‘I Love The Foal Sale At Goffs – It’s The Most Important Week Of My Year’

[Wandering Eyes]

Pinhookers have their say on the market ahead of the November Foal Sale at Goffs

Philipp Stauffenberg, Fearghal Hogan, Roger O'Callaghan and more have weighed in on what many pinhookers have described as being one of the trickiest yearling sale seasons in recent times and outlined how they will be approaching next week's Goffs November Foal Sale. 

Pinhookers definitely didn't have it easy at the yearling sales this year, yet the first chapters of some of the most spinetingling stories of life-changing profits were written at a sale that has produced Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Field Of Gold, Group 1-winning juvenile Power Blue and ante-post Derby favourite Pierre Bonnard in the past couple of years alone.

And who could forget the teenage pinhooking syndicate behind the 450,000gns Minzaal filly that lit up Book 2 at Tattersalls this year? Along with brothers Jack (17) and Max Galway (13), Fionn White (16) sourced that filly at Goffs for €85,000 the previous November. Then there was Fergal Hogan, who enjoyed his best day in the business when a St Mark's Basilica colt that he bought for €120,000 at Goffs sold for 800,000gns to Amo Racing during Book 1 at Tattersalls. There are countless other examples of pinhookers young and old striking oil with their Goffs November Foal Sale purchases. 

The St Mark's Basilica and Minzaal foals were genuinely life-changing results for their connections and, when you consider that Power Blue and Pierre Bonnard were reoffered at the yearling sales, it goes some way to explaining the allure behind shopping at Goffs for pinhookers and end-users alike. 

However, even after masterminding one of the most impressive pinhooks of the entire year, Hogan, like many other people in his sphere, says he will be refining his approach to buying foals after negotiating what he describes to be an “increasingly unpredictable” yearling market. 

“To get the proper money, you need to be buying the expensive foals but, after looking at the results of the yearling sales this year, I don't know if that is the right approach or not,” he explained. “I got lucky with my St Mark's Basilica but I was only treading water with the rest of my pinhooks. I had six altogether and, while I didn't lose a lot of money on the other five, I found the yearling market very difficult this year on the whole.”

Why?

“I'd say the foals were just too expensive last year,” he replied. “You have lads queuing out the door to buy foals but, when you bring that horse to the yearling sales, you might only have one person to buy it. That's the reality of the game right now. A lot of the time, you are paying the yearling price on these foals but then the hope is that one of them will ring a bell, which, fortunately for me, happened this year with the St Mark's Basilica. And that's what keeps lads going; the dream of landing that big touch that will pay for all of the bad years.”

On plans for the November Foal Sale at Goffs, which Hogan labelled as being “the most important week” of his year, he added, “I am probably going to concentrate almost entirely on the middle market. I might forgive a sire to a degree but the dam will have to have produced a few winners and the physical will need to be very good. That's the way I'm going to play it. Between all of the foal sales, I hope to buy 10, but I have to say I absolutely love this sale at Goffs. It's without doubt the most important week of my year and I have always been very lucky at this sale. The quality of the foal is always good here and it's good for the market to have so many pinhookers that turn up to Goffs year in, year out. As a pinhooker, I always try to get value, but the breeder also deserves to get paid and there are few better places to sell a foal than at Goffs.”

At first glance, the figures for all of the major yearling sales in Europe look good. Take Book 1 at Tattersalls as an example; despite trade being selective and all of the key figures taking a slight dip, 70% of the 152 pinhooks offered throughout the three days at Park Paddocks made a profit. Not so bad. However, among the 30% that failed to make a profit or in some cases sell at all, 37 of those pinhooks had been purchased for six figures as foals. Ouch.

Trade  was fairly good at Book 1 of the Orby Sale, with 64% of the 118 pinhooks leaving a profit behind, but there weren't as many expensive pinhooks at that sale and only a handful of those failed to hit the target, most notably a €550,000 Night Of Thunder colt that was bought back at €625,000. Meanwhile, at Book 2 at Tattersalls, 54% of the 192 pinhooks that sold in the ring made profit. 

Some of the game's biggest pinhookers are still feeling the hurt from what has clearly been a year of selectivity. One unnamed consignor joked that they would be best served putting in a gallop to cater for all of the yearlings they brought home from the sales this year while another massive name within the industry, who again chose to remain anonymous, said that they had been forced to completely reevaluate their approach to the foal sales this year after being left high and dry with a handful of expensive pinhooks.

“I'm going to whistle a tune on those expensive foals this year,” the leading pinhooker said. “Instead, I'm going to do something I haven't done in a good few years, which is go and try to buy the €20,000 foal to bring back to Fairyhouse to try to get €40,000. Now, that's not really worth doing, but I'm going to go back to my bread and butter rather than competing for the expensive Blue Points or Night Of Thunders. Playing on those expensive foals just isn't really adding up anymore.”

Stauffenberg was hit as hard, if not harder, than any other pinhooker this year. Of the 18 yearlings he prepped on his farm in Germany, he sold just six of those in the ring. When it came to his own pinhooks, there were some crippling losses and he only got out by the skin of his teeth on a €440,000 Night Of Thunder colt, who left hardly any meaningful profit behind him when selling for 475,000gns at Book 1 at Tattersalls to Karl and Kelly Burke. 

