Laurelin’s Breeder And Consignor Lillingston Looks Forward To Goffs Orby Sale

[Wandering Eyes]

Luke Lillingston will not want 2025 to end. The magical year for Mount Coote Stud has consisted of 42 individual winners, including headline acts like Santorini Star and Laurelin, who is one of the poster girls for the Goffs Orby Sale. 

And rightly so. Under the care of Graham Motion, the Orby graduate has won all five of her starts in America and is understood to be on course for the Grade I Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes at Keeneland next month.

“You never want to toot the horn too loudly but we've had a good year,” said Lillingston of the famous farm's outstanding run of success. “Firstly with quantity, I think we have produced 42 individual winners of 60 races this year. Among those there have been five or six individual black-type winners and Laurelin, who is a Goffs Orby graduate, is obviously one of those.Then there is her close relation Marquisat, Al Aasy, Santorini Star and more.”

Lillingston's yearling purchases have also been performing with distinction. Despite signing for just four yearlings last year on behalf of the Kennet Valley Racing Syndicate, Lillingston came up trumps with Calendar Girl, winner of the recent Wetherbys-sponsored £300,000 sales race at Doncaster.

A daughter of Advertise, Calendar Girl was sourced four just 45,000gns at the Book 2 session of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and follows on from the similarly well-bought Dragon Leader (El Kabeir), who cost £45,000 at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale and won another lucrative pot when Lillingston jokingly says 'Harry [Beeby] only handed out £300,000 and not £500,000′ for the Premier Yearling Stakes in 2023. In summary, Lillingston knows how to pick 'em.

“We only bought four yearlings and she was one of them, so it's been fun,” he said of Calendar Girl. “I actually went to see her the other day at Owen Burrows' yard and she looks amazing. Hopefully she has a big future. Okay, she won a sales race, so what do we know? But we think she could be pretty good.”

Lillingston added, “We try to buy horses that we believe in and, when you are not spending lots of money, you need to compromise somewhere. Not that we don't look at lots of horses by major stallions, but we are not afraid to buy them by less fashionable stallions or stallions we feel are a little bit underrated.”

Laurelin | Sarah Andrew

Lillingston reports Laurelin's dam Bari (Cape Cross) not to be in foal this year but revealed he is planning to mate the 14-year-old back to Zarak in 2016. Her success Stateside is understood to have lured her connections – Motion and owners Newstead Stables – to make the trip to Goffs for the Orby Sale, which kicks off on Monday, where Lillingston will offer two colts – by Cracksman and Zoustar – under the Mount Coote Stud banner.

Recalling Laurelin as a yearling, Lillingston said, “She was a nice filly. She cost €160,000 and I guess Zarak was just starting to put his head above the parapet as being a good stallion at the time. Obviously he has gone on since then. But she was a nice yearling and was well found by Jehan Malherbe [Form Bloodstock]. I remember when Laurelin broke her maiden, Graham told me that he thought she could be pretty good. Graham is a pretty understated guy so, when he said that, I took note. He has been proved absolutely right.

“I am looking forward to meeting Graham and Laurelin's owners at Goffs over the next few days. The last time I spoke with him he mentioned he would like to run Laurelin in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes at Keeneland next month so hopefully she is still on track for that. You'd never know, she could end up being the champion turf filly in North America this year. We better keep our horse in front of our cart here but, if she stays sound and keeps on progressing, she could well be.”

He concluded, “Graham, along with Laurelin's owners, are coming to to the Orby. That's great news for Goffs. We can't sell them a good filly this time – we're only selling two colts at the Orby Sale – but hopefully they will find good luck again.”

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