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A Champion Sire In GB For First Time In 34 Years

The ascent of Frankel (GB) to the head of the stallion ranks in Britain and Ireland was documented in some details in Monday's TDN, and it is lent a touch of poignancy coming in the year in which his great sire Galileo (Ire) left us. In the extraordinarily long reigns of both Sadler's Wells and his son Galileo we have become accustomed to having a superstar stallion in our midst, and Frankel will do well if he is to come anywhere close to the 14 sires' championships of Sadler's Wells and the 12 (and counting?) recorded by Galileo, who was in second place this year. It is far from impossible, however.

In Frankel's first championship, the title is in effect returned to Britain for the first time since the former National Stud resident Mill Reef was champion sire in 1987 for the second time. It is scarcely believable that Mill Reef's sireline has dwindled so significantly in Europe in the intervening years, with the Classic winners Sir Percy (GB) and Reliable Man (GB) the two most notable bearers of this genetic thread remaining.

There is some diversity among the sirelines of this year's top 20, up to a point. Five trace back to Sadler's Wells: Frankel, Galileo, Australia (GB) (10th), Camelot (GB) (15th) and Dawn Approach (Ire) (20th).

Dark Angel (Ire) and Mehmas (Ire), both sons of Acclamation (GB), are doing their bit to fan the resurgence of the line of another of Northern Dancer's sons, Try My Best, and were fifth and 14th respectively, with the latter being an impressive finish for last year's champion first-season sire Mehmas.

Another of Northern Dancer's sons, Nureyev, is represented by his great grandson Siyouni (Fr), who was 12th in Britain and Ireland and is champion sire in France for the second consecutive year. More about him in the coming days.

Through the line of Northern Dancer's grandson Storm Cat we have Lope De Vega (Ire) in sixth, his late sire Shamardal in 19th, and between that pair is No Nay Never, extending that line father still through Hennessy and Scat Daddy, in 11th place.

The Danzig strain of Northern Dancer remains strong, mostly through Green Desert, from whom springs third-placed Sea The Stars (Ire), Kingman (GB) in seventh, Invincible Spirit (Ire) in 17th, and the latter's dependable and under-rated son Mayson, who was 18th in the table. The trio of Danehill-line representatives in the top 20 are Kodiac (GB), a growing influence in his own right and eighth this year, the late Zoffany (Ire), who was one place behind him, and the 13th-placed Dandy Man (Ire), who continues to deliver the goods year after year despite receiving little fanfare.

We only really break free of Northern Dancer when it comes to Dubawi (Ire), who had a standout winners-to-runners strike rate of 54% and is a dazzling representative for the influence of Mr Prospector in Europe. Dubawi was third overall in the table, with progeny earnings only around £250,000 short of his long-time nemesis Galileo. His most prominent son Night Of Thunder was 16th overall with only three crops of racing age, and we can expect to see more of Dubawi's stallion sons creeping into contention in the coming years.

Star performers

With Frankel's five individual European Group 1 winners of 2021 putting him way out in front, and almost £1.5 million ahead of Galileo on British and Irish earnings, joint gold stars are awarded to his pair of Classic winners Adayar (Ire) and Hurricane Lane (Ire), both of whom contributed significantly to Charlie Appleby gaining his first trainers' championship in Britain.

For Galileo, a quieter year by his own lofty standards was headlined by the G1 Prix de Diane winner Joan Of Arc (Ire), while Love (Ire) collected another top-level win in the G1 Prince of Wales's S.

Though not counting towards his domestic tally, Dubawi's record-breaking feat of being represented by three Breeders' Cup winners in one year must not pass without further mention. He has an emerging star in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint winner Creative Force (Ire), as well as one who has recently departed the scene in the neat and hardy Space Blues (Ire), who signed off with consecutive wins in the G2 City of York S., G1 Prix de la Foret and GI Breeders' Cup Mile. The GI Breeders' Cup Turf winner Yibir (GB) will be one to follow with great interest through his 4-year-old season.

Sea The Stars, only narrowly behind Dubawi in fourth, looks to have another superstar on his books in the unbeaten Baaeed (GB), an important colour-bearer for Shadwell in a time of transition. From winning a Leicester maiden in early June to becoming a dual Group 1 winner just four months later, the hype raged all season for William Haggas's new stable-star, but it was well justified by the time he got the better of the Cartier Older Horse of the Year Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. on QIPCO British Champions Day. Baaeed's return in 2022 will be hotly anticipated, as will a potential step up in distance, which is well within his compass on paper.

