Orby Eclipses All Expectations As Kodiac Colt Shines

By Brian Sheerin and Emma Berry

KILDARE, Ireland–Henry Beeby revealed that the figures recorded at this year's Orby Sale far exceeded his greatest expectations as, less than 24 hours after seeing the most expensive yearling offered at public auction in the States and Europe so far this year walk through the ring, the world-famous sales house recorded a whopping 24% rise in turnover with over €50 million traded in two days.

Of the 231 yearlings offered on day two, 199 were sold for a total of €23,192,500, which represented an 11% rise on last year's figures. The average on day two was also up 0.9% to €116,646 while the median was the same as last year on €80,000.

But it was the overall figures that garnered the greatest recognition with an impressive 89% clearance rate equating to €50,374,500 traded in the ring. That overall average climbed 11% to €121,384 while the median was a record €87,000, up 16% on last year.

Beeby was suitably impressed and said, “The expectation coming into the Orby Sale was that we would enjoy a strong trade following good results elsewhere and so we were hopeful of some improved statistics. However nothing could have prepared us for the strength of the market and the vibrancy of the sale especially on day one which saw the world's highest priced yearling so far this autumn at €2.6 million.

“The stunning sister to Blackbeard (Ire) (No Nay Never) headed a truly electric trade that resulted from wonderful support from Irish breeders who responded to our strong sale of recovery last year by significantly increasing their support, hence a catalogue that grew by 15%. To return such improved numbers for average and median is particularly noteworthy given those increased numbers as is a clearance rate of 89% which compares very favourably.”

He added, “Every buyer has made their mark but it has been wonderful to welcome such a big group of American buyers to Kildare Paddocks, several of whom are making their first trip to a European yearling sale. This followed a concerted drive by our Buyer Recruitment Team working in tandem with Irish Thoroughbred Marketing and we are most grateful to ITM for their enthusiasm and hard work as we work together to promote the Irish National Yearling Sale to a global audience.”

Repeat Business The Best Business

There can be no greater compliment in this game than repeat business and, a year after purchasing Magical Sunset (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) from Alice Fitzgerald, Peter and Ross Doyle returned to one of the shrewdest vendors on the circuit to secure the full-brother (lot 460) for €575,000.

Magical Sunset took the notable scalp of subsequent 'TDN Rising Star' and G2 Mill Reef S. hero Sakheer (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) on debut and ran a creditable fourth in the Goffs Million at the Curragh last week.

She is owned by Amo Racing, who the Doyles secured a Prince Of Lir (Ire) half-brother to Oscula (Ire) (Galileo Gold {Ire}) on behalf of for €300,000 on the same afternoon.

However, the Kodiac colt, produced by Fitzgerald and her partner Michael Doyle in excellent shape for the Orby, was purchased on behalf of Stall Perlen and will be trained by Richard Hannon.

Fizgerald said, “We're over the moon; couldn't be happier. Goffs has always been a very lucky place for us, that's why we brought him here, and Kodiac has been a very lucky stallion for us.

“I hope he's good for his new owners and best of luck to them. We loved him so we were very excited coming up here but you never really know. But he was going down very well and showed like a dream from the start.

“There's been a great buzz about the place. We thought we were in a pretty good spot but it's still kind of nerve-wracking.”

She added, “Selling well is one thing but the most important thing is that they go on. We want to sell racehorses, and we have the mare and two of his sisters, so it's very important that he performs on the track.”

The Kodiac colt has been provided with a decent chance of fulfilling his potential as a racehorse with Ross Doyle confirming his pick of the sale to be joining Hannon.

Doyle said, “We thought he was an absolute standout over the two days. His full-sister [Magical Sunset] is very talented–we bought her here last year.

“He comes from a very good home and never turned a hair every time I went down to see him. He's a very natural looking horse by a sire we've had a lot of luck with.

“He's for Stall Perlen. They've been very good long-term clients and he's going to go to Richard Hannon. They had a very good Gone West horse with Richard Hannon, Sr. a good few years back called West Order and they have a very nice unraced Camelot (GB) filly in training this year. Fingers crossed.”

On the trade in general and picking up Oscula's half-brother, he added, “It's a very strong trade with some lovely horses. Goffs have done a wonderful job again. It's been consistent with all the sales around the world so far this year.

