The Ralph Beckett trained Irish Oaks winner YOU GOT TO ME is set to be offered at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale (lot 1753) next month which takes place from the 2nd to the 5th of December.
The Classic winning daughter of Nathaniel will be offered as part of the Sceptre Sessions which features a selection of Europe’s best fillies and broodmares entering the sales ring on Monday 2nd and Tuesday 3rd December.
Tattersalls paid a visit to Ralph Beckett ahead of the sale to reflect on You Got To Me’s successful season as well as looking ahead to what heights he believes this progressive filly could climb to if she is retained in training next season.
A winner on debut as a two-year-old, You Got To Me was lightly raced with just one other start as a juvenile. She returned this season showing signs of real class when successful in the Group 3 Lingfield Oaks Trial.
Reflecting on You Got To Me’s progressive season, Beckett told Tattersalls: “I suppose when she won the [Group 3] Lingfield Oaks Trial, she ran away with Hector for most of it, then in the Epsom Oaks, she travelled very well and perhaps didn’t get home on the ground.
“I felt afterwards it was ground more than anything else. It was still a sound run to finish fourth. The Ribblesdale she was very keen but still ran through the line to finish fourth.
“Obviously, we put the tongue strap on her in Ireland and that made her much more tractable, but a filly to do that, five starts between May and August, that’s pretty good going.”
Winning the Irish Oaks is one of five Group 1 victories achieved by Ralph Beckett this season who referenced several contributing factors resulting in You Got To Me’s Classic success.
Beckett said: “It felt like we had to run because of the way the race had fallen out, who was going to go there and how she was training.
“It felt like a really good fit with her being as hardy as she is, the travel wasn’t going bother and the way she takes her races wasn’t going to bother her, so it felt like we had to go. The track was always going to suit, they went a good gallop and that was going to suit her as well, so all those things came together.”
The Hampshire based stable has enjoyed exceptional success while competing at the top level this season, headlined by BLUESTOCKING’s groundbreaking season which saw the four-year-old daughter of Camelot secure three Group 1 wins including the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Ralph Beckett appears confident that the step forward seen by Bluestocking this season, could very well be emulated by her current stablemate in You Got To Me.
Beckett said: “She was a big scopey filly at two, she has filled her frame throughout the year.
“With her size and scope and the way she’s made, you would expect her to develop from three to four, particularly off the back of a long break which she’ll have had before she goes through the ring never mind before she starts next year.
“It’s very much a pedigree that gets better with age and racing. The dam took a lot of racing for all she got to winning a [Listed] Galtres. I would be surprised if she wasn’t a better filly next year.”
Ralph Beckett and his team at Kimpton Down Stables will be hoping that the successful purchaser of this top-class filly will nominate Beckett to continue her upward campaign as a four-year-old.
Responding to the type of campaign he would consider if he were to remain training her next season Beckett, without any hesitation said: “Very Similar [campaign] to Bluestocking funny enough, I’d probably drop her back and start her in the Middleton at York, a track she obviously showed a distinct liking for in the Yorkshire Oaks and then work it out from there. Whether we go back to a mile and a half or stick to fillies only, but I would certainly start there.
“If she missed that you’d be keen to go the Coronation Cup. It would be something along those lines and then probably frame around the Yorkshire Oaks.
“You wouldn’t be afraid to race against colts again, she’s proven that at no point has she been overawed by any occasion so it’s all on the table and we wouldn’t be afraid to travel her either.”
Concluding on what makes this filly so special, Beckett added: “Obviously she’s got a very good physical constitution but to go with a very hardy attitude.
“There wasn’t any point in the year where we felt we were going at her too hard. She took everything in her stride, never really had any physical issue throughout her two- and three-year-old career so she’s one you’d hope you could keep rolling all year with if you programme her right.”
Two other notable fillies from Kimpton Down Stables are catalogued in the Sceptre Sessions at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale, in the form of RIVER OF STARS (lot 1750) and LADY BOBA (lot 1756).
A Group 3 winner at four, RIVER OF STARS was narrowly denied her Group 1 win in the Prix de Royallieu last month. “50 yards from the line we were still in business. She really, as ever stuck her head down and ran all the way through the line.” Beckett said.
“She’s been a fun filly to train as she’s a very uncomplicated, very sound filly, took her racing really well and she’s been so consistent. It’s been very easy to programme her.
“She’s been a very versatile filly, taken her travel really well and just has a really good constitution. I’m sure she’ll make a fine broodmare.”
LADY BOBA heads to the Tattersalls December Mares Sale a Group 3 winner on last start at Newmarket in the Pride Stakes. “I think we thought we would win a Lancashire Oaks with her and ended up winning a Pride Stakes.” Said Beckett
“Dropping back to a mile and a quarter was in her favour and again she’s a very versatile, very sound filly. She was quite an immature filly so didn’t have many miles on the clock at two or three, so I’m sure there’s a bit left in the tank.
“I would think you can go pretty much anywhere with her; I think the form book would suggest there’s preference for some juice in the ground, that’s not really a surprise but it’s a great page as well. she’s got a good full brother who has been very consistent [KING OF CONQUEST] at five and I’m sure she will too.
Tattersalls appears to be a clear source of success for Ralph Beckett as all three of the aforementioned fillies were originally sourced from Tattersalls sales, not to mention his Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint heroine STARLUST who was purchased at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale by Dermot Farrington from Barton Stud for 55,000 guineas.
Ralph Beckett is in fact the winning most trainer of the Tattersalls Book 1 Bonus Scheme with nine individual winners collecting the £25,000 bonus for their owners.
Highlighting the importance of the bonus scheme Beckett said: “It’s a huge incentive and to win nine is terrific.
“Class 4 Maidens and Novices aren’t easy to win, but it is a huge incentive when you’re paying for a year’s training fees, it makes a big difference.
“It’s an incentive to buy at the sale and as a trainer it’s an incentive to get on your bike and win one before the end of the year so it’s a double whammy. I think it’s a terrific scheme.”
The Tattersalls December Mares Sale will take place Monday 2nd December to Thursday 5th December with the Sceptre Sessions on Monday 2nd December and Tuesday 3rd December. The catalogue for Europe’s premier breeding stock sale numbers 991 lots and can be viewed online at www.tattersalls.com.