For Dark Angel, who completed the quintet of stallions with earnings in excess of £3 million, his best performers clinched their biggest successes outside Britain and Ireland, with the juvenile Angel Bleu (Fr) collecting a pair of Group 1 wins in France, and Althiqa (GB) and Raging Bull (Fr) both landing Grade 1s in America. The latter is now standing at Gainesway Farm in Kentucky.

But Dark Angel also had a pair of Group 2 winners at Royal Ascot, with Berkshire Shadow (Ire) landing the Coventry S., and Indie Angel (Ire) taking the Duke of Cambridge S. Continuing the Ascot run was the Royal Hunt Cup winner Real World (Ire), who progressed impressively through the season to add three stakes wins to his tally, including the G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein.

Honourable mentions

Of those stallions with more than one crop of runners, it was a breakthrough year for Ballylinch Stud's young son of Dubawi, New Bay (GB), who was represented by a first Group 1 winner in Saffron Beach (Ire) and, like his sire, had a winners-to-runners ratio of 54%. The four-time winner Bay Bridge (GB) could well be an emerging older star for the Sir Michael Stoute stable, while the juvenile Bayside Boy (Ire), trained next-door by Roger Varian, surely has the Classics on his agenda for 2022.

A former Ballylinch resident, Dream Ahead, has served a stint in France and is now about to stand his first season in Britain at Bearstone Stud, where he should fit right in with the Holdcrofts' speed-orientated broodmare band, which now includes Dream Ahead's best daughter Glass Slippers (GB). Though she could not build on her two Group/Grade 1 wins of 2020, Glass Slippers was not disgraced this season with a couple more top-level placings, and Dream Of Dreams added the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. to his G1 Haydock Sprint Cup victory of 2020.

Dream Ahead remains deserving of being given a chance by breeders, and it is worth noting that his Group 1-winning son Al Wukair (Ire) made a promising start with his first runners in 2021, siring the second-highest number of winners (15) among the French-based freshman sires.

A stallion that we can expect to see shooting up the charts in Britain and Ireland in the years to come is Wootton Bassett (GB) following his relocation to Coolmore earlier this year. Third overall in France, where he started his stud career with some distinction, he was behind only Siyouni and Adlerflug (Ger), who respectively had a dual Classic winner and the Arc winner to boost their earnings.

In 2021, Wootton Bassett, another who traces back to Mr Prospector through Iffraaj (GB) and Zafonic, had only 34 runners in Britain and Ireland, but they were a classy bunch, including Audarya (Fr), runner-up in two Group 1s this year having won two last year, G2 Royal Lodge S. winner Royal Patronage (Fr), and G3 St Simon S. winner Ilarab (Ire).

It is also easy to imagine the profile of Rathbarry Stud's Kodi Bear (Ire) rising in the years to come. He had a couple of highly likeable performers this season in the super-tough Oaks runner-up Mystery Angel (Ire) and the G2 Railway S. winner and GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint runner-up Go Bears Go (Ire).

In a year when Gleneagles (Ire) covered just 35 mares compared to 149 in 2020, he enjoyed a decent season on the track, with Loving Dream (GB) having become his first Group 1 winner in the Prix de Royallieu, following victory in the G2 Ribblesdale S. Gleneagles was also represented by the G2 Kilboy Estates S. winner Insinuendo (Ire), G2 Prix Greffulhe winner Baby Rider (Fr) and the G2 German 1000 Guineas winner Novemba (Ger).

The post A Champion Sire In GB For First Time In 34 Years appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Galileo: The Hardest Of Acts To Follow

In a temporarily upside-down world, a comforting air of normality can be found in a perusal of the end-of-year stallion tables. To Benjamin Franklin’s certainties of death and taxes, in this smaller world we can add just about the only sure thing in racing and bloodstock: Galileo (Ire) is champion sire.

Perhaps the greatest compliment that can be paid to the King of Tipperary is the fact that, even at his home at Coolmore, the operation which naturally has free-flowing access to the supersire via some of the best mares on the planet, the hunt is still on for his rightful heir. It may be too much to expect that a son will be able to continue the line with a show of such dominance, as Galileo did for his own sire Sadler’s Wells, and he in turn for Northern Dancer. Galileo certainly has some very good sire sons out there—not least his greatest achievement, Frankel (GB), and the former champion 2-year-old Teofilo (Ire)—but he once again remains way out in front of allcomers after another record-breaking year.

