DARK blue, light blue cross-belts, striped sleeves, white cap.

The Niarchos silks have been part of the fabric of racing for longer than half a century, carried by numerous stars from the outstanding miler Nureyev to the Group 1-winning sisters Alpha Centauri, Alpine Star and Discoveries.

A draft of 41 lots from the family’s world-famous breeding operation at next week’s Goffs November Sale, most with bloodlines expertly and lovingly cultivated over many generations, offers a unique opportunity for other breeders to purchase some of the mares who have borne those storied Niarchos colours with distinction, as well as their close relations.

The Niarchos family’s most iconic horse is no doubt the magnificent Miesque, saddled by her virtuoso trainer François Boutin to 10 Group 1 successes, including the 1000 Guineas and Poule d’Essai des Pouliches and back-to-back renewals of the Prix Jacques le Marois and Breeders’ Cup Mile, and a worthy inductee into the US racing Hall of Fame.

The homebred daughter of Nureyev, so intelligent that she was nicknamed ‘La Concierge’ for taking so much interest in what was going on around her stable, continued her brilliance in the breeding shed, where she produced classic winners Kingmambo and East Of The Moon and founded a dynasty that today encompasses no fewer than 12 Group 1 winners.

Miesque’s female descendants rarely come onto the open market but four are on offer at Goffs, led by the brilliant siblings Alpha Centauri (Lot 1263) and Alpine Star (Lot 1240), who are out of Alpha Lupi, a daughter of Rahy and East Of The Moon.

European champion

Alpha Centauri, who is offered in foal to the wonderful Sea The Stars, was a dominant winner of the Irish 1000 Guineas, Coronation Stakes, Falmouth Stakes and Prix Jacques le Marois in 2018, and was the Cartier European champion three-year-old filly and Timeform’s highest rated miler of either sex that year.

Alpine Star, whose first produce is a Frankel colt foal and who is back in foal to the champion sire, was the authoritative four-and-a-quarter length winner of the Coronation Stakes. A most consistent filly, she also won the Debutante Stakes at two and finished second in the Prix de Diane, Prix Jacques le Marois and Prix de l’Opéra at three.

Humankind (Lot 1104), offered as a filly out of training and therefore a chance for a buyer to start breeding from her with a clean slate, is a Frankel half-sister to listed winner Lunar Maria out of Ama, a daughter of Storm Cat and Miesque.

Miesque’s half-sister Yogya, by Riverman, also left an indelible mark on the Niarchos family’s broodmare band, producing the exceptionally gifted miler Six Perfections, who herself became an accomplished broodmare.

This branch of the family is represented in the catalogue by the full-sisters See (Lot 1105) and La Fiamma (Lot 1181), who are by War Front out of US Grade 3 winner Faufiler, a daughter of Galileo and Six Perfections, as well as by Raja Ampat (Lot 1259), a winning full-sister to Faufiler.

La Fiamma is in foal to commercial sensation Mehmas, while Raja Ampat was one of the many blue-chip mares in the debut book of last year’s European champion Baaeed, and is pregnant to the son of Sea The Stars.

Another member of this family available to purchase at Goffs has a truly top-class international pedigree. Kanthaka (Lot 1130) is by Japanese star Lord Kanaloa, source of eight Grade 1 winners including the champion Almond Eye, out of Taygete, a daughter of Miswaki and Miesque’s half-sister Bravemie who was blacktype-placed in France and America. She is in foal to Arizona.

Northern Trick dynasty

Northern Trick was another of the great Niarchos mares of the 1980s, crowned Europe’s champion filly of 1984 after winning the Prix de Diane and Prix Vermeille, and finding only Sagace too good in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Like Miesque, she also established an important dynasty, chiefly through her Shirley Heights daughter Lingerie, who produced Group 1 winners Light Shift and Shiva and became ancestress of champions Cloth Of Stars, Main Sequence and Ulysses.

Northern Trick’s descendants in the Goffs catalogue are headlined by That Which Is Not (Lot 1260), a listed-winning and Group 2-placed daughter of Elusive Quality and Shiva whose first two runners are Irish Derby runner-up Piz Badile and Anglesey Stakes second Yosemite Valley. She has a Frankel yearling colt and a Dubawi colt foal to come, and is back in foal to Frankel.

