‘A Complex Full of the Famous Donny Rockets’ – 450 Yearlings in Premier

The catalogue for the Goffs Premier Yearling Sale, which boasts 450 yearlings set to sell at Doncaster on Aug. 29 and 30, can now be viewed online.

All yearlings sold through the auction will be eligible for the Harry's Half Million, currently known as the Goffs Harry Beeby Premier Yearling S. and re-branded for 2024 in honour of Goffs UK's late Chairman Harry Beeby. Next year's race will still be held at York with a guaranteed prize fund of £500,000.

“The 2023 Premier Sale catalogue remains true to the central pillars of the sale's long enduring philosophy,” Goffs UK Managing Director Tim Kent said. “Buyers already know what they are going to be presented with when they arrive at Doncaster in August–a complex full of precocious, athletic yearlings.To put it another way–a complex full of the famous Donny Rockets.”

Some of the more notable offerings for the sale include a Showcasing (GB) half-sister to the G2 winner Without A Fight (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) out of the G3 winner Khor Sheed (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), selling as lot 5; a Siyouni colt out of the G1-placed mare Lady Darshaan (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) and a half-brother to the Listed winners Beholding (GB) (Le Havre {Ire}) and Let's Go (Street Cry {Ire}) catalogued as lot 11; a Wootton Bassett (GB) half-brother to the G2 winner Trillium (GB) (No Nay Never) (lot 48); and a Kingman (GB) filly (lot 123) out of the G3 winner mare Queen of Bermuda (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}). Other standouts include lot 234, a Sea The Stars (Ire) colt out of a Frankel (GB) half-sister to the G2 winners Spirit Quartz (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Caspian Prince (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) and Tuscan Gaze (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}); and lot 433, a No Nay Never colt out of an Invincible Spirit (Ire) half-sister to the G1 winner Lillie Langtry (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), the dam of G1 winners Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

“We continue to invest in this sale and its bright future and earlier this year we announced that we are rebranding the sale's long enduring race at York and significantly increasing the guaranteed prize fund,” Kent continued. “For next year's race, for which all yearlings sold this year are eligible to enter, all runners will be racing for their share of £500,000 in the re-branded Harry's Half Million by Goffs.

“When the race was launched over 20 years ago it was Europe's richest 2-year-old race and since then it has been won by some outstanding horses; Acclamation, Dark Angel, Tasleet and Wootton Bassett to name but a few, and increasing the prize fund to £500,000 demonstrates our commitment to the race and the Premier Sale.”

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Harry Beeby Honoured With Renamed Premier Yearling S.

The late Harry Beeby, formerly a DBS (now Goffs UK) Chairman, has been honoured by that sales company with the renaming of the Premier Yearling S. held at York's Ebor Meeting. Created by Beeby and his son Henry in 1997 to ensure the growth of the Doncaster St Leger Yearling Sales (now the Premier Yearling Sale), the six-furlong event will now be known as the £250,000 Goffs UK Harry Beeby Premier Yearling S.

The juvenile race is open to graduates of the Premier Yearling Sale and Silver Sale and will be held on Aug. 18, the second day of the Ebor Festival. Entries close on Jan. 10th through Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and Jan. 11th through Weatherbys. In addition, the race will offer The Premier Prizes for the second year in a row, with winning owners receiving a free horse from Goffs UK to be purchased at the 2022 Premier Yearling Sale to the value of £40,795 and owners badges, lunch and a bottle of champagne on the table for up to six people on a race day at York; and the winning trainer will receive a free six-month lease of a two-stall horsebox from Theault.

“My Father and I worked for several years with John Sanderson at Doncaster Racecourse to persuade the BHB to allow a race of this nature,” said Goffs UK Chairman Henry Beeby. “There were many details that we insisted were just right and we were delighted with the end result which was Europe's Richest Two Year Old Race that year and has proved the most enduring event of its kind. It is a source of immense pride that it has featured in the careers of several top class racehorses and sires whilst helping our yearling sales to progress to hitherto unheralded heights. Dad always looked forward to the race and would have been very touched to learn of its renaming. I am very grateful to my Goffs colleagues and the team at York for this generous gesture.”