Galileo officially turns 23 on New Year’s Day and he has now been champion sire in Britain and Ireland for more than half of his life. After the most unsettling year in living memory, when the Guineas, Oaks and Derby were all delayed, Galileo once again left his increasingly imposing mark on the season’s Classics.

His daughter Love (Ire) won the 1000 Guineas before posting arguably the most impressive performance by a 3-year-old all season when going on to land the Oaks. Between those two races, her stablemate Peaceful (Ire) had pushed Galileo into new record-breaking territory when becoming his 85th individual Group 1 winner in the Irish 1000 Guineas, thereby wresting the title from Danehill, the stallion with whom he has shown such an affinity.

Further records were to follow. The Derby of 2020 was a memorable one, perhaps not for the right reason, but the tearaway winner Serpentine (Ire) meant Galileo went clear as the most successful Derby sire of all time, his five winners putting him ahead of Sir Peter Teazle, Waxy, Cyllene, Blandford, and his erstwhile stud-mate Montjeu (Ire).

With over £5 million in progeny earnings for 2020-more than double the tally of his nearest pursuer Dubawi (Ire)—Galileo duly claimed his 12th sires’ championship in Britain and Ireland, and he is the European champion, with almost £6.4 million in earnings, £777,199 of which was accrued by his top earner, the mighty mare Magical (Ire). It is worth noting that this tally is significantly lower than last year’s haul of just over £16 million owing to drastic prize-money cuts during a Covid-affected racing season. Galileo was also a long way clear by number of black-type winners: 27 in Britain and Ireland, and 32 in total across Europe, which was almost 11% of his runners.

Dubawi Provides World Beater
Darley’s admirable Dubawi (Ire) is used to playing understudy to Galileo but he is a fantastically successful stallion in his own right, and clearly the best in Britain. With an increasing array of promising young sire sons, he is also responsible for the top-rated horse in in the world in 2020: Ghaiyyath (Ire). In his 5-year-old season Ghaiyyath had Enable (GB) and Magical (Ire) behind him respectively when winning the G1 Coral-Eclipse and G1 Juddmonte International, following his front-running romp in the relocated G1 Hurworth Bloodstock Coronation Cup. And Ghaiyyath is of course out of Galileo’s first Classic winner, Nightime (Ire) and thus bred on the same cross as his Kildangan Stud mate Night Of Thunder (Ire), who has made an eye-catching start to his own stallion career.

Dubawi posted 13 stakes winners in Britain and Ireland in 2020 to take second in the table, and with 23 stakes winners overall in Europe, he was third in the European championship behind Siyouni (Fr), who was responsible for Arc winner Sottsass (Fr) and is the champion sire in France. We’ll be looking at the French and German tables in greater depth in Sunday’s edition of TDN.

Dark Angel (Ire) and Kodiac (GB), representing different branches of Ireland’s O’Callaghan family at Yeomanstown Stud and Tally-Ho Stud respectively, are both hugely reliable sources of winners and they were the only two stallions to notch in excess of 150 winners, with Kodiac on 155 and Dark Angel on 152.

The latter finished ahead overall in the table, with his 11 stakes winners headed by the top-class sprinter Battaash (Ire), who was faultless in his three starts in 2020, landing the G1 Coolmore Nunthorpe S. for the second year in a row having started out with victory in the G1 King’s Stand S. He also won Goodwood’s G2 King George S. for the fourth time, beating subsequent Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint heroine Glass Slippers (GB).

Kodiac enjoyed a memorable Royal Ascot in the juvenile division as the sire of Campanelle (Ire) and Nando Parrado (GB), but leading the charge for him in Berkshire was the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. winner Hello Youmzain (Fr), who has now become the first son of Kodiac to retire to stud in France.

A Champions Day To Savour
The redoubtable veteran of the British stallion ranks is Cheveley Park Stud’s Pivotal (GB), whose range is such that he was runner-up to Galileo in the broodmare sires’ table and provided the French champion sire, his son Siyouni. In his own right he was responsible for a British Champions Day Group 1 double via Glen Shiel (GB) and Addeybb (Ire), the latter having also won two Group 1 races in Australia back in the spring while European racing was on lockdown.

Pivotal had only 79 individual runners in Britain and Ireland in 2020 – less than half of most of the sires around him in the top ten list, but he can still more than hold his own and was fifth overall.

