Strong Start At Goffs November Foal Sale As Buyers Continue To Row In Behind Starman

[Wandering Eyes]

Starman's meteoric rise through the first-season sire rankings led to the Tally-Ho Stud resident dominating proceedings on a red-hot opening day of the November Foal Sale when, as well as accounting for the €125,000 top lot, the young stallion was responsible for four of the top 10 most expensive horses sold on Monday.

The top lot [55], a colt consigned by Oghill House Stud, went the way of Brendan Holland, who also landed a Starman filly just three lots [52] previously from Summerhill Stables for €85,000. 

“He is a nicely-balanced colt, a good mover but still immature,” the Grove Stud boss said of the top lot. “He seems to have a good outlook, is correct, and will come back for sale as a yearling. It is the family of Havana Gold; he is out of that horse's third dam, the speedy Jessica's Dream, and I have been lucky with this family in the past.”

Group 3 scorer and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf third North Coast, along with Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes runner-up Into The Sky, are just a couple of high-class colts to have represented Starman in his breakout year. 

It was a brilliant day on the whole for Starman, whose fee has been set at €40,000 next year. Seven foals by the stallion sold for €535,000 and an average of €76,429, which was the most impressive figure posted by any stallion on Monday. 

As for the top lot, it represented yet another memorable day for Oghill House Stud at the foal sales at Goffs and Johnny Hyland said, “We thought we had him in on the right day but no way did we think he'd make €125,000. All the top judges were on him and he came out a great-walking horse. I'm delighted for the owner, David McGuinness. He's a good client of ours and a long-time supporter. He only has two mares; we foal them down, he takes them home, gets them back in foal and then the youngsters come to us for weaning and prepping. I'm absolutely thrilled for him because he's a local man, a neighbour to us, and this is a great result.”

Hyland added, “He's a really nice foal and what more can you say about Starman that hasn't been said before? I haven't actually had much experience with his progeny, although I wish I had; God I wish I had! Whenever you walk through a sales complex and pick out a horse, nine times out of 10 it's a Starman. He stamps his stock, they get out and just do their work. They're brilliant horses.”

Holland's business on the day did not extend beyond the colt and the filly foals by Starman. On the filly, who is out of an unraced Iffraaj mare from the family of Group 3 winner Mrs Danvers (Hellvelyn), he said, “It's a lovely, fast family she is by a super young stallion. You can add a proven cross into the mix [Venetian Sun, who is also out of an Iffraaj mare]. He is a very exciting sire. She is for resale. I had a good filly that I pre-trained with James Tate [Time To Take Off], so I have had experience with a few of his stock. I thought she would make that – it is the yearling median for the stallion.”

At close of play on Monday, the clearance rate stood at 80%. The €4,492,500 turnover represented a 16% rise while the average was up by 7% to €24,025 and the median also climbed by 11% to €20,000. A super start.

'We Had To Have Him' – Lyons Pushes Boat Out For Ghaiyyath Colt

When you know, you know. Shane Lyons didn't need to drool over lot 210, a Ghaiyyath colt he labelled as the pick of the entire foal selection at Goffs, for too long before realising he was one he simply couldn't leave behind.

The Ghaiyyath colt is from a family Lyons knows well given his dam, Split Passion, won and reached a decent rating [82] for his brother and trainer, Ger. 

So convinced was Lyons on the second foal out of the daughter of Fascinating Rock, he resisted the temptation to keep going back to Knocktartan House Stud in Barn J to view him. That first show left a big enough impression on the buyer, who went to €92,000 to secure him.

Lyons explained, “We spotted him on Saturday and he was the pick of the whole day [Monday]. We're after looking at Tuesday's and Wednesday's foals and he's still our pick. We didn't think we were going to get him. We don't normally pay that much for them but we had to get him. He had everything – he had the wow factor from the moment we first saw him. We didn't look at him too much for obvious reasons. You don't have to look at horses like him too many times because you don't want to show your hand.”

He added, “Everyone was on him – a proper horse with a proper mind. He went around there with his ears pricked and Padhraic [Doran] does his horses brilliantly. Obviously, we trained the dam, but he has exceeded her [in looks] and hopefully he'll do it again [on the track]. We'll go home and take stock. We have both avenues available and there is a man in Meath who would be well able to train him for us!”

