Donny Domination For Bromley And Cunningham With Over 700k Spent On Day One At Goffs

[Wandering Eyes]

DONCASTER, UK — For the third year in succession, Highflyer's Anthony Bromley and owner Phil Cunningham dominated the Goffs Premier Yearling Sale, coming away from day one with six horses bought for a combined sum of £717,000. That spend included one of the most expensive horses sold on Wednesday – a Showcasing half-brother to high-class sprinter Washington Heights – at £180,000.

It was at this sale in 2023 when Cunningham enlisted the services of Bromley, widely regarded as one of the best judges of equine talent there is. The pair came home with seven yearlings for £888,143 before upping that spend to £1,010,000 on 10 yearlings here last year.

Of course, Cunningham rightly has an affinity to Doncaster given it is here where Bobby O'Ryan sourced dual Guineas winner Cockney Rebel for just £30,000. Meanwhile, horses like high-earners The Man and Yah Mo Be There have been bought here in recent years.  

Speaking about this year's trade, the majority of which took place later in the day and was headed by Bearstone Stud's Showcasing colt, Bromley said, “We kept our powder dry for most of the day. We bought a Sioux Nation filly [lot 39] for £70,000 and a Space Traveller colt [105] for £52,000 but one of our picks of the sale was the Starman filly [160, consigned by Pa Doyle's Galberstown Stables] who was actually picked out by Phil Cunningham snr – he picked it on pedigree and gave her five stars. 

“When we went and looked at her we absolutely concurred – we thought she was a really smashing filly. Phil has a nice Starman filly called Gold Digger who was a good sixth in the Albany but found the ground a little quick that day. She's going to be a nice filly and obviously Starman needs no introduction so we were really happy to get her. The Showcasing colt [161] definitely surprised us by how much she made. He is a very athletic and scopey horse. We loved him and wanted to take him home.”

He added, “But it's interesting, this is a sale for smaller horses and when you get a nice scopey one, they stand out. Billy Jackson-Stops pushed us quite hard but Phil was on the phone and he didn't want to get beaten. He's an exciting horse and comes from a great nursery. That's not to be underestimated. I don't think I've ever bought a horse off them that hasn't won. They are great breeders and are very straightforward to deal with. It's nice to see an English stud having a good sale.”

Bearstone Stud has enjoyed massive success down through the years, with Group 1-winning sprinters Glass Slippers and Bradsell both being graduates from the farm. Stud manager Mark Pennell was rightly in jubilant form following the sale and joked “there will be a few drinks tonight!” Bearstone ended day one with four lots sold for £467,000. 

Pennell commented, “We brought some nice horses here this year and decided to target an early sale before people get too fed up of going to sales. It certainly paid off. The horses we sold today, we were expecting them all to make half of what they made. So it's been a great result.”

The Cunningham-Highflyer spend was completed by the already-named Tippytwo, a Baroda Stud-consigned full-brother to Tip Two Win (Dark Angel) [185] at £150,000 and another Bearstone offering in lot 167, a Perfect Power colt that cost £140,000.

Speaking about the overall market, Bromley commented, “I thought the sale was quite sticky to start with and I did manage to get quite a few bought. I bid on eight horses in the first 50 lots and I got seven. Then, the next nine horses that I bid on, I was the underbidder on seven or eight of those. I think it has been quite a healthy market but it took a little bit of time to get going. I thought I did okay buying some cheaper ones earlier in the sale and there are some nice horses tomorrow as well. It's interesting that there are 70 less colts catalogued but that's worked out that there are 70 less colts. There are the same number of fillies in the sale compared to last year. It's 50-50 this year between colts and fillies so I think it will push up trade on colts. I'm definitely keeping an eye on all of the fillies. 

