A colt foal by Walk In The Park was sold for a Goffs record of €160,000 on Tuesday.

Trade was stronger than it was on Monday with marginal increases in the percentage of lots sold, and the average, while the median price was €12,000, slightly lower than on Monday.

The top lot was consigned by Ballyreddin & Busherstown [John Dwan and Katie Rudd) on behalf of breeder Louis Vambeck, and was bought by French agent Nicolas Bertran de Balanda who outstayed Gerry Aherne for the foal, who is out of a winning Saint Des Saints mare, a half-sister to Grade 1 Scilly Isles Novices' Chase winner Top Notch.

John Dwan said: "Smashing foal. He was extremely busy all week. He was down with me to prep for the last six, seven weeks. I could not say enough good things about him. He's a young foal, born at the end of May, but every time you did something with him, he just went on and did it. A pure professional.

Attention to detail

“I knew he would make a nice price, but this was unbelievable. Louis [Vambeck] always breeds a very nice horse, nice pedigrees, but it's his attention to detail and the thought he puts into managing young foals that is top class.”

Vambeck added: "This is a very special moment for me. When you breed a good foal it's nice to be rewarded. I seem to be lucky with Walk In The Park. Anyone can breed a foal, but it is attention to detail before the mare foals, as she is in foal, straight after she foals, and attention to the foal all the way along that's important. You don't get lucky at this game; you work hard, and the harder you work the luckier you get.

“I use different consignors, I use different stallion men around the country, and they've all been very good to me. I use Clonbonny and Ballincurrig as well as Ballyreddin & Busherstown, and I must say every one of them has been so good with my foals. They come up to me during the year. sometimes more than once, to look at my foals when they are very young, and then we start making plans. At the end of the day, this puts a smile on your face because it is very, very hard work.

“I have maybe four or five mares due to foal in January, so when everyone is celebrating Christmas and the New Year, I am focused on the work to be done foaling these mares. They have been very good to me here in Goffs, and in Tatts as well. The last time I brought a foal here I topped the sale, and that was a Walk In The Park about five or six years ago. In recent years I wasn't going to any sales and was selling privately to very nice people in England. Coming to the sales has worked out well.”

Nicky Bertran de Balanda said: “He’s very nice, the one I liked most in the sale. He’s by a good sire and out of a good mare. She was a winner in Auteuil, is by a great sire in Saint Des Saints, and came from a very good French breeder, Benoit Gabeur. He’s a very good individual, really athletic with a lovely walk. I’m not surprised I had to battle against some very good judges to get him.

“He’s been bought for Sofiane Benaroussi, and will race in France. Sofiane will pick the trainer in due course. I bought a very nice Nirvana Du Berlais filly for Sofiane here last year, and she has had some wonderful pedigree updates since, with her half-brothers Kalif Du Berlais and Kivala Du Berlais winning big races. She’s doing well at home; she’s a nice big filly and will take a bit of time.

“Sofiane is building a great team of young National Hunt horses. I hope it works out well. Trade is generally realistic, but very strong for the right ones.”

Last month at Tattersalls Ireland, the French agent paid the sale's top foal price of €110,000 for a colt by No Risk At All out of Zarkareva. It was the only foal he purchased there and was also bought on behalf of owner Sofiane Benaroussi to race in France.

At Arqana last month de Balanda paid €105,000 for a Blue Bresil yearling filly out of Irish Grade 1 winner Stormy Island. That purchase was for a partnership between Frédéric Hinderzé and the MacLennan family.

Tally-Ho purchase

French breeding was again to the fore when Denise O’Brien’s Clonbonny Stud sold a No Risk At All colt foal to Tony and Roger O’Callaghan for €92,000. Bred by Seamus McKeogh, the foal is out of a French mare who was placed in Grade 3 company.

McKeogh said: “I’m over the moon. He was always a smasher; I loved him from the moment he hit the ground. Denise prepped him for me, and did a great job. It’s been a good sale for me as I had an Order Of St George colt that I sold for €35,000 yesterday. He was a cracking foal too. I’ve got five or six mares I keep as a hobby. I got the dam from France. She’s a lovely individual with blacktype, and she’s by a great sire in Kapgarde. The mare is back in foal to Authorized, so hopefully there will be more good days to come.”

Trainer Warren Greatrex was in the news this week, talking up his novice hurdler Good And Clever. Those comments must have been picked up by Charles Shanahan and Mark Dwyer who bought Good And Clever's Blue Bresil half-brother for €70,000 from Longrove Stud.

The colt was bred by John and Caroline Bourke, with John’s nephew Jack Fogarty, who commented: “The colt hasn’t turned a hair since the day he got here; he’s a superb advocate for the sire Blue Bresil and his dam Grangeclare Rosa (Gamut). His constitution is unparalleled, he’s a mighty foal. It’s a strong pedigree too. Warren Greatrex thinks an awful lot of Good And Clever, and it’s a great Sunnyhill Stud family of Michael Hickey’s going back."

Denied the day's top lot, Gerry Aherne secured a Walk In The Park colt foal from Rathmore Stud for €68,000. The foal is out of an unraced Kapgarde mare from the family of the prolific Rubi Ball.

“We tried very hard to buy the top lot, but we are delighted to get this fellow," Aherne said. "He was high on our list and is a very, very nice individual. He has been bought to race. He was bred by a new name in the game, Shane Carmody, and Peter Molony has done a great job for him, buying some nice mares.”

Wexford breeder Michael Murphy sold a Blue Bresil colt foal for €55,000 to Paul Cashman of Rathbarry Stud, home of the sire. Garryrichard Stud did the consigning for Murphy, who is undergoing some health issues at the moment. “I had a great sale in Fairyhouse and I am delighted with everything here also, and I have sold two foals well," Murphy said. "The medics say I am doing well, and this is a great tonic.”

Point-to-point handler Eamonn Doyle used a bit of inside information when paying €40,000 for a colt foal by Crystal Ocean from Thistletown Stud. The foal is a half-brother to dual Grade 2 chase winner Impact Factor and Eamonn's brother Donnchadh has two other half-brothers in training.

The sale concludes on Wednesday.

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