“There is a huge appetite for horses which is great to see. We're very lucky that people are putting their faith in us to find them some very nice horses.

“The Prince Of Lir has gone back to Robson [Aguiar]. He's a smashing big horse and is obviously a half-brother to Oscula who is tough as nails. Robson and Kia [Joorabchian] will make their minds up about what they want to do.”

Patience Pays Off For West

After missing out on the queen of the Orby Sale, Blackbeard's (Ire) little sister who sold for €2.6million on Tuesday, top American agent Jacob West was rewarded for his patience when snaring lot 505, a Ten Sovereigns (Ire) colt, for €500,000 late on Wednesday.

The colt was purchased on behalf of Robert and Lawana Low from Pier House Stud and, according to West, who is also the American representative for Goffs, will be trained by Todd Pletcher.

West said, “He'll go back to America and will be trained by Todd Pletcher for Robert and Lawana Low. Ten Sovereigns was an incredibly fast horse, a son of No Nay Never who is a son of Scat Daddy.

“Todd trained Scat Daddy so he has a relationship with that sire line. We had a lot of appreciation for No Nay Never when he was racing. This horse is incredibly good-looking.”

He added, “Mr and Mrs Low took a big swing on the sister to Blackbeard on Tuesday. Unfortunately we didn't get her but I told them that this colt was selling late in the day and that he was probably going to be expensive. Luckily we were able to get him.”

Despite drawing a blank on Tuesday, West enjoyed quite a fruitful end to the sale on Wednesday, and also picked up a Zoffany (Ire) colt (lot 271) from Marlhill House Stud for €110,000.

He said, “I am the US representative for Goffs so I tell everybody that this is an incredible place to buy a good horse for a solid number. You are never going to over-pay for a horse that won't make your standards. You find value here and the horses are raised the right way by the breeders.

He added, “They bring the right horses and it seems as though they get rewarded so it's a win for everybody. Last year, we were up against it a little bit with the exchange rate but I think it's been in our favour this year. A good horse is always going to bring in a lot of money but, when it [the exchange rate] is equal, it does make life a lot easier, that's for sure.”

Americans Make Merry at the Orby

Hugo Merry was another man who concurred that the strength of the dollar provided American buyers with that extra impetus at Goffs this week after he secured lot 311, the Loughtown Stud-drafted Sea The Stars (Ire) filly out of black-type performer Zvarkhova (Fr) (Makfi {GB}) for €460,000.

The filly was bought on behalf of Andrew Rosen, Gainesway and LNJ Foxwoods, all of whom have been increasingly active in the European market in recent times.

Rosen is the part-owner of last week's G1 Cheveley Park S. heroine Lezoo (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}) while LNJ Foxwoods snapped up the top lot at the BBAG Yearling Sale, a €450,000 Kingman (GB) colt out of the German Oaks runner-up Sarandia (Ger) (Dansili {GB}).

Merry said, “She's for Andrew Rosen, Gainesway and LNJ Foxwoods. We had Mind Out (Tapit) and were very lucky before. They are great friends and everyone seems to be partnering up to make the dollar go a bit further. I rather liked the look of it, it was $440,000 on the board–it's frightening.”

He added, “The Americans are finding it quite good value. She was a lovely, quality filly and there was a nice update in the pedigree.”

La Parisienne (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}) provided that update. Things could get even better on Sunday with the Yann and Carlos Lerner-trained filly, who is out of the second dam, Varsity (GB) (Lomitas {GB}), set to tackle the G1 Prix de l'Opera.

Loughtown's Paddy Burns said everything came together nicely for their filly to achieve the price she did.

Burns said, “We thought we'd a lovely filly but you are never quite expecting a result like that. We're absolutely delighted. When you are breeding, it's very hard for the stars to align like that, and we're very happy that it all came together.”

Burns, whose father Seamus bred and sold New Approach (Ire), praised Goffs for attracting a strong buyers' bench, leading to the excellent result in the ring.

He added, “We've been lucky here before. My family were lucky enough to breed and sell New Approach here. It proves that, if you bring the article here, Goffs will have the clients for them.”