Night Glow (Lot 1128), a three-year-old winning daughter of Miesque’s descendant Karakontie, and Light Of Joy (Lot 1239), a Galtres Stakes runner-up by Kitten’s Joy in foal to Night Of Thunder, are half-sisters out of Light Blow, a winning Kingmambo full-sister to Light Shift.

Burning Topic (Lot 1129) is a winning Maxios half-sister to Prix d’Harcourt winner and Singapore Cup second Smoking Sun and to the dam of Main Sequence out of Burning Sunset, a listed-winning daughter of Caerleon and Lingerie. She is in foal to Ulysses.

Perseids (Lot 1157) is a placed daughter of More Than Ready and the multiple Group 3-placed Aussie Rules mare Radiantly, who in turn is out of Eccentricity, a daughter of Kingmambo and Shiva.

Another of the Niarchos family’s key foundation mares of the 1980s was Coup De Folie, a daughter of Halo from the family of Northern Dancer. She won the Prix d’Aumale and ran third to Triptych in the Prix Marcel Boussac, before producing Group 1 winners Machiavellian, Exit To Nowhere and Coup De Genie at stud.

Coup De Genie

Champion two-year-old Coup De Genie became an especially influential mare, producing four stakes winners including Prix Marcel Boussac victress Denebola, as well as Moonlight’s Box, the dam of Arc hero Bago and dual Group 1-winning miler Maxios.

There are three chances to get into this prolific family at Goffs: Malicieuse (Lot 1262), a listed-placed Galileo half-sister to Bago and Maxios who has already produced two winners and is in foal to Wootton Bassett, and her daughters Bold As Love (Lot 1102), by none other than Japanese legend Deep Impact, and Provocateuse (Lot 1238), a three-time winner by Pride Of Dubai in foal to reliable Group 1 sire Kingman.

Yet another important early Niarchos mare was Whakilyric, a homebred daughter of Miswaki who won the Prix du Calvados and finished third in the Prix de la Salamandre and Prix de la Forêt. Her first two offspring, Johann Quatz and Hernando, both won the Prix Lupin, with the latter adding the Prix du Jockey Club to his tally and becoming a leading sire.

Nature Spirits (Lot 1235), a listed-winning Beat Hollow three-parts sister to Beresford Stakes scorer Curtain Call out of Apsara, a Darshaan half-sister to Johann Quatz and Hernando, is on offer at Goffs, along with her daughters Spell On You (Lot 1162), a three-time winner by Caravaggio in foal to Miesque’s descendant Study Of Man, and Forever Be (Lot 1184), a listed-placed daughter of Dubawi who is in foal to Wootton Bassett.

Bella Senora, a Northern Dancer full-sister to household names El Gran Senor and Try My Best, who came into Niarchos family ownership early in the piece, also proved invaluable. Her listed-winning daughter Napoli produced Breeders’ Cup Mile hero Domedriver and the winner Forest Rain, whose granddaughter Albigna, a winner of the Prix Marcel Boussac with a Wootton Bassett yearling colt and Dubawi filly foal to run for her, is offered at Goffs in foal to St Mark’s Basilica as Lot 1212.

Celestial Lagoon, a mare from the longstanding Niarchos family of Craven Stakes winner King Of Happiness and useful sprinter Robin Des Pins, shows her breeders’ constant innovation and international outlook as she was bred in Japan and is by the country’s breed-changing stallion Sunday Silence.

Two of her daughters come under the hammer at Goffs: Night Of Light (Lot 1131), a listed winner and Group 2 place-getter by Sea The Stars and in foal to Lope De Vega, and Lovee Dovee (Lot 1160), a winner by Galileo in foal to Sea The Moon. Night Of Light’s listed-placed daughter Light Of Night (Lot 1159), by Dark Angel and in foal to Saxon Warrior, is also on offer.

Australian purchase

Dawn Wall also neatly illustrates how the Niarchos family have gone to the ends of the earth to source stock. The Australian-bred Fastnet Rock mare, out of a daughter of Arc heroine Detroit, was purchased at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale in Sydney and won a Group 3 at Kembla Grange, further south in New South Wales.