Part-Time Breeder Bourke Receives Massive 'Boost' With Starman Filly

An accountant by trade, David Bourke knows a thing or two about balancing the books. So, when his Baroda Stud-consigned Starman filly out of a mare he raced himself sold for €120,000 to Monday Ventures, it represented just the sort of touch every small breeder dreams of. 

Bourke, who keeps only five mares and sold his first six-figure lot here at Goffs a decade back, commented, “She's out of a mare, Evie Be Kool (Jeremy), that I raced myself. She was a bit unlucky with setbacks throughout her career so we've been waiting a while to enjoy a good day like this with her. My daughter, also Evie, was born around the same time as we bought the mare. The foal has always been very straightforward and easy to do. You need to land on sires like Starman because it gives you such a boost when you go to the sales. What he has done this year is incredible and I was just very lucky to have one by him. Thankfully, she was a very nice filly and went down very well with buyers.”

He added, “I am an accountant by trade and only have four or five mares. That is my first good sale in about five years so it's brilliant. I actually sold a Dark Angel filly at Goffs about 10 years ago for €145,000. That was my first major sale and she actually went on and made 700,000gns as a yearling at Tattersalls. I have always sold my foals at Goffs and have had some great days there. The Dark Angel was a great day and this is another. It is important to have results like that as they help balance the books so we'll savour it.”

Baroda Stud's Padraic Gahan revealed that the Starman filly received an “unprecedented” 234 shows and described footfall at Goffs to be particularly strong since showing started late last week. 

“It's very rare for any foal to have 234 shows and over 10 vets, particularly a Monday foal, and we are delighted for her breeder David Bourke,” Gahan said. “She is a very good-moving filly by a sire who has proved himself to be very effective. It's incredible the volume of people who look at foals. You will have everyone from first-time buyers to seasoned pinnhookers and you will always have so many more people looking at foals compared to yearlings and even breezers thereafter. Whether it is here or at Newmarket, we always expect to be extremely busy at the foal sales and today has been very strong.” 

Subplots

• The high-profile sale of Sands Of Mali has been one of the most fascinating talking points on the bloodstock circuit in recent weeks and the stallion's buyer Yeomanstown Stud continued the support of the emerging force by going to €85,000 to secure a colt by the stallion. The Sands Of Mali colt was consigned by Pa Doyle's Galbertstown Stables. “The appeal was obvious,” said Robert O'Callaghan of Yeomanstown Stud. “We wanted to go down and see all his stock. We are delighted with all we have seen. There are a couple of very nice ones here today, and more again tomorrow. There has been a great reaction to him and lots of people are coming up to congratulate us on getting him. It is really exciting and he is a great young sire. He is a proper proven horse and gets nice stock.”
• It was not just the Irish pinhookers who made their presence felt on the opening day of the sale as Charlie Vigors of Hillwood Stud signed for one of the more expensive lots on the day when paying €60,000 for a Sioux Nation colt that was consigned by Altenbach Bloodstock.  “He'll be for resale next year, though I am not sure where,” Vigors said. “He is out of a black-type mare, and by a proven sire who is going well, and it's nice to get one by him. He is a good individual, a good walker and loose-moving. I hope it's a fair price for him – we will know that next year. Sioux Nation has been lucky for us before.”
• Top producers Middlelane Farm enjoyed an excellent result when a Sioux Nation colt out of a mare they purchased only last November at Goffs for €44,000 was knocked down to Eoghan Grogan of Killorney Mor Farm for €88,000. “We are absolutely delighted with the price he fetched,” Middlelane's Jennifer Cullen said. “He was never in the box since we started showing on Saturday morning. We bought the mare from Goffs November last year, carrying this guy, for €44,000 and to get double our investment back is brilliant. Newtown Stud had the foresight to put the mare in foal to Sioux Nation so we are just taking the credit. Thankfully we had a nice foal by the right sire so we got paid.” She added, “He's been bought by a judge and to be fair we had a lot of shrewd judges rate him which is hugely rewarding for us. When you raise a nice horse and have it recognised, it is a great feeling. We are very grateful to Eoghan for buying him.”

Thought for the day

Online bidding is a relatively new aspect to this whole sales business and it sparked debate at Goffs on Monday involving one of the pricier lots. People often bid online to preserve their identity but the modus operandi at Goffs in recent times has been to read out whoever strikes the winning bid, unlike some other sales houses. There are cases to be made for and against such buyers having the right to withhold their anonymity, but it is interesting that sales houses adopt a different philosophy to the online bidding process. It's hard to know who is right and who is wrong.

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