NEWMARKET, England (AP) A mare carrying the foal of British racing great Frankel has been bought at auction by Godolphin owner Sheik Mohammed for more than 4 million pounds.
John Ferguson, the bloodstock advisor for Sheik Mohammed, paid 4 million guineas (4.2 million pounds; $6.9 million) for 5-year-old Dancing Rain at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale in Newmarket.
Ferguson says "she is a jewel and you need jewels to breed champions."
Frankel, trained by the late Henry Cecil, retired last year after winning all 14 of his races and is rated by many as one of flat-racing's greatest horses. He now covers mares for 125,000 pounds ($205,000) a time.
Dancing Rain, who won the Epsom and German Oaks, is the first mare to be sold in Britain carrying a foal sired by Frankel.