Reflecting on the market this year, he said, “Looking at all of the figures, I felt the level at which trade dropped off was extremely high. You either got overloaded, or else you fell down all of the ladders because there was nobody there to pick you up somewhere in the middle. Let's say, if you didn't make the 500,000gns or more bracket, your horse who you think is worth 150,000gns to 200,000gns was making only 80,000gns because there was nobody there to pick up the pieces. I need to look into the figures more but it felt that the people who thought Book 2 at Tattersalls was going to be too strong, they got their shopping done at Tattersalls Ireland and other sales. These buyers were missing at Book 2 because they had filled their orders and maybe even overpaid at previous sales compared to what they would have had to pay at Book 2. But, you know, who could have predicted that?”

Stauffenberg is not alone in putting on record his feeling of a shrinking buying bench, certainly at the top level. O'Callaghan, who enjoyed a pretty good year on the whole with his pinhooks and Tally-Ho Stud homebreds, simply said, “the reality is that there are very few buyers with a lot of money to spend.” Meanwhile, Peter Kelly, who reported his year as being “very patchy,” had a unique way of summarising how the art of pinhooking has morphed into one big game of Russian roulette. 

He said, “This whole pinhooking game has become a bit like pass the parcel and, when the music stops, you are left holding a very expensive box. I have nine yearlings that are going into training next year. I always run a few but I've never been left with that many before. It's become incredibly sire-driven and the end-users would look at 150 Mehmases rather than buy the best horse by a cheaper stallion. It's something to think about going forward and I'll be very selective at Goffs.”

O'Callaghan said that “fellas probably got a bit excited at the foal sales last year,” and pointed to the fact that Yulong also played in the foal market, “without really showing up at the yearling sales this year.” Stauffenberg goes a step further than O'Callaghan by admitting, not only did he get excited at the foal sales, his discipline went out the window.

He said, “I was not disciplined enough. I got a little bit carried away by the good race results we had on the track and maybe spent too much on foals. This year, I got really badly punished with my sires that weren't on the top lists. You know, I made quite a bold statement when I said, of my nine pinhooks, I would make a bet that 50 per cent of them were black-type horses. But still, I could not sell them. I always said that, if your horse is nice, you might not hit the bullseye but normally you will sell pretty well no matter what stallion you are by. However, if the theme of this year's yearling sales continues, I will have to change my view.”

He continued, “What is the way forward? Will I be positive and try to find a route, or do I be negative and say to myself, 'it has become too dangerous?' It is hard to say what is playing safe anymore. Okay, pinhooking has always been a bit of a risky thing, but it has become even more risky now than in previous years. The sexy sire thing and the whole polarisation of the market has made things completely unpredictable. I always said that I might not make the biggest money with my pinhooks, but I got away with bringing nice physicals to the market. I think that is changing. Nowadays, it seems as though the physical does not help you if you are not by the popular stallion. If you are breeding, it is even more difficult. But if you don't do business, you can't move forward. Sitting on your hands and doing nothing might be safe in one way but then you don't have any ammunition to go to the sales or the racecourse. You cannot move forward by choosing that route.”

Asked what way he would be playing the foal sales, Stauffenberg added, “That is a very difficult question and I can't answer that today without the benefit of seeing the horses at Goffs yet. Obviously I try to analyse my mistakes and I can't just blame the market. Going into the yearling sales, I felt I had a good bunch of horses but, in hindsight, there were a few mistakes. So, going forward, I will be quite disciplined in my buying.”

Moments Of Magic Fuel Future Investments

Hannah Wall | Goffs

Put simply, there has never been so far to fall for a pinhooker. However, just once in a while, the yearling sales can produce the odd spark or crackle of magic that makes the process all worthwhile. 

One such story came deep into Book 2 at Tattersalls this year when Wall, along with Charlie Vigors's young sons Harry and Oliver, turned 72,000gns into 260,000gns on a colt by Perfect Power. 

Through her association with Tweenhills Stud, Wall has navigated her way through many profitable pinhooks but described that memorable result with the Vigors family as “truly humbling” and revealed the team will be on the ground at Goffs next week searching for a foal to reinvest in.  

She explained, “I have to say, we didn't go into the foal sales planning to do that. I have known the boys and Charlie for a long time and we just fell upon the same horse in the back ring. David [Redvers] and I had a chat and we realised we weren't going to be able to afford the horse on our own individual budget so it was going to be a case of buying him together. We were delighted to do that and thankfully it worked out well. 

“I have to say, the whole thing has really been quite humbling. You just couldn't have written it. I was delighted for the boys and hopefully that will set them up to pinhook a few more. Hopefully we can pinhook a couple this year.”

Wall added, “The really lovely thing was, after we sold the horse to Shadwell, David went into the Green Room at Tattersalls and bought some champagne and we had a drink with Angus [Gold] and all of the Hillwood team. The two boys were outside doing an interview with Tattersalls and, when they came into the Green Room, they received a massive cheer. There was nothing staged about it – literally everyone in the room stood up and cheered for them. I have to say, that was the moment that really got me. To see those boys share that moment after everything they had been through, it was really quite special.”

Therein lies the power of a pinhook.

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