Brother To Saffron Beach Shines

There have been few more likeable fillies to grace the track in recent seasons than Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), the dual Group 1-winning star who has netted her connections close to a million pounds, and her little brother proved suitably popular with Amanda Skiffington the successful bidder at €450,000.

Consigned by Ballylinch Stud, lot 453 was purchased on behalf of Fiona Carmichael, and will be trained by Jane Chapple-Hyam, the woman who has managed the brilliant career of Saffron Beach.

Skiffington has enjoyed a productive trip to Ireland, picking up a Night Of Thunder colt (lot 102) from Baroda Stud and a Churchill filly (lot 104) from Jimmy and Mary Mangan's Conna Stud on Tuesday, and the brother to Saffron Beach took her total spend to €900,000.

She said, “He's very like Saffron Beach and will be trained by Jane Chapple-Hyam for Fiona Carmichael. He is very athletic–so like his sister. Fingers crossed.”

Saffron Beach won six of her 12 starts, including last season's G1 Sun Chariot S. at Newmarket and the G1 Prix Rothschild back in August.

She is set to light up the December Mares Sale at Newmarket after it was announced that connections will offer the 4-year-old, who was last seen finishing a gallant second in the G1 Matron S. at Leopardstown, under the hammer later this year.

Casse Keeps It In The Family

Justin Casse was in playful humour after signing for lot 351, a Galileo (Ire) colt out of Belesta (GB) (Xaar {GB}), whose new connections couldn't be named.

The popular American agent secured the colt from Marlhill House Stud for €450,000, but couldn't reveal plans beyond that.

“Don't know where the horse is going and can't tell you who it's for,” he said. “[The] sale seems very strong and clearance rate is good–money for horses at all levels. Goffs is super hospitable.”

Casse has history with the family. It was at the Orby Sale in 2017 that he signed for the half-brother Old Glory (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) on behalf of Zayat Stables for €1.6 million, with that colt winning once and achieving black-type in eight starts for Aidan O'Brien.

Indeed, that was not the only time the progeny of Belesta made headlines in the ring, as 12 months ago leading American trainer Kenny McPeek paid €900,000 for a full-brother to Old Glory. That colt has yet to race.

Casse said, “I am familiar with the family. I bought the Frankel out of the mare for the Zayats and he was a talented individual. Kenny McPeek bought the yearling last year. Ticks all the boxes!”

Dance Saves Best Bid Until Last

Late in the session a Sea The Stars (Ire) half-brother to Grade I winner Blond Me (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) saw a bidding tussle between Maria Ryan and Mark McStay end in favour of Ryan, the racing operations manager for John and Jess Dance's Manor House Farm, at €425,000.

The Dances, along with Ryan and their trainer James Horton have been active throughout the season, and particularly busy at Goffs where they bought 12 yearlings for €1,995,000.

“It's been a really exciting time,” said Ryan. “John just sent a text and said that we have just successfully bid the most expensive horse we have ever bought. So very good luck to them. She will go to Mark Dwyer's for breaking and then come to us in Middleham.

“It has been a wonderful season. James said at the start he'd like to have 15 winners–we've got 32 horses and most of them are 2-year-olds, so to have 14 now and a listed winner is absolutely brilliant.”

Lot 493 was bred by Wardstown Stud and Sunderland Holdings from the Docksider mare Holda (Ire), a half-sister to the Australian Group 1 winner Glass Harmonium (Ire) (Verglas {Ire}) and to the dual Group 3 winner Arab Spring (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}). She was pinhooked as a foal for €270,000 by Camas Park Stud.

Freshman Swagger

With a swathe of sires represented by their first yearlings this season, the popularity of these untested stallions remains intense. Near the top of the table on Wednesday could be found a daughter of Darley's crack sprinter Blue Point (Ire) who was bought by MV Magnier for €420,000 from the Mahon family's Mountain View Stud.

Bred by Tess Mahon, lot 345 is out of the four-time winner Badr Al Badoor (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), a half-sister to another of the Darley stallions in Profitable (Ire), and who has made a highly promising start to her broodmare career with three winners from her three runners, including the listed winner Archer's Dream (Ire) (Dream Ahead).

With 12 yearlings offered during the Orby, Blue Point's average across the two days was €156,000 from an opening stud fee of €45,000.

