“IF the horse is here, the people will be here,” Anthony Stroud said after buying the first £1 million lot to grace the ring at Goffs UK, on what was a historic day at the Doncaster venue. The Goffs UK Breeze Up Sale has produced a steady stream of talented horses, including Bradsell in recent years, and their results on the track transferred to new highs at Thursday’s sale.

Two years ago, a Harry Angel colt set a new record price of £500,000 at the sale when sold by Tally-Ho Stud to Michael O’Callaghan, and by Lot 29 on Thursday, that had been bettered by £150,000. Thirteen lots later, another record price was set, but it was a Mehmas colt from Katie Walsh’s Greenhills Farm that exceeded all expectations at £1 million.

Stroud, who bid alongside David Loder on behalf of Godolphin, saw off the attentions of Blandford Bloodstock’s Richard Brown, while Alex Elliott was among those who made a strong play.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Katie Walsh, who prepped and consigned the top lot on behalf of the Nordic Partnership, a group of Scandinavian investors. “I’m delighted for my clients. He’s been extremely straightforward from the get-go.

“Mehmas is obviously having a fantastic time and this colt has a lovely pedigree. He breezed very nicely and is going to a very good team, and I just hope he’s extremely lucky for them.”

A world away

The bloodstock world often enjoys its own little bubble, but reality hit with the post-sale comments of Jakob Dalhoff, a Danish-born businessman who is part of the Nordic Partnership, along with his Ukrainian partner Maria, who live in war-torn Ukraine.

“Never in our wildest dreams did we think the Mehmas colt would make that much money today,” Dalhoff revealed. “We were thinking £400,000 or £500,000, so we’re over the moon.

“It’s very bittersweet, though, as we’ve had a lot of joy here, but we face horrors at home in Ukraine. Life is so odd now. We were in the middle of enjoying a cosy meal with friends in Doncaster last night and our mobiles started bleeping to alert us to an air-raid attack at home.

“We own a couple of horses in Denmark, and a percentage of any winnings goes to renovation work after the bombing of Ukraine. It helps a lot, and we’ve seen the difference it makes. We do humanitarian work in Ukraine and help as much as we are able, in any way we can. We’ll be back home to Ukraine next week.”

The top lot was sourced by Anna Sundstrom and Filip Zwicky as a foal at Goffs for €140,000, the same price connections retained him for as a yearling at Arqana.

“IT’S Mehmas’ world and we’re just living in it.” So says Roger O’Callaghan, and it’s hard to disagree with him. The Tally-Ho Stud sire, who broke Kodiac’s record number of two-year-old winners last year, was responsible for the three top lots on Thursday, all of whom bettered each other’s record. A total of 14 lots by the stallion fetched a total of £3,675,000.

Tally-Ho Stud came into the sale as a record holder, and regained the title for a time after selling their Mehmas colt to Godolphin for £720,000. The consignor and sire were part of the colt’s appeal, Anthony Stroud explained: “Mehmas is an excellent sire and Tally-Ho have a fine track record of producing high-class breeze-up horses.

“He did a good breeze, passed all the veterinary examinations, and just looked exactly like what he’s meant to be: a real two-year-old.”

Reflecting on the market, the agent continued: “It’s very lively trade. Obviously, the better ones are making the money, but it’s encouraging that we’ve got so many people in this sport who want to race good horses.

“It’s important that the middle and bottom of the market are strong as well, so I hope there’s a trickle-down effect from all these big prices. It’s important that the clearance rate holds up.”

While trade appeared tricky early in the day, it soon picked up and ended with a strong clearance rate of 83%. Unprecedented demand for the choice lots drove turnover to a record £11,798,000, which marked a 12% increase on last year. The average was a historic best at £84,272, 35% up on last year, while the median rose by 4% to £37,500.

With 15 lots sold for £1,782,000, Tally-Ho Stud topped the consignors’ table. The O’Callaghan family’s success at Doncaster is well-earned, with Tony O’Callaghan having sold at the inaugural breeze-up sale, and the Co Westmeath operation have sold numerous stars since then, including Ardad and Perfect Power.

Go with the flow

Roger O’Callaghan believes the sector’s success on the track is the reason for the current boom at the top of the market. “The breeze-ups in general have spun out a lot of good horses the last few years and now we’re enjoying the rewards of our labour,” he said.

On whether he expected their Mehmas colt to reach the price he did, the ever-unassuming O’Callaghan replied: “You never expect them to go that well, but we had a fair idea of his talent for a long time.

“We want to be the best, and we want to sell the best, but you’re only as good as the next horse. We just go with the flow; show up, see what happens and take whatever comes your way on the day. This has been a great place for us, it’s been lucky for us and the team here work very hard.

“Dad and all the family are at home looking after the place. They’re the ones doing the work, I’m on holiday!”

O’Callaghan was quick to praise Blandford Bloodstock’s Stuart Boman, who sourced their star breezer at Tattersalls Book 2 for 80,000gns. “Stuart Boman deserves a lot of the credit because he was very keen to buy the horse last year.”

Later that afternoon, Tally-Ho gained an impressive return with a colt from the first crop of Ubettabelieveit that had been purchased by Hamish Macauley at Tattersalls Book 2 for 70,000gns.

Knocked down to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for £300,000, the bay is closely related to last year’s Coventry Stakes third Columnist (Ardad), who was sold by Bansha House Stables at last year’s sale.