Shadwell Support For Minzaal Top Lot

Jane Allison's Manor Farm draft made a late splash on day one, shooting to the top of the charts with a homebred filly from the first crop of Group 1 winner Minzaal. A good-walking filly with an attitude to match, the daughter of the Listed winner Hateya (Mastercraftsman) caught the eye of Shadwell racing manager Angus Gold, who duly went to £190,000 to secure her for the operation.

Gold said of lot 205,  “We like to support our stallions where we can and I came up here to have a good look at them all. We've got three at home which we like a lot and, like everybody, I was impressed with the [Minzaal] foals last year and I have been impressed with what I've seen here.

“There weren't any in France so this was the first chance we've had to see them and I just thought that this filly had a bit extra about her. She was as nice a filly as I saw. She had a good good outlook about her and is a lovely mover. She's a good advertisement for the stallion and if there are a few more that look like her he'll do alright.”

The name's Kelly, Jason Kelly

Bond Thoroughbreds has been a growing force on the track and in the sales ring in recent times through bloodstock agent Jason Kelly, who once again made a major splash by signing for the Havana Grey filly on day one of the Premier Yearling Sale at £180,000. She was consigned by Ashbrooke Stud, who shrewdly sourced the filly for €55,000 at Goffs last November. 

Kelly commented, “She has been bought by Bond Thoroughbreds to go to Bryan Smart. They have a long history together and have had plenty of success with sharp two-year-olds down through the years so hopefully she'll work. Bryan was on the ground here working hard and he loved her. She looks a tough racy filly – good and strong. We had to stretch to get her but the stallion is very successful.”

Asked if he has had much luck with the progeny of Havana Grey in the past, he commented, “With David O'Meara, we had Star Of Lady M, who was an exceptional filly. She was a very good two-year-old, lost her way a little but then came back and was better than ever as a four-year-old.”

The Havana Grey filly is out of a winning two-year-old by Cotai Glory and from the family of Irish 2,000 Guineas third Decrypt. She is the latest addition to what is an ever-expanding team of quality horses for Bond Thoroughbreds, which has been enjoying a good run of things, highlighted by the recent Group 1-placed Maranoa Charlie.

“We've had a lot of nice horses this season and Geoff Oldroyd has done a great job and is operating at a great strike-rate,” Kelly commented. “York is the home track and I'm not sure if it was good or bad. We were banging on the door and had a lot of placed horses there but, to be competing in those types of races is good. Air Force One and Big Leader can hopefully make the step up from handicaps into stakes company next year and obviously Maranoa Charlie is flying the flag at Group 1 level so it's exciting times.”

Hughes and Durcan Team Up

One of the stories of this season has been the rise and rise of Richard Hughes and, returning to the source of No Half Measures, his breakthrough Group 1 winner as a trainer, the Lambourn handler came away with five horses to the tune of £384,000. That outlay was headed by a Blue Point filly consigned by Longview Stud who was bought by bloodstock agent Ted Durcan for £175,000. Lot 177 boasted one of the best pedigrees in the sale given she is out of Listed winner Fig Roll, who is the dam of Group 3 scorer Al Raya.

Durcan commented, “She is a lovely filly – very racy and Richard knows the family extremely well. He had an owner in mind going in to buy her and, while they had to be brave and strong, thankfully we got her.”

No Half Measures was sourced for just £34,000 by Hughes at this sale in 2022. The daughter of Cable Bay has won over £500,000 in prize-money and proved herself one of the fastest horses in training when landing a 66-1 shock in the July Cup at Newmarket. She is rightly one of the poster girls of the sale. Durcan and Hughes bought five horses on Wednesday for  £384,000 and found owners for all of them.

Durcan said, “We bought five all told. A few of those were bought on spec but, luckily, we found owners for all of them by close of play on Wednesday which was great.”

Dream Debut For Kent

Finbar Kent marked his debut as a consignor by selling a Persian Force colt and a Dandy Man filly for a combined £168,000. It was Kia Joorabchian and Robson Aguiar who landed the Persian Force colt for £110,000 while Peter and Ross Doyle signed for the Dandy Man filly for £48,000. Kent had acquired the two horses as foals for €30,000 and €20,000 respectively. 

