Sheikh has £3.2m spree at the sales

An injury to Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Midshipman robbed Sheikh Mohammed of a viable Kentucky Derby contender earlier this week but his bloodstock representative John Ferguson moved to buy a couple of two-year-olds by that horse's sire in Miami last night, writes Paul Fielder.

Ferguson bought two colts by Unbridled Song, Midshipman's sire, at the Fasig-Tipton select-auction sales and spent a total of £3.2million on four horses.

Three of the four horses went for $1m or above in a session that overall brought in 32 per cent less income than 12 months ago.

Ferguson paid a top price of $1.6m for Cup O'Joe, a bay Medaglia D'Oro colt. He said: "Obviously, this horse really performed well on the racetrack, just like he had to do to make that kind of money. We feel he could be very effective next year in the three-year-old division."