Ballylinch Stud’s Lope De Vega (Ire) is a stallion whose popularity stretches across continents and, while his GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Aunt Pearl (Ire) doesn’t count towards his local earnings, he had a Group 1 winner on Irish turf in Keeneland Phoenix S. winner Lucky Vega (Ire). That runner’s stable-mate Cadillac (Ire), winner of the G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile S. for Jessica Harrington, looks another exciting prospect for the 2021 season.

One of the stand-out older fillies of 2020 was Sheikh Hamdan’s Nazeef (GB), winner of the G1 Falmouth S. and G1 Sun Chariot S. on each of Newmarket’s tracks. She was also the headline act for her sire, the Irish National Stud’s Invincible Spirit (Ire), now 24 and joining his half-brother Kodiac on the leaderboard at number seven. He too was represented by a Grade I winner in America when 4-year-old Digital Age (Ire) landed the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic at Churchill Downs for Chad Brown.

Zoffany (Ire) may struggle for attention against some of his stud-mates at Coolmore but he nevertheless can be relied upon to provide his fair share of smart juveniles. Albigna (Ire) was his Group 1 star in that regard in 2019, and the following season that honour went to the Aidan and Annemarie O’Brien-bred Thunder Moon (Ire), winner of the G1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National S. for Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez and who helped to boost his sire to the top 10.

King In The Making
The youngest of this group is Juddmonte’s Kingman (GB), whose first crop were four in 2020 and included his first Classic winner, Persian King (Ire). The classiest of his most recent Classic generation was the champion 3-year-old colt Palace Pier (GB), winner of five of his six starts, including the G1 St James’s Palace S. and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois. Kingman posted nine stakes winners in Britain and Ireland, and he was sixth overall in the European table, with 16 black-type winners to his name, including another two Group 1 wins for Persian King in the Moulin and the Ispahan.

Completing the top ten in Britain and Ireland was Gilltown Stud’s Sea The Stars (Ire), sire of the massively popular champion stayer Stradivarius (Ire) among his 18 black-type winners, eight of which came in Britain and Ireland. Fanny Logan (Ire) got the better of the colts in the G2 Hardwicke S., while another of his Royal Ascot winners, Hukum (Ire), could well be a stayer to follow this year.

Galileo’s first two sons in the table appear just outside the top ten. The profile of Australia (GB) was lifted in 2020 by his first Classic winner, Galileo Chrome (Ire), in the St Leger, while farther afield Order Of Australia (Ire) emulated the Breeders’ Cup success of his elder half-sister Iridessa (Ire) (Ruler Of The World {Ire}).

By his own lofty standards, Frankel (GB) had a quieter year in Britain and Ireland, but he was responsible for 11 stakes winners and on the international stage he was represented by G1 Metropolitan H. winner Mirage Dancer (GB) in Australia and GI Asahi Hai Futurity winner Grenadier Guards (Jpn) in Japan.

Global Success
The Irish-based duo of Dandy Man (Ire) and Camelot (GB) were also represented by international Grade/Group 1 winners, with River Boyne (Ire), a son of the former, landing the Frank E. Kilroe Mile in America, and Russian Camelot (Ire) breaking new ground by becoming the first northern hemisphere-bred 3-year-old to win a Classic in Australia with his victory in the South Australia Derby. Camelot’s Australian reputation was further enhanced by the G1 Cox Plate victory of Sir Dragonet (Ire).

Closer to home, Even So (Ire) gave Camelot a domestic Classic victory in the G1 Irish Oaks, and Dandy Man’s daughters Dandalla (Ire) and Happy Romance (Ire) shone brightly. The former landed Group-race wins at Royal Ascot and Newmarket’s July meeting, while Happy Romance beat subsequent G1 Cheveley Park S. Winner Alcohol Free (Ire) when landing the G3 Dick Poole Fillies S.

Also making the top 15 was Showcasing (GB), whose list of sons at stud now stretches to five, the most recent recruit being his top performer of 2020, the G1 Sussex S. winner Mohaather (GB). In fact, Showcasing’s top two runners of the year were both trained in his ‘home’ stable of Whitsbury by Marcus Tregoning for Sheikh Hamdan, with Alkumait (GB) displaying his talent with victory in the G2 Mill Reef S.

