It was the French sires who dominated on day two of the Goffs Arkle Sale with Willie Mullins and Harold Kirk going to €250,000 to secure a Galiway (GB) gelding [King Rasko Grey (Fr)] from Treannahow Stables.
That was followed by a Doctor Dino (Fr) gelding that was snapped up by Gordon Elliott for €185,000 from Altenbach Bloodstock and a Jeu St Eloi (Fr) gelding to Paul Nicholls and Tom Malone for €175,000.
Galiway, the sire of dual Group 1 winner Sealiway (Fr), has made huge strides as a National Hunt sire with Mullins training two of his best jumpers, Vauban (Fr) and Gala Marceau (Fr).
The dominant force of National Hunt racing returned to the market to secure the strapping King Rasko Grey from Tony Costello, who Mullins bought Goffs Defender Bumper winner Predators Gold off.
Mullins said, “He's a gorgeous horse by a sire who has been very good to us. He was poetry in motion walking around the ring and I loved him. We've gone back to the source of success in Treannahow Stables.”
Mullins saw off the attention of Nicholls for the Wednesday top lot who was christened by the Costellos as Elvis for a very simple reason.
“Very simply he was the king,” Tony Costello told Bernard Condren, head of sales at Goffs. “I bought him as a foal in Osarus [for €18,000] in the height of Covid. There were only a hundred people at Dublin Airport when we got there. His racing name is King Rasko Grey so Elvis was an easy decision. He's the king today.”
Of the 217 lots offered on Wednesday, 185 were sold for an aggregate of €9,514,000, representing an average of €51,427. The median stood at €45,000.
Goffs chief executive Henry Beeby said, “The Arkle Sale may have a new name this year but there was nothing new about the hunger for top class NH prospects at Goffs in June. For the last number of years this sale has enjoyed a meteoric rise as so many NH vendors have sent a larger and larger share of their best to us and we cannot thank them enough for we are nothing without their horses.
“Over the last two days trade has matched the outdoor temperatures as both were hot, hot, hot! That trade was generated by a simply stunning group of Three-Year-Olds and it was so gratifying to hear judge after judge commend the standard of entry over the two days. Last year the sale grew by 25% so we are delighted to have consolidated those results and it is especially pleasing to see an average and median so close as that points to a sale of true consistency with the latter important figure growing by another 7%.”
He added, “The top of the market enjoyed some titanic bidding duels, none more so than for the top lot with Harold Kirk for Willie Mullins just outlasting Tom Malone for Paul Nicholls. To have the two Champions battling it out is testament to the horse in question and the sale in general, and they were just two of the many significant personalities to play an active part from start to finish.
“So the two days have clearly illustrated the appeal of NH sales at Goffs and we have been so pleased to welcome shoals of buyers from the UK, France and USA following a very proactive campaign by the Goffs Purchaser Attraction Team working in tandem with our friends at Irish Thoroughbred Marketing. They have locked horns with every Irish buyer of note including the mighty band of Point-To-Point handlers who have made such an impact in recent times.
“As we turn our focus to Part 2 of the sale tomorrow, which is bound to produce another significant group of winners, we extend our thanks to every vendor for the trust they placed in the Goffs service and wish each purchaser the best of luck, safe in the knowledge that they have bought from a sale that is truly the measure of any.”
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