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A €550,000 daughter of Frankel hailing from one of the great European families lit up day three of the Goffs November Foal Sale where the demand for quality stock was in evidence throughout Wednesday.
After the sweeping gains recorded through the first two sessions, the figures for Wednesday actually couldn’t sustain that trend with the average of €72,568 representing a drop of six points while the €52,000 median held steady. A turnover of just under €12 million did advance on last year though and this could still be considered a good day’s trade.
The sale-topping Frankel filly looked a huge draw from the moment the catalogue for this sale was released. Not only is she is a daughter of one of the world’s outstanding stallions but she is also a half-sister to one of the finest horses to have come of Germany in recent times in the brilliant Deutsches Derby hero Sea The Moon.
Also a half-sister to the highly promising Andre Fabre-trained juvenile Sea The Sky, this filly had all the credentials to play a starring role at this year’s sale and she duly lived up to expectations with Juddmonte’s Barry Mahon going to €550,000 to secure this most coveted of fillies. The sale topper was offered by the Grassick family’s Newtown Stud on behalf of her breeders, Heiko Bischoff and Niko Lafrentz of Gestut Gorlsdorf.
Outstanding
"Obviously she's by Frankel, who's had a phenomenal year and looks like he'll be champion sire this year and she's a beautiful filly from an outstanding family,” remarked Juddmonte’s Barry Mahon. “We're delighted to have her. It's not often that a filly like this comes to the market. We were keen to have her and hopefully one day she'll join the broodmare band.”
Easily one of the standout moments of this year’s sale came when Timmy Hyde spent €270,000 on a Sea The Stars colt offered by Mark and Elaine Clarke’s Wardstown Stud. This half-brother to the E.P. Tayor Stakes winner Blond Me is out of a mare, Holda, whom the Clarkes bought for 30,000gns 15 years ago.
“The dam won a very nice two-year-old maiden at Newmarket and came from a beautiful Ballymacoll family,” commented Elaine Clarke. “We bought her hoping that she had the ability to be a broodmare and she did. It was great to be able to use Sea The Stars and that was complimented by the reception the foal received here. This means everything to us."
Franny Woods
Sea The Stars served up another €270,000 transaction when Franny Woods saw off all challengers for a colt from Jockey Hall Stud.
“He’s a very nice colt and he will be back next autumn,” reported Woods. “Obviously you’d prefer to have gotten him a little cheaper but these good colts are hard to buy. It’s a young family and there’s plenty going on and plenty of this colt's relations are in the right hands so hopefully they could do something over the next year which will help our cause when we bring this colt back for sale next year.”
On a good day for Night Of Thunder’s progeny Philipp Stauffenberg outlasted Matt Houldsworth for a €240,000 from Oghill House Stud while Johnny McKeever had earlier gone to €175,000 for another daughter of the Dubawi horse.
Nugent success
Another Frankel to find favour in the sales ring was a colt from Neilstown Stud for whom Eddie O’Leary went to €210,000. This foal is the latest produce of Nick and Alice Nugent’s superb mare Noyelles. She has already bred two quality fillies headed by the Matron Stakes second Lily’s Angel while the last four foals out of the Docksider mare to have been offered at this sale have grossed in excess of €1 million.
“He’s an exceptionally good mover from a good family and by an incredible sire. We’re lucky to be able to buy a foal by Frankel and hopefully he’ll be lucky when he comes back next year,” commented O’Leary.
The increasingly popular New Bay was well represented by a colt from the Castlebridge Consignment out of the Queen Mary Stakes third Hairy Rocket who cost the partnership of Grove Stud and WH Bloodstock €200,000.
“We saw him several times and each show was fantastic. He’s by a sire we love and I think he might be the nicest one by the sire that we’ve seen. He’s got a great temperament and to go with it he’s a strong colt from a sharp and current family,” reported WH’s Mimi Wadham who confirmed the colt would return for sale next year.
Kingman colt
Moyglare Stud offered the only Kingman foal in this year’s sale and this half-brother to the high class trio of Carla Bianca, True Solitaire and Joailliere was snapped up by Baroda Stud’s David Cox for €200,000.
"He's a lovely colt from a really good family. He's a great mover with a lot of quality and substance, but he's also an April foal so I can see him doing really well over the winter. We'll look forward to reselling him next year,” stated Cox.
Ballylinch Stud signed for a €200,000 daughter of their elite sire Lope De Vega while the BBA Ireland’s Michael Donohoe and Yulong Investments returned to familiar ground when giving €195,000 for a filly from the first crop of Phoenix Of Spain. This is the third produce of the mare that has fallen the way of Donohoe and Yulong, the others being the Phoenix Stakes winner Lucky Vega and a €630,000 Footstepsinthesand colt from this year’s Orby Sale.
A colt from the first crop of Godolphin’s crack sprinter Blue Point made quite a splash late in the day when Michael Fitzpatrick best Philipp Stauffenberg with a bid of €215,000 for the grandson of the Group 3-winning Beauty Bright.
COMPARATIVE FIGURES FOR DAY THREE
YEAR CAT OFF SOLD AGGREGATE AVERAGE MEDIAN
2021 238 197 162 €11,756,000 €72,568 €50,000
2020 207 164 135 €10,374,000 €76,844 €52,000
2019 227 181 165 €16,211,000 €98,248 €68,000
2018 234 191 161 €12,000,000 €74,534 €52,000
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