The mare came to Europe to begin her broodmare career and bred Flame Of Tara Stakes runner-up Albula as her first foal. Now in foal to Saxon Warrior, she is catalogued for Goffs as Lot 1183, along with Mirror In Space, her placed daughter by Galileo who sells earlier as Lot 1127.

Not forgetting Gypsy’s Warning, either. The daughter of Storm Cat and Coup De Folie’s son Mogok was a multiple Group 1 winner in her native South Africa before being bought by the Niarchos family and transferred to the US, where she won the Matriarch Stakes. Snakeless (Lot 1106), her winning daughter by Animal Kingdom who has already produced Group 3 runner-up Terrestrial, is offered at Goffs in foal to Circus Maximus.

Speaking of three-time Group 1 winner Circus Maximus, he was bred by the Niarchos family out of the top-class racemare Duntle, and Cosmic Lady (Lot 1103) in the Goffs draft is by Mastercraftsman out of Lady Of The Lamp, an Invincible Spirit half-sister to Duntle.

As should be clear by now, the Niarchos family have always been restless in their pursuit of first-class breeding-stock. More recent purchases include Matron Stakes heroine Fiesolana, whose daughters Valle De La Luna (Lot 1208), by Galileo and in foal to State Of Rest, and Innervisions (Lot 1211), by Dubawi and in foal to Saxon Warrior, are in the catalogue, and Kilboy Estates Stakes winner Bocca Baciata, whose high-class daughter by Galileo, Foniska, is Lot 1156.

Another later purchase by the Niarchos family, the tough four-time stakes-winning sprinter Only Mine, is on offer herself as Lot 1185. The daughter of Pour Moi and listed winner Truly Mine has already produced listed-placed Uxmal and she is pregnant to French champion sire Siyouni, meaning her foal next year will be bred on a similar cross to Paddington.

Phaenomena (Lot 1237) – a Galileo full-sister to Irish 1000 Guineas winner Nightime, the dam of world champion Ghaiyyath – has also already justified her place in the prestigious Niarchos family broodmare band, by producing pattern scorers Harajuku and King Of Koji. She is in foal to No Nay Never.

Also available at Goffs are North American purchases Martini Glass (Lot 1161), a Grade 2-winning and Grade 1-placed daughter of Kingmambo’s brother Kitalpha who is in foal to Starspangledbanner, and Mississippi Delta (Lot 1210), a Grade 3-winning daughter of Giant’s Causeway in foal to Camelot.

Pachattack, a multiple Grade 1-placed daughter of Pulpit, was yet another judicious US acquisition and her Group 3-winning daughter by Kitten’s Joy, Liquid Amber, is offered in foal to No Nay Never as Lot 1209.

There are more outstanding pedigrees in the Niarchos family draft besides. Look through the catalogue and marvel at all the horses in the last 50 years who have borne the dark blue, light blue cross-belts, striped sleeves and white cap with such distinction.

Top consignors

As well as the Niarchos draft, Goffs November catalogue also features consignments from Godolphin (54), HH Aga Khan Studs (18), Ballylinch Stud (16), Irish National Stud (11), Moyglare Stud (8) and many more top breeders, while a draft of 61 from The Castlebridge Consignment includes well-bred German mares from the dispersal of the renowned Gestut Hony-Hof.

Multiple group race winner Insinuendo (Lot 1252) promises to be a highlight, along with Manister House Stud’s Laurelita (Lot 1246) who is the dam of this season’s dual US Grade 1 winner Fev Rover.

Some 25 daughters of Galileo are catalogued while Dansili, Dubawi, Frankel, Invincible Spirit, Montjeu, Oasis Dream, Pivotal, and Sea The Stars are also among the leading broodmare sires represented.

An equally impressive covering sire profile includes Blackbeard, Blue Point, Camelot, Dark Angel, Frankel, Havana Grey, Invincible Spirit, Kingman, Lope De Vega, Mehmas, New Bay, Night Of Thunder, No Nay Never, Pinatubo, Sea The Stars, Siyouni, St. Mark’s Basilica and Wootton Bassett.

Sale info

Sale: Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale

Date/time: Friday & Saturday, November 24th & 25th (10am)

Lots: 541

Tel: 045 886600

Web: goffs.com