NOT many consignors could confidently say they had a thoroughly successful time at this year’s yearling sales, given the ups and downs of trade.One that stood out, though, was John Foley’s Ballyvolane Stud, who achieved impressive results with a mixture of home-breds and pinhooks.

I’ve listed two of the results as highlights in my overall pinhooking review, a Calyx colt bought for €23,000 and resold for €220,000, and a Gleneagles colt bought for €28,000 and resold for 280,000gns. It made me wonder if Foley sets out to buy foals by proven sires, but he assures me it wasn’t by design.