It takes a mighty effort to make it into the top 20 stallions in Britain and Ireland with just one crop of runners, but the prolific Mehmas (Ire) achieved just that, finishing in 17th position overall with 46 winners, and 56 across Europe from his 101 runners. His tally smashed Iffraaj’s record of 39 first-crop winners and included G1 Middle Park S. hero Supremacy (Ire) and G2 Gimcrack S winner Minzaal (Ire). There will be more about his explosive season in Saturday’s edition when we review the leading first- and second-crop sires in Europe.

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Update Keeps Dream Alive For Small Breeder

Martin Cooney arrived at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale in 2018 with a modest budget and a simple plan: “buy a mare that was in foal, and that could be a quick way to turn our money around with a bit of luck,” the Fethard-based horseman said.

On Cooney’s shortlist the first day of the sale was the 8-year-old Hard Spun mare Plying, in foal to Starspangledbanner (Aus). A $200,000 yearling, Plying had won three times for Sheikh Mohammed and trainer Henri-Alex Pantall before being culled for €12,000 at the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale in 2013. By the time she resurfaced at Goffs five years later, Plying had produced the placed 3-year-old filly Saguaro (Ire) and the unraced 2-year-old Alexander James (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). She had a yearling colt by Zoffany (Ire), and her No Nay Never filly foal had made €40,000 at the Goffs foal sale two days earlier.

“We went through a good few mares and it came down to one or two that we liked,” Cooney recalled. “Plying had a great walk and a good girth on her. I thought she had a great head on her. She had the frame of being a strong mare and I thought maybe with us, having a smaller number of horses, that she might improve. She was in foal to Starspangledbanner, which was a plus.”

Cooney followed Plying into the ring and was able to secure her on a bid of €21,000.

“I’d say we were lucky on the day; I think someone else at the last second tried to drop in another bid, but the hammer went down and your man said, ‘too late sir.’ From that day on, in fairness, the mare has been lucky.”

That sir, whoever he is, will doubtless be lamenting not raising his hand quicker, as Plying is now the dam of two stakes winners, including the aforementioned No Nay Never filly who was subsequently named Alcohol Free (Ire) and won this year’s G1 Cheveley Park S. for owner Jeff Smith and trainer Andrew Balding. Alexander James had previously bolstered the page last October with a listed victory in France as a 3-year-old.

Cooney, through his Jossestown Farm, brings Plying’s latest foal, a colt by Dandy Man, to this year’s edition of the Goffs November Foal Sale, and he sells during the premiere Sunday session as lot 698.

“He is a cracker,” Cooney said of the April-foaled bay. “He’s got size, he’s got scope, he’s got the looks. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t make a few quid.”

Expanding on the decision to send Plying to Dandy Man, Cooney said, “Plying is American-bred and has a speedy pedigree. Dandy Man is full of speed but as well as that he isn’t an over-big type of horse. She tends to throw them with size, not in a bad way, but we thought the perfect model might come out with the Dandy Man cross. I thought the match would work well and to be honest, it did. He’s correct and he walks. It’s hard to explain, but he is a bull. I wouldn’t change him in any way. He’s strong in every way and he has a good back end to him, which is important for those speed horses that will run five or six furlongs.”

Cooney admitted that anything the Dandy Man colt brings him is a bonus; the Starspangledbanner filly Plying produced for Cooney covered the cost of her dam as well as the Dandy Man covering fee when she brought €40,000 at Goffs February earlier this year. She was pinhooked by Knockatrina House for 130,000gns at last month’s Tattersalls December Yearling Sale.

“Plying had a lovely filly foal by Starspangledbanner,” Cooney said. “She colicked at the first sale she went to [last year’s Goffs November Foal Sale] and we were a bit unlucky because there were plenty of people on her. She went to the November sale and colicked on the day of the sale. It wasn’t the right thing to do to send her through the ring, so we brought her home and minded her and she went to the next sale and made €40,000, which covered the cost of the mare and the covering fee of Dandy Man. And then the updates happened after that.”

Cooney said he followed Alcohol Free’s progress as she was broken in and sent to Andrew Balding’s Kingsclere Stables.

“I heard through the grapevine that she might be going to Andrew Balding’s after being broken, which is always a plus,” Cooney said. “The manager at [Jeff Smith’s] Littleton Stud told me she was a real nice physical and they really liked her.”

