The Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes winner Spinning Queen set a new European record for a filly when she sold for 3,000,000 guineas on a stunning opening day to the Tattersalls December Mare Sale. A total of 207 lots were sold for a staggering 19,568,500 guineas, up 69% on last year`s opening session whilst the average and median rose 82% and 41% to 94,534 guineas and 45,000 guineas respectively.

Expectations were high for Spinning Queen who had won the Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes by an easy seven lengths at Newmarket on her last racecourse appearance but few could have anticipated that she would set both a December Sales record as well as a European record for a filly sold at public auction when selling for 3,000,000 guineas and bettering the 2,500,000 guineas that Dance Design realised at the 1997 Tattersalls December Mare Sale. Bids on the Spinning World filly, who was consigned from Barry Hills` Faringdon Place Stables, came thick and fast with agents Charlie Gordon-Watson and Jamie McAlmont and Shadai Farms` Atsushi Kato all active as the price raced towards one million guineas. London Thoroughbred Services` James Wigan had also been making much of the running and he was soon joined by Sheikh Mohammed`s bloodstock advisor John Ferguson. The battle to secure the filly, whose dam Our Queen Of Kings is a half-sister to the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby winner Labeeb, soon settled down to a head-to-head duel between Wigan and Ferguson. As the price raced past 2,500,000 guineas the record held by Dance Design was soon consigned to history, and when Wigan bid 3,000,000 guineas, Ferguson turned away and left the auditorium. Wigan did not indicate who he purchased the filly on behalf of, but indicated that she would board at Waddesdon Stud in Buckinghamshire.

The other filly who carried high expectations prior to her appearance in the Tattersalls sales ring was John Greetham`s Group winning filly Short Skirt. The daughter of Diktat out of the Bustino mare Much Too Risky has several high profile siblings, with Little Rock and Whitewater Affair both registering Group 2 victories, the latter also being the dam of Group 1 Yasuda Kinen victor Asakusa Den`en. Short Skirt`s own sister Shorthand also registered an impressive debut win earlier this season before an eye-catching fourth in the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes at Newmarket at her next start. Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, Short Skirt first came under notice when she defeated Alexandrova in the Group 3 Tattersalls Musidora Stakes at York before finishing third to that filly in the Oaks at Epsom and second in the Yorkshire Oaks later in the season. Interest in the filly came initially from bloodstock agent John Warren and Kern Lillingston`s Luke Lillingston, who was stood alongside New England Stud principal Peter Stanley, along with Shadai Farms` veterinarian Atsushi Kato and Japanese bloodstock agent Nobutaka Tada. Lillingston remained as the price raced towards seven figures, but he was not able to match Tada, who in turn was found wanting when John Ferguson entered proceeding`s, buying the filly for 1,400,000 guineas on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed.

Earlier in the evening, Tasman Bloodstock`s Kieran Moore had to go to 580,000 guineas to secure the Listed placed Singspiel filly Park Esteem who was consigned from Jeremy Noseda`s Shalfleet Stables. The filly, who is a three-parts sister to Group 1 Dubai World Cup winner Moon Ballad, is also a half-sister to that horses dam, the Group 2 Lowther Stakes winner Velvet Moon as well as to the dual Group 1 winner Central Park and the Group 3 Lancashire Oaks winner Mellow Park. Moore secured the filly at the expense of London based agent Charlie Gordon-Watson and South African agent Robin Bruss and indicated that she was purchased on behalf of Cressfield Stud, located in the Hunter Valley in Scone, Australia.

Other horses to realise half a million guineas or more included the Group 1 winning fillies La Cucaracha and Donna Blini. The Nunthorpe Stakes winner La Cucaracha was knocked down to bloodstock agent James Delahooke for 525,000 guineas on behalf of American based owners Barry Weisborg and Richard Santulli whilst the Cheveley Park Stakes winner Donna Blini was knocked down Shunsuke Yoshida, son of Northern Farms` Katsumi Yoshida. Earlier, Tokyo based agent Hiroyasu Takeuchi purchased the Darshaan mare Showdown for 500,000 guineas. The daughter of Last Second hails from one of the best families in the Stud book and is a half-sister to this year`s Group 1 Poule d`Essai des Poulains winner Aussie Rules.