A catalogue promising top international sire power combined with several of the deepest families in the Stud Book is a powerful mix, and it ensures that the Goffs Orby Sale (September 29-30) remains one of the premier yearling sales of Europe.
Last year’s renewal opened with the exploits of G1-winning graduates such as Just The Judge and Together Forever fresh in the memory and lived up to expectations by recording significant improvements in every area of trading.
Buoyed by the presence of new faces such as the China Horse Club alongside established high-end players, turnover increased 11 percent to €38,450,500 for 352 (87 per cent) yearlings sold. The average rose by eight percent to €109,234, while the median increased 23 percent to €70,000. Two yearlings broke the million-euro barrier, led by a €1.5 million son of Galileo sold to MV Magnier.
This year, as Goffs celebrates graduates of 2015 such as Irish Oaks heroine Covert Love and St Leger first-past-the-post Simple Verse, there is an even greater sense of anticipation, especially in light of the presence of six yearlings from the first crop of Frankel. As could be expected, each boasts excellent family connections, in particular lot 23, the third foal out of champion Alexander Goldrun, and lot 303, a close relation to last year’s €1.8 million record Frankel filly foal.
Not only that, the catalogue also contains 14 yearlings by Galileo and a single yearling by Dubawi. The filly in question, lot 294, is a half-sister to American G2 winner Grandeur.
There are also 19 yearlings by sire-of-the-moment Dark Angel and three by champion Australian sire Redoute’s Choice, whose first European-sired crop already includes a €950,000 colt sold at the Arqana August Sale.
Lot 23) b f Frankel - Alexander Goldrun (Gold Away)
It was in the Goffs ring last November that a filly from the first crop of Frankel set an Irish record for a foal at auction when sold for €1.8 million to Dermot Farrington. The industry has been further exposed to the sheer pulling power of Frankel since then at the Arqana August Sale, where six yearlings sold for an average of €566,667, and hopes will be high that his six-strong draft will set a similarly high bar at the Orby Sale.
The curtain opens with this filly, the product of two champions and the third foal out of Alexander Goldrun. The champion older mare in Europe and Ireland of 2005, Alexander Goldrun won five G1s, including the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup and two renewals of the Pretty Polly Stakes. Mountarmstrong Stud
84) ch c Galileo - Caumshinaun (Indian Ridge)
A brother to Galileo’s first Classic winner, the 2006 Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Nightime, as well as two other winners. Added to that, Nightime is the dam of the progressive Zhukova, winner of the Listed Oyster Stakes, and Listed-placed Sleeping Beauty.
Listed winner Caumshinaun boasts a record of eight winners from as many runners, and her progeny have been keenly sought after at auction, with two siblings to lot 84, Phaenomena and Olympiad, selling for 700,000gns and 650,000gns respectively as yearlings.
Galileo’s draft of seven colts also inclues a half-brother to G1 winners Lahaleeb (161) and the first foals out of G3 winners Ishavana (211) and Sent From Heaven (397). The Castlebridge Consignment
86) ch f New Approach - Ceist Eile (Noverre)
A product of a famous Aga Khan family responsible for Shergar, this filly, bred by Jim Bolger, is a sister to Ceisteach, winner of this year’s G3 Robert G. Dick Memorial Handicap at Del Mar. Her year younger half-sister Steip Amach, by Bolger’s own stallion Vocalised, won last year’s G3 Killavullan Stakes at Leopardstown.
This filly is the fourth foal out of her dam and one of eight yearlings catalogued to the sale by Redmondstown, which sold last year’s €1.5 million sale-topping son of Galileo. Redmondstown Stud
112) b f Galileo - Daneleta (Danehill)
Bred on the famed Galileo - Danehill cross, this filly is a half-sister to Dewhurst Stakes winner Intense Focus, himself an Orby graduate. Their dam, the G3-placed Daneleta, is a sister to G3 winner Danelissima and from a family strongly associated with Jim Bolger; she is a granddaughter of La Meilleure, dam of his Italian champion Sholokhov and granddam of Irish Derby winner Soldier Of Fortune, also by Galileo. Airlie Stud.