“It was above and beyond our expectations,” the young consignor said after selling the Persian Force colt. 

He added, “I loved the horse but I didn't know where the ceiling was. It's great when a man like Kia turns up. He's here and he means business and is keen to support the stallion. And this fellow is a great advert for the stallion. 

“I think he's one with a real future. He's always been a standout. He has a very noble head, great constitution and a great attitude. Really, really happy. It's been amazing. It's been a great start.”

Amo Racing's recent Group 1 scorer Power Blue was sourced for just £44,000 at this sale last year and Joorabchian revealed that a conscious decision was made within the camp to shop the Premier Yearling Sale hard in order to have some sharper types to go to war with next season. 

In many ways, the Persian Force colt was a fitting purchase given it was in the purple silks of Amo Racing that the son of Mehmas carried to victory in the July Stakes at Newmarket.

Joorabchian said, “He's obviously a sire we know well. My team were looking at him and actually thought he was the best physical of the sale. We had him as a target and we weren't going to let him go. They [buying team] called me last night to tell me that I have to come and see this Persian Force colt and that was our target and we got the target. This sale has been good to us – Power Blue came from this sale and he won a Group 1. Last year we were a little bit quieter in this sale because we obviously went for the deeper pedigrees and we found that, come June, we were a little bit short of speedier two-year-olds. Our season has come good recently but we felt that we should do a bit of shopping at this sale and a little bit less at Tatts!”

Talking Points 

• While the day one aggregate was down by 6% to £7,796,000, the average climbed 12% to £45,326 and the median by 13% to £34,000. The clearance rate rested at 87% with 172 of the 198 horses offered finding buyers. 
• Barry Kennedy and Anna Murphy of Rigsdale Stud enjoyed their first six-figure sale when their homebred Sioux Nation colt went to Billy Jackson-Stops on behalf of trainer George Scott for £100,000. A visibly emotional Kennedy commented, “It's great. We work down in Castlehyde Stud and it's our first ever six-figure lot. We still have the mare so it's great. I need a minute to gather my thoughts!”
• We are running out of different ways to describe the explosive start Starman has made at Tally-Ho Stud. The market has clearly latched onto the first-season sire with 11 horses selling for an average combined £744,000 and average £67,636.
• Perfect Power seems to be going down well. Tally-Ho Stud sourced a colt by the stallion for €75,000 during the V2 session at Arqana last week and, along with Highflyer and Cunningham, Amo Racing went to £85,000 for a filly by the young Darley-based sire on Wednesday.

Buy of the Day 

Anthony Bromley may have dominated at the top end of the market but he may well have come home with one of the best value buys of the sale through lot 55, a quality filly by Without Parole on behalf  Eve Johnson Houghton. The pair have already struck gold with Without Parole through the stallion's highest-rated runner Zavateri and Bromley secured the only yearling in the sale by the Newsells Park Stud resident for just £20,000. Bromley commented, “I have a soft spot for the stallion and she was the only one in the sale. She doesn't necessarily look an early sort but she has a nice walk and is very powerful. The dam wanted a mile-and-a-quarter so we don't expect her to be a whizzbang two-year-old but there was a lot to like about her. Trade has picked up a lot since we bought her so I think I was able to get a bit of value earlier on in the sale. Let's see.”

Golden Touch

There were some notable pinhooks at the top end, including the £180,000 Havana Grey [bought for €55,000] and Finbar Kent's Persian Force colt who sold for £110,000 [sourced for €30,000]. But sometimes little fish are sweet and Paul Winters, who works closely with Peter Kelly, deserves a shout out for turning his 12,000gns foal purchase by Tasleet into a £37,000 yearling [lot 10]. It was Anthony Bromley who bought the filly on behalf of George Baker.

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