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Beloved Bloodstock Figure Harry Beeby Dies

Harry Beeby, a key figure within Goffs and Doncaster Bloodstock Sales since the 1960s and an internationally renowned auctioneer, died on Thursday morning at his home with his family at his side.

Goffs Chairman Eimear Mulhern said, “Harry was a stalwart of the bloodstock industry for over 50 years. Greatly respected, a mentor to many, a true friend and loyal colleague, he was first and foremost a family man. To his beloved wife Elizabeth, his son, Goffs Group Chief Executive Officer Henry Beeby, daughters Caroline and Belinda and to his extended family and wide circle of friends, we offer our deepest condolences.

Harry had a true zest for life. He was one of life's gentlemen and one of the great characters of the bloodstock and racing industries. He will be greatly missed and fondly remembered wherever horsemen gather.”

Beeby joined Doncaster Bloodstock Sales as a partner with Ken Oliver and Willie Stephenson in 1964, and was managing director of the auction house from 1976 to 1998, and chairman until 2016. He served as a director of Goffs from 2007 to 2018. Beeby was a very popular and well-loved figure in bloodstock and racing circles and developed lifelong friends and a loyal clientele.

Goffs UK Managing Director Tim Kent said, “The term 'legend' is often overused but I don't think there is a better way of describing Harry Beeby. He was a great mentor to us all and he lived life to the full. He was also passionate about the sales in Doncaster and it is this passion that he has instilled in the current team. He will be sadly missed by us all.”

Beeby's funeral will be held at St Cuthbert's Church in Hawick, with arrangements to be announced later. A celebration of life will also take place at Doncaster in association with a sale at a later date.

A Man Blessed With Qualities That Cannot Be Taught

By John Berry

I was lucky enough to grow up in the Scottish Borders, one of the most solidly racing-oriented areas of Great Britain. Then, as now, there were some very good trainers in the Borders, particularly concentrated around my home town Hawick. Two local trainers (Ken Oliver and Harry Bell, each based near the village of Denholm, just a few miles along the River Teviot downstream from Hawick) between them trained the winners of seven of the 13 Scottish Grand National winners in the years 1970 to 1982 inclusive; while another Denholm-based trainer, John Leadbetter, sent out Rubstic to win the Grand National at Aintree in 1979.

It seemed only natural that such a region, in which racing is as integral a part of life as the grass in the farmers' fields, should be the home of Doncaster Bloodstock Sales. And it seemed only natural that Harry Beeby, who had been recruited by Ken Oliver and Willie Stephenson in 1964 to be their deputy at DBS, should be the man in charge.

To run a sales company, one needs to understand horses, people and business, and to be endowed with so obvious a core of integrity and reliability that it inspires the absolute trust of vendors and purchasers alike. Harry Beeby filled this role in a way that few could or ever have.

In the modern world, an education in business management or a make-over by 'consultants' might be deemed necessary for the holder of such a post. Harry, however, was blessed with qualities that cannot be taught. His impeccable good manners were not learned but were merely an expression of the way that he was. His decency was not an act, but just came naturally. His kindness was innate rather than calculated. To him, treating everyone with equal courtesy and consideration was as normal as breathing. His word was so patently his bond that doubting it would have been unthinkable.

When the time eventually came for Harry to stand down as boss of DBS, he left shoes so big that it was hard to think of anyone other than his son Henry being able to fill them. He had made sure that Henry had had a thorough grounding for the role, but all the experience in the world would have counted for nothing if Harry's personal qualities had not been passed on to the next generation. One could agonise over the nature v. nurture debate forever; but, whatever their source, it must have given Harry enormous pride and satisfaction that the transition from father to son was so seamless that it was clear to all that, as Edmund Burke exclaimed after William Pitt the Younger had made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 26 February 1781, 'he was not merely a chip of the old block, but the old block itself.'

DBS, now Goffs UK, has been one of the great success stories of British bloodstock over the past 60 years. To the bloodstock world, Harry Beeby will always be synonymous with that success, and we offer our sincere condolences to Elizabeth, Henry, Caroline, Belinda and his extended family.

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