2,700,000gns Tranquil Lady set for Godolphin debut at Dubai World Cup Carnival

Tranquil Lady

Meydan: Group 2 Balanchine (4.20).

Friday’s Dubai World Cup Carnival meeting at Meydan is the last before Super Saturday and the big day itself, with the highlight being this Group 2 contest for fillies and mares on turf. The remainder of the card comprises conditions events and handicaps. The feature race contains one of the star buys from the 2022 Tattersalls December Mares Sale, Tranquil Lady.

Sales stunner 

Such was the strength in depth of the Sceptre Sessions at the mares sale at Park Paddocks last November that 2,700,000gns was enough for only the third top lot, Tranquil Lady. Bred by Tinnakill Bloodstock, the daughter of Australia out of the Quiet American mare Repose - an unraced half-sister to Listed winners Echo River and Prince Alzain - cost the shrewd Richard Ryan €160,000 as an Orby yearling. When offered by the Castlebridge Consignment on behalf of owner Teme Valley Racing two years later, the price rocketed to the extent that only those with the deepest pockets were involved. It was Anthony Stroud, acting for Godolphin, who brought the hammer down. 

What was behind the price differential in the ring?

Tranquil Lady was only eighth on her debut for the Joseph O’Brien yard but barely took a backward step after that. She won her maiden next time out and took the Group 3 Blue Wind Stakes at three. She wasn’t able to place in the Oaks or the Pretty Polly Stakes but on her last run was driven out to win the Group 3 Prix de Flore at Saint-Cloud. That, in itself, of course would not have accounted for the seven-figure sale. Helping the bidding along was the fact she is a half-sister to globetrotting Group 1 winner and now Rathbarry Stud sire State Of Rest, by Starspangledbanner.

What did her buyer and seller say at the sales?   

Stroud told James Thomas: “I thought she was a very nice filly and Joseph O’Brien really recommended her, and he’s done a great job with her. Physically, she’s a very nice model and you can go two ways: we could keep her in training or she could retire. The decision will be made in due course. There’s plenty going on in the family and it’s a family that seems to improve.”

Tranquil Lady takes her turn in the ring at Park Paddocks last yearCredit: Laura Green

And Ryan reflected: “It was a bittersweet situation really. It’s so hard to acquire something at this level, with these credentials - that clean, that sound, and her best year is next year - but we knew there was an incredible desire at this moment and you don’t know how long those windows stay open. We were pretty brave for quite a long way ourselves to make sure she wasn’t going to be undersold, and Joseph had a team very keen to try to retain her, but this is a fabulous result. There’s a lot more to come from her.”

And what about her new trainer?

Charlie Appleby said: “This will be her first start for us, so we are on a slight learning curve, but we are confident that she will run a nice race. We will potentially see her at her best over further and this will be our first opportunity to get a handle on her ahead of the forthcoming season.”

Who does she have to fear?

Tranquil Lady has tended to take a run before hitting top gear, but even so it would be a major disappointment for her new team were she not to finish in the first two - it’s up to 33-1 bar two with British and Irish firms betting on the Balanchine. Favourite is her stablemate, the race-fit With The Moonlight, the daughter of Frankel who earlier this month ran on well to beat White Moonlight in the Group 2 Cape Verdi. It’s probably not a big surprise that William Buick stays with With The Moonlight, but equally it would be no shock were James Doyle to enjoy a winning spare on Tranquil Lady.

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