When Galileo Chrome landed the St Leger for Joseph O’Brien at Doncaster earlier this month, the value of shopping at the various Irish yearling sales was once again thrust into the spotlight.
This year’s round of Irish sales have not escaped the ramifications of Covid-19, with travel restrictions leaving Goffs and Tattersalls Ireland with little option but to switch their auctions across the Irish Sea to Doncaster and Newmarket respectively. It’s a move without precedent, but the right one if Irish sales are to be showcased to the largest audience possible - and as results from the past year continue to show, they remain a fertile source of high-class performers that are worthy of the utmost respect from buyers worldwide.
In Galileo Chrome, Goffs can boast to be the only European sales company to have offered a British or Irish Classic winner this season. But the accolades don’t stop there. Like Galileo Chrome, Epsom Derby runner-up Khalifa Sat is another graduate of the 2018 Goffs Orby Sale, having been picked up by Andrew Balding for €40,000 out of the Rochestown Lodge Stud draft.
The 2019 Orby Sale is also enjoying a real purple patch as the source of eight stakes-winning 2-year-olds. The octet are headed by the G1 Phoenix Stakes winner Lucky Vega, a €175,000 purchase by the BBA Ireland and Yulong Investments out of the Baroda Stud draft, and also includes the G2 winner Cadillac (€40,000 purchase by the BBA Ireland) alongside the G3 winners King’s Harlequin (€30,000 by Tina Rau), Gear Up (€52,000 by Johnston Racing) and Mother Earth (€150,000 by MV Magnier).
Another Goffs auction, the Autumn Sale, is responsible for an additional classy Irish-based juvenile of 2020 in the Railway Stakes winner Law Of Indices, who was bought by Dermot Farrington for just €8,000. Nor should the Sportman’s Sale be forgotten; the 2019 renewal can boast the G3 winners Isabella Giles (€45,000 by Kevin Ross Bloodstock), Minaun (€8,000 by Leamore Horses) and Star Of Emaraaty (€3,500 by Robson Aguiar) among its alumni.
The Tattersalls Ireland September Sale, meanwhile, has thrown three of the best 2-year-old fillies around in the unbeaten Dandalla (€22,000 by Kelly Burke), Aloha Star (€67,000 by De Burgh Equine) and Tiger Tanaka (€6,500 by Pascale Menard).
Such results are merely maintaining a rich tradition of domestic success. Crucially, however, they are backed up by strong representation worldwide, in particular North America, where the likes of Raging Bull, La Pelosa, Capla Temptress and Lady Prancealot have each scored at G1 level in recent years.
Raging Bull was one of several stakes winners to emerge out of the Wildenstein dispersal staged by Goffs in 2016. Held over several sales, it consistently attracted vigorous participation by Peter Brant, then in the process of returning to the business following a lengthy hiatus - and in Raging Bull, the owner came away with a horse who would develop into a million-dollar earner off a relatively inexpensive outlay of €90,000 through Eugenio Colombo.
The son of Dark Angel was sent to Chad Brown, who sent him out to win three Graded stakes as a 3-year-old, culminating in a victory over fellow Irish-bred River Boyne in the 2018 G1 Hollywood Derby. Subsequently placed in the G1 Manhattan Stakes, Fourstardave Handicap and Woodbine Mile as a 4-year-old, Raging Bull returned to winning ways in May when successful in the G1 Shoemaker Mile Stakes at Santa Anita.
While Raging Bull has been flying the flag in the U.S., another WIldenstein-bred, Paths Of Glory, has represented the dispersal to good effect in Australia, winning the listed Wyong Gold Cup at Wyong for the China Horse Club. Australia is also home to veterans Mister Sea Wolf, a €54,000 graduate of the 2013 Orby who recently bagged his 12th win in the G2 Chelmsford Stakes at Randwick, and Kings Will Dream, a €50,000 Orby purchase who won last year’s G1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington.
Raging Bull’s development into an elite North American performer follows the example of fellow Orby graduate Capla Temptress, the 2017 G1 Natalma Stakes winner who had been bought as a yearling for just €26,000 by Jamie Lloyd. Just a year later, the Orby was again to the fore in Canada as the source of a second successive Natalma Stakes winner in La Pelosa.
The aforementioned River Boyne, meanwhile, has been one of the star graduates of the Goffs Sportsman’s Sale for several seasons. Bought for €65,000 by Aidan O’Ryan and Gordon Elliott out of the Ballyhane Stud draft in 2016, the son of Dandy Man embarked on a prolific campaign for trainer Jeff Mullins following his sale to Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal LLC as a 2-year-old, winning nine races including the G1 Frank E Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita, alongside a pair of G2 events. He was recently retired as the earner of around $1.23 million in prizemoney.
Elite turf runners in California
River Boyne hasn’t been the only runner to remind the Californian scene of the worth of yearling graduates out of the Emerald Isle.
Two flag-bearers of the Tattersalls Ireland September Sale, Lady Prancealot and Beau Recall, have done plenty to drive the momentum behind their sire Sir Prancealot, who now stands at Rancho San Miguel in California following a spell at Tally-Ho Stud in Ireland.
Neither filly cost the earth as a yearling - Lady Prancealot was bought for €9,500 by Eoghan O’Neill in 2017, while Beau Recall cost Adrian McGuinness €17,000 in 2015. Today, both remain staples of the elite turf scene in California.
Lady Prancealot has won five races for trainer Richard Baltas, including the 2019 G1 American Oaks, for earnings just north of $600,000. As for Beau Recall, she is already closing in on $1.5 million in earnings having won eight races, including a trio of G2s, for Simon Callaghan and latterly Brad Cox.
The reach of the Tattersalls Ireland September Sale also stretches to Hong Kong, where the sale can count celebrities Time Warp and Waikuku among its graduates.
The popular Time Warp rolled back the years at Sha Tin earlier this year with a game all-the-way victory for trainer Tony Cruz in the G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup.
Now a 7-year-old, the Archipenko gelding was winning the race for the second time, having previously scored in 2018, and also overcame a strong international field to win the 2017 G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup. He was bought for just €37,000 by Jeremy Brummitt in 2014 and currently boasts earnings of almost £4 million.
At €33,000, Waikuku was similarly good value when snapped up by John Oxx in 2016. Sold to Hong Kong interests after breaking his maiden at Leopardstown in July 2018, he landed a popular G1 success in January when successful in the Stewards’ Cup at Sha Tin.
Finally, the Irish sales scene continues to be advertised to good effect in South Africa, most recently through the achievements of Orby graduate Queen Supreme. Purchased by Form Bloodstock and Mayfair Speculators for €130,000 out of the 2017 sale and turned over to Mike de Kock, Queen Supreme has risen to become one of the best fillies in South Africa this year, as a wide-margin win in the G1 Cartier Paddock Stakes illustrates. The daughter of Exceed And Excel has also been G1-placed on multiple occasions.
Europe, North America, Australia and South Africa - it doesn’t matter the jurisdiction, graduates of Irish yearling sales are flying the flag to great effect all over the world. Little has been normal about 2020, but one aspect of this year’s sales that won’t change is the depth of potential quality available in the catalogues. And, as several of those high-flying examples prove, there is often plenty of value to be found as well.
Irish Thoroughbred Marketing provide a range of assistance to those attending Irish yearling sales:
- Travel arrangements including hotels, airport transfers, transfers between sales
- Travel cost contribution. Trainers and agents receive this contribution even if they don’t buy a horse
- Online purchase contribution
Get in touch at info@itm.ie / +353 (0) 45443060 / www.itm.ie