APPROPRIATELY, the first consignor to break records on Thursday was Kilminfoyle House Stud, whose Eamon Fitzpatrick also sold at the venue’s first breeze-up sales. Eamon passed away in July of last year, but the Co Laois farm continues to flourish under the management of his son Mick.

Known as a shrewd judge like his father, Fitzpatrick sold the breeze-up sales’ most recent Group 1 winner, Believing (Mehmas), at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale and, at Goffs UK last year, sold Coventry Stakes second Electrolyte.

Blandford Bloodstock’s Richard Brown bought the latter, while his other buys from the sale include Ardad, Dream Ahead, Perfect Power and Leovanni, to name just a few. That left little doubt as to who ‘the bidder upstairs’ was when Henry Beeby, while eking out the final bid of £650,000, said: “I don’t have to tell you anything about this sale – you are the man.”

Brown referenced one of his recent successes after signing for Kilminfoyle’s filly. “Mehmas goes from strength to strength, and I bought a good colt off Fitz here last year. That was Electrolyte, who won a Group 3 and we still have high hopes for him. Archie Watson has done a great job with him.

“This is a very nice filly by him and she did a good breeze. Everyone talks about times, and with reason, as it’s horse racing: the fastest horse wins, so people moaning about times is madness. But it’s also the style they do it in, of course. That’s very important. We finished at 3am this morning watching videos of the breezes, and got back up at 5am, so ended up with two hours’ sleep.”

The ultimate test

“The breeze-ups are a massive test of temperament, we’re very hard on that, and she just nailed it. She ran with her head low to the ground and she had a great stretch to her action. She wasn’t rocket ship quick, but very stylish.”

Though Brown wouldn’t reveal the filly’s new owner or trainer, he added: “We should see her on the track soon, we’ll give her every chance of being a Royal Ascot filly. I didn’t anticipate having to spend that sort of money, but I don’t think there’s ever been more demand for horses at the top of the market. This is a very well-assembled group of horses, a good renewal of the Doncaster breeze-up.”

A tense few minutes in the ring may have even tested Fitzpatrick’s usual poker face, the vendor later admitted. “If your heart doesn’t race when that goes on, then it’ll never race,” he said.

“I’d like to thank my staff, especially Pamela Coogan, she’s an unbelievable person. This result is all credit to them, I can only buy them and sell them. They put in an awful lot of hours and labour, they put their lives on hold for me to come here.

“I’m probably reaping the rewards of them coming in here at 6am every morning, putting in long hours every day. A lot of people don’t look after their staff enough because they put so much work in.”

Bred by Newsells Stud, the Mehmas filly was sourced by Fitzpatrick’s JC Bloodstock at the venue’s Premier Yearling Sale for £82,000. At the same sale, Longways Stables gave £52,000 for a Mehmas colt which resold to Blandford Bloodstock for £350,000 on Thursday.

The pair were part of a quartet of Mehmas juveniles bought by Blandford Bloodstock for a total of £1,460,000 on the day. Powerstown Stud’s Mehmas colt had been sourced at the Goffs Autumn Sale for €60,000, while Grove Stud’s £200,000 breezer previously went unsold at Arqana for €75,000.

PERHAPS the most impressive achievement of the day came from Johnny and Danielle Hurley’s Woodlands Lodge. The couple’s Kodi Bear colt returned to his box with applause after selling to Godolphin for £500,000 – above and beyond their expectations when paying €9,000 for the bay at Goffs Orby 2.

“We knew he was going well but that’s just a dream,” an emotional Johnny Hurley said. “He was only a cheap yearling, but I’d valued him at 25 or 30 grand. He’s always been a gorgeous horse.

“He’s been a dream to prep, he’s just a pro. From the first day it’s all been easy to him, and there’s a ton of improvement in him too; he’s big and scopey. They don’t make many like him.”

Operation transformation

Ballybush Stables was another consignor celebrating on Thursday, with two particularly impressive pinhooking results. The operation picked up a filly by Sioux Nation – always popular with breeze-up consignors – for £28,000 at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale and resold her to M.V. Magnier for £410,000 on Thursday.

Just 10 lots later, the same consignor sold an Ardad colt to Nick Bell and Middleham Park Racing for £200,000, marking an impressive return on the €37,000 they paid at Goffs Orby 2.

Former Kildangan Stud sire Profitable has relocated to Turkey, which probably played a part in Thomond O’Mara getting one of his colts for €16,000 at the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale. His gamble paid off at Doncaster, when he posted a smart breeze and brought £360,000 from Blandford Bloodstock.

O’Mara went on to sell the final lot in the ring, an Omaha Beach colt, to Jack Jones Racing for £160,000. Sourced at Keeneland September for $26,000, the successful pinhook brought Knockanglass’ turnover to £651,000, earning them third place in the consignors’ table.

Roderick Kavanagh’s Glending Stables finished sixth after selling all four lots offered for £528,000. The highlight was a filly by Too Darn Hot, bought by Kavanagh, his partner Teresa Magalhaes, business partner Cormac O’Flynn and his wife Serena for 35,000gns at Tattersalls Book 2. Stroud Coleman Bloodstock provided the Co Kildare operation with a hefty profit at £320,000.

Glending’s Havana Grey filly was another success story, selling to Ollie Sangster for £150,000. The 32,000gns foal buy continued Alice Kavanagh’s success with the Whitsbury Manor Stud sire, having previously pinhooked a foal for 21,000gns and resold as a yearling via the family’s Kildaragh Stud for 150,000gns.

Subsequently named Havana Cigar, he went on to finish second in the Prix Jean Prat.