting Shadow, a half-sister to the dual Group 1 winner Spanish Moon from the family of the brilliant champion miler Frankel and the Coolmore sire Mastercraftsman. Fleeting Shadow herself won a Listed race over 1m2f at Newmarket during her own racing career and was placed in the Group 3 Prix du Calvados before joining the Aga Khan broodmare band.

Conclusion:
With his outstanding pedigree and powerful physical presence, it is easy to see why this Pinatubo colt was so sought-after at Tattersalls. He represents one of the most exciting prospects for next year's juvenile races and is sure to be one to watch in the years to come.