113) ch f Sir Prancealot - Danetime Out (Danetime)
The unraced Danetime Out never realised more than €7,000 in her five trips through the sale ring, but thanks to the exploits of her progeny, perception of the mare today couldn’t be much different. Since changing hands privately to Jimmy Murphy, of Redpender Stud, the mare has bred three winners, led by Toormore, the European champion 2-year-old of 2013 who recently added the G2 International Topkapi Trophy in Turkey to his haul, and last year’s G2-winning 2-year-old Estidhkaar, a £200,000-yearling purchase by Shadwell Estates.
This filly is one of seven first-crop yearlings catalogued by the Flying Childers Stakes winner Sir Prancealot, who stands for €6,000 at Tally-Ho Stud. Redpender Stud
201) b f New Approach - Hymn Of The Dawn (Phone Trick)
A strong draft from Jim Bolger’s Redmondstown Stud is highlighted on paper by this filly, a sister to European champion 2-year-old and 2,000 Guineas winner Dawn Approach.
Not shown on the page, however, are the achievements of her younger brother Herald The Dawn, winner of the G2 Futurity Stakes and second in the G1 National Stakes since the publication of the catalogue. Meanwhile, another half-sister, Fainne, is the dam of another exciting 2-year-old in the G3-placed Sanus Per Aquaam. Redmondstown Stud
303) ch c Frankel - Musical Treat (Royal Academy)
This colt’s half-sister, champion Finsceal Beo, provided one of the highlights of last year as the dam of the Frankel filly that sold for an Irish foal record of €1.8 million at the Goffs November Sale. A year prior to that, her Montjeu colt, subsequent G2 winner Ol’ Man River, topped the Orby Sale when selling for €2.85 million to MV Magnier.
Finsceal Beo, the 2007 English and Irish 1,000 Guineas winner, is the best of six winners out of the Listed-placed Musical Treat, who was purchased by John Tyrell of the BBA Ireland for $100,000 on behalf of Rathbarry Stud in 2003. She is also the dam of German 2,000 Guineas winner Frozen Power, now at stud, as well as the Listed-placed Musical Bar and Zabeel Park. Rathbarry Stud
307) b c Galileo - My Renee (Kris S)
Although rarely represented by large numbers, Pat O’Kelly’s Kilcarn Stud has long enjoyed a fruitful association with Goffs as the vendor of six yearlings who have broken the million-euro/Irish punt barrier since 1993. Once again, O’Kelly offers a well-connected draft, among them a Galileo half-brother to the 2011 G2 Ribblesdale Stakes winner and Irish Oaks runner-up Banimpire.
Banimpire was a relatively inexpensive Goffs graduate herself, selling for €52,000 to Jim Bolger, but she returned to Goffs in November 2011 to sell for €2.3 million to Oceanic Bloodstock. She is a half-sister to the Listed-placed My Spirit and out of Listed winner My Renee, a granddaughter of Arc heroine Detroit.
Kilcarn’s draft also includes a Raven’s Pass half-sister to G2 winner Echo Of Light (himself a €1.2 million graduate of the sale in 2003) and Listed winner Akarem as lot 432. She is out of the G2-placed Spirit Of Tara, a sister to celebrated Kilcarn-bred Salsabil. Kilcarn Stud
380) b f Acclamation - Roo (Rudimentary)
From a family noted for producing 2-year-olds and sprinters such as Astaire and Dead Certain, the Listed-placed Roo is the dam of six winners, including the G1-placed Gallagher and Listed-placed Roodeye and Quick Wit. In turn, Roodeye is the dam of this year’s G2 San Clement Handicap winner Prize Exhibit, who has been G1-placed since the catalogue went to press. Corduff Stud
440) b c Invincible Spirit - Summer Night (Nashwan)
Years spent by Kirsten Rausing cultivating this family has ensured that it remains one of the most powerful at Lanwades Stud. This colt’s third dam is Sushila, dam of the Lanwades-bred 1985 King George winner Petoski, while his second dam, Shimmering Sea, bred G3 winner Starlit Sands (whose Galileo filly is lot 434). However, it is the achievements of his immediate relatives that should ensure his popularity: his winning dam has bred 10 winners, among them G3 scorer Songerie and Listed winners Souvenance (also G1-placed), Soft Morning and Sourire. Staffordstown