The Goffs Million, the richest 2-year-old race in Europe, will be rebranded as the Goffs Two Million Series at the 2023 Goffs Orby Sale, the sales company announced on Friday.
In addition, the Orby and Sportsman's Sales will now be known as Orby Book 1 and Orby Book 2 and will be held from Sept. 26-29. The series is open to all yearlings catalogued in the 2023 Goffs Orby Book 1 and Book 2, and more than 1,000 yearlings will be offered across the two books. The 2023 seven-furlong Goffs Million is open to qualified graduates of the 2022 Orby Sale, will have a guaranteed minimum value of €1 million, and will be conducted at the Curragh on Saturday, Sept. 23.
The Goffs Two Million Series will incorporate:
- The Goffs Million, contested over seven furlongs at the Curragh on the Saturday before the 2024 sale. With a guaranteed minimum prize fund of €1 million, and offer prize-money to 10th place.
- The Goffs 500, contested over seven furlongs at The Curragh on the Saturday before the 2024 sale. With a guaranteed minimum prize fund of €500,000 and prize money to 10th place, it will be staged on the same day as the Goffs Million ensuring that at least €1.5 Million is open to Orby graduates on the eve of the 2024 Orby Sale.
- The Goffs €50,000 Bonus Series which will see €50,000 Goffs Bonuses awarded to the winners of a series of 2-year-old maidens run throughout the 2024 season at various Irish racecourses when that winner is a qualified Orby graduate. A programme of diverse 2-year-old maidens carrying the unique Goffs €50,000 Bonus will be published with a total of €500,000 distributed to 10 winning connections between the start of the season and Million Day at the Curragh.
“The new Goffs Two Million Series takes the Million concept to a new level and seeks to make the Irish National Yearling Sale unmissable for both Irish breeders and international buyers,” Goffs Group Chief Executive Harry Beeby said. “The primary issue facing British and Irish racing is prize-money and this initiative confronts it head on as we evolve the idea and provide a huge pay day where the focus is on the owners and trainers that invest in Orby yearlings as well as spreading the rewards throughout the season and across the country.
“Orby Book 1 and Book 2 are designed to represent the best of Irish yearlings at all levels of the market and our call to Irish breeders is to support the Irish National Yearling Sale with your best as Goffs will deliver and exceed your expectations. Goffs will continue to invest in our global buyer attraction campaign that saw so many buyers at Kildare Paddocks last year and the only complaint was that they wanted more top tier yearlings as they have the orders and don't go elsewhere. This latest attraction will only drive more buyers to Orby to buy as their first choice.”
Brian Kavanagh, Chief Executive at The Curragh, added, “Goffs are a long and highly valued partner here at the Curragh and are a pleasure to work with. They are always innovating, and the new Goffs Two Million Series is a perfect example of this approach. It will provide a major incentive to owners who purchase yearlings at the Irish National Yearling Sale and create an enhanced race day experience at the Curragh the weekend before their sale. There was great excitement when Galeron (Ire) (Camacho {Ire}) took the first Million race here last September and the addition of the second race and the 2-year-old bonus series will bring this incentive to a higher level. Goffs also sponsor the G1 Vincent O'Brien National S. on Irish Champions Weekend and their graduates regularly win our best races here at the Curragh. We greatly look forward to working with them on this new venture–the Goffs Two Million Series.”
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