Alcohol Free won at first asking on Aug. 15 at Newbury before running a fine race to be second to Happy Romance (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) in the G3 Dick Poole S. at Salisbury on Sept. 3. Sent off at 7-2 in the G1 Cheveley Park S. three weeks later, Alcohol Free narrowly led Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) through the opening furlongs before drawing further clear at halfway. That rival re-rallied in the closing stages with G3 Firth of Clyde S. winner Umm Kulthum (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) also proving a tough adversary, but Alcohol Free hit the line a half-length the best much to the delight of her connections, not least Cooney.

“To be honest, I nearly had a heart attack watching the Group 1,” Cooney recalled. “I nearly threw the telly out the window watching it. I couldn’t believe it. We were ecstatic. You hope that something will do that, but the likelihood of that happening is slim to none. It doesn’t really happen to an ordinary Joe; usually those pedigrees are always with the bigger operations.

“We have always had horses but we’ve never had a pedigree like that. It’s nice for the small man to get on top.”

Indeed, Cooney said Plying is currently one of two mares in his barn, and he also pinhooks a few foals annually, at both flat and National Hunt Sales. And chances are good he’ll be back at the breeding stock sale next week looking to grow his broodmare band.

“The idea going forward would be to try to find another Plying,” he said. “We’d be interested in going to the sales again and trying to find a gem that maybe we could syndicate, put in foal to a good sire and maybe it just might take off again.”

Cooney acknowledged that sire power was an important aspect of Plying’s page at the time of her purchase, despite the fact she hadn’t yet hit as a broodmare.

“The thing we liked about Plying was that on her page, she had one runner, a High Chaparral that didn’t show much, but after that she had a Camelot, a Zoffany and a No Nay Never, which on any page suggests you have a fair chance for the mare to throw a winner. That really kind of sold us on her.”

Plying is currently in foal to another Coolmore sire in Gleneagles (Ire), and while a 2021 mating hasn’t been set in stone, Plying looks likely to get another upgrade.

“We’re flat out thinking about what would be the right thing to do and where to go,” Cooney said. “I personally would love to go to Kingman (GB). I think she’d have an absolutely gorgeous horse, but there also is the likes of Lope De Vega-he’s another top-class stallion. There’s nothing confirmed yet but we’re thinking the likes of them.”

Cooney began 2020 with a profitable mare in his barn, and is ending the year at the sales with a half-sibling to a 2-year-old Group 1 winner and Classic contender. “The dream is still alive,” as Cooney himself said, but he is nonetheless keeping his feet on the ground.

“The simple and short story of it is that we went looking to buy a mare that could breed winners from,” he said. “She was the one, and it worked out.”

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Festive Foals Take Centre Stage At Goffs

KILDARE, Ireland–Those among us who leave their Christmas shopping until the last minute have the perfect opportunity to give the gift of a foal or a mare this festive period given the timing of this year’s rescheduled Goffs November Foal and Breeding Stock Sale.

With current events requiring the sale to be pushed back almost four weeks from its original calendar slot, the action now commences on Friday and consists of three days of foals and a single day of mare trade. Unfortunately for those with very deep pockets, the much-anticipated potential sale topper–the Kingman (GB) colt out of Nightime (Ire) (Galileo {Ire})–has been withdrawn which is a major blow to Goffs given his siblings have topped two of the last five editions of the sale. However, there will be plenty of other foals that will attract the attention of pinhookers and end users alike and as an exasperating year comes to a close, Goffs Group Chief Executive Officer Henry Beeby said he is looking forward to hosting the first flat sale with customers on site at Goffs since February.

“It’s good to be back trading here in Kildare Paddocks; we had the December National Hunt sale last week which was the first sale to take place in Ireland since Covid on its originally scheduled date,” Beeby said. “That obviously is not the case for this November Sale, but we did what we had to do in order to accommodate the most people. At the time when we had to make the decision we wanted to have a clear two weeks for both vendors and purchasers between this sale and the December Sale [at Tattersalls] in order for them to isolate as necessary. It’s not ideal, but this is a case of needs must and it’s a year when you do what you have to do to minimise the problems at hand and I hope it will still allow us to have a vibrant sale.

“We don’t have a Part 2 of foals which reduces the catalogue slightly but I still think we have been very well supported by a lot of Irish breeders which we are very grateful for and we will just have to do our best.”

Beeby said he has been buoyed by the sustained strength of trade at the upper end of the market at foal and breeding stock sales so far in this unprecedented season.

“The resilience of pinhookers is simply awe inspiring,” he said. “Whether they have a good year or not they get stuck in regardless, basically because the majority are lifetime industry professionals and they just have to roll with the punches. That is what we all have had to do this year and we are all in it together and we just hope we can all get out the other side intact. People understand these date changes are necessary and those who attend the sale can all be reassured that Goffs will have done everything to make the complex as safe and as user-friendly as possible. We have a 36-page set of protocols, 30 stewards, one-way systems, hand sanitiser stations and plenty of outdoor areas. These include an outdoor bidding area with heaters, a marquee and the fact that we already have an outdoor covered parade ring is a great help. We will certainly make the best of it and do whatever we can to facilitate as successful a sale as is possible.”

As Beeby pointed out this year’s foal catalogue is slightly reduced to three days which should help the clearance rate but a general trend in this sale is that trade heats up day by day as the standard of pedigree gets stronger, building towards a usually frenetic day of bidding on the final day which in this case falls on Sunday. Despite several high profile withdrawals which also includes some big-pedigreed foals from Moyglare Stud, there are dozens of foals that should ignite plenty of competition from bidders including lot 571 from Knockainey Stud. The New Bay (GB) filly is a half-sister to dual stakes winner Great Page (Ire) (Roderic O’Connor {Ire}) and her yearling half-sister by Kodiac (GB) made 220,000gns when bought as a foal last year by Shadwell. Another foal who has a big-money sibling to work for her is lot 583. This Acclamation (GB) colt’s three parts brother by Mehmas (Ire) fetched £330,000 in the Orby Sale two months ago while the pedigree already lacks little with the dam Big Boned (Street Sense) having produced the Group 3 winner K Club (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and the stakes-placed Back To Brussels (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) from only three runners so far.

Dandy Man (Ire) has been a good friend to a lot of pinhookers and there are a couple of colts by the Ballyhane stallion that could prove popular. Lot 590 from Milestream Stud is from the speedy family of Katla (Ire) (Majestic Missile {Ire}) and Wootton Bassett (GB). Later in the sale Jossestown Farm offers a Dandy Man half-brother to G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) as lot 698. The mare Plying (Hard Spun) has also produced the stakes winner Alexander James (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) while her yearling filly by Starspangledbanner (Aus) made 130,000gns last month.

The progeny of Fashionable (GB) (Nashwan) have sold very well at Goffs over the years with the past two offerings out of the mare grossing €510,000 as foals and lot 621 will bid to continue that trend for breeder Ross Moorhead. The Fastnet Rock (Aus) filly is a half-sister to G1 Irish Oaks runner up Jack Naylor.

A filly with lots of residual value as well as obvious racing value is lot 659. Consigned by Ballintry Stud, the daughter of No Nay Never is a full-sister to two high achievers in American MGSW Nay Lady Nay (Ire) and G2 Coventry S. winner Arizona (Ire).

Of the four Frankel (GB) foals originally catalogued two are consigned by Des Leadon and Mariann Klay’s Swordlestown Little Stud. The first of those is lot 673, a filly out of stakes winner Marvada (Ire) (Elusive City) who is the dam of the high-class Terebellum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). The foal received a further pedigree boost when her 2-year-old half-sister Miss Finland (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) broke her maiden at the second time of asking at Chelmsford last week. Swordlestown Little also offers a Frankel colt out of Nisriyna (Ire) Intikhab (lot 684), a mare whose progeny have sold very well as foals in Goffs. Her 2018 offering, now called Qaasid (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}) sold for €170,000 and he also broke his maiden for Shadwell since the catalogue went to print.

The very next foal into the ring is also a Frankel colt, this time from Neilstown Stud and lot 685 should continue the fine work of the mare Noyelles (Ire) (Docksider) who has bred two stakes winners in Lily’s Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Zurigha (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) and has proven a fine money-spinner for Goffs Director Nick Nugent and his wife Alice.

Baroda Stud’s final foal offering of the year, lot 707, could also be significant as the Foostepsinthesand (GB) colt is a half-brother to this year’s G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. winner and Orby Sale graduate Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

As the sale draws to a conclusion a pair of Dark Angel (Ire) colts could make their presence felt. Lot 723 from Hill House is a half-brother to the smart pair Inverleigh (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire}) and Setarhe (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {Ire}) while lot 745 from AK Thoroughbreds is out of the stakes winner Tarakala (Ire) (Dr Fong) and is closely related to this year’s brilliant GI Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal).

The sale begins at 10 a.m. each morning and as has become the norm on-line bidding will be available to prospective purchasers.

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