Advertise (GB), who is leaving the National Stud along with Aclaim (Ire) to stand at Manton Park Stud in Wiltshire, was also up among the leaders on a days when fillies were in strong demand. Lot 275, bred and consigned by Rathbarry Stud, is the first foal of the 3-year-old winner Treeline (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}), who was bought for 105,000gns at the Tattersalls December Sale when carrying this filly. Since then, the mare has been bred to the Rathbarry stalwart Acclamation (GB) and has produced another filly.

The Irish National Stud's Classic winner Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) is another with first-crop yearlings for sale, and his entry at the Orby was led by lot 266, another picked up by an American agent. Ben McElroy, who has signed for three yearlings over the two days, returned to a successful formula when going to €200,000 for Pier House Stud's filly out of Thames Pageant (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who is a half-sister to previous McElroy Orby purchase Twilight Gleaming (Ire) (National Defense {Ire}), the winner of last season's GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint for Wesley Ward.

The page has also been enhanced in recent seasons by The Queen's G3 Solario S. winner Reach For The Moon (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who is a half-brother to Thames Pageant. Second dam Golden Stream (Ire) and third dam Phantom Gold (GB), were both black-type winners in the royal colours.

Tally-Ho Stud's Inns Of Court (Ire) has just two lots go through the ring, but one was the half-brother to Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed Persian Force (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}). Offered as lot 286 by the Tally-Ho team, which pinhooked him last year for €80,000, he sold for €170,000 and it was no surprise to see the name Amo Racing in the buyer's slot. The sole Inns Of Court filly in the sale, a half-sister to another smart 2-year-old in Acklam Express (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), sold for €80,000 to Jamie Piggott and Acklam Express's trainer Nigel Tinkler.

Lanwades resident Study Of Man (Ire) had just three of his first crop offered at the Orby, with all sold for an average of €88,667. The trio was led by the son of Group 3 winner Starlit Sands (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who was bought by the partnership of Qatar Racing and China Horse Club for €185,000 during Tuesday's session.

The Study Of Man half-brother to this year's Derby winner Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who was set to sell next week at Tattersalls October Book 1, has been withdrawn from the sale.

Better The Devil

As has already been referenced, the American participation has been a notable factor at Goffs this week, and Dan Hayden, acting on behalf of Marc Holliday's Blue Devil Racing Stable, struck early in the day to secure another offspring of a first-season sire, a filly by Advertise (GB) (lot 275) at €300,000.

New York-based Holliday is already represented as an owner in Ireland by a 3-year-old gelding named Selador (Ire) with Joseph O'Brien, and this filly will follow that same route, going into training at Owning Hill. Previous O'Brien trainee Messidor (Ire) (Vadamos {GB}), a dual winner at Dundalk, has now migrated Stateside to the stable of Christophe Clement.

“I've been coming over the last few years for Marc,” Hayden said. “He likes the programme of buying one or two yearlings each year and sending them down to Joseph–he loves the programme down there.

“We always then have an eye to America as well if one is shaping up as if she might suit over there. Messidor was bought here and has won three races over in America.”

He continued, “Marc loves to breed as well so he is looking for quality fillies who could enter the broodmare band, but he is a sportsman and loves racing anywhere and loves to take part in both jurisdictions.

“The Advertise filly is a big, powerful individual, and I loved the filly we bought yesterday, a lovely Invincible Spirit filly out of a Tiz Wonderful mare–that Tiznow line we like in the US as a broodmare sire. The mare has already thrown a Grade II winner so she looks good and the yearling was a really athletic filly who will also go to Joseph.”

The aforementioned Invincible Spirit (Ire) filly, a half-sister to graded stakes winner California Angel (California Chrome), was consigned by the Irish National Stud as lot 200 and was sold for €180,000.

Advertise has stood at £25,000 since retiring to stud and his Goffs average was over three times that amount at €89,750 for eight sold.

Among a large cohort of Americans in town for the sale was owner Mike O'Neill, a relative newcomer to the sport in general and at the Orby Sale for the first time.

“I got into horseracing about 18 months to two years ago,” he explained. “I have some friends and clients who are Kentucky-based and were trying to get me into it. I'm from Chicago and didn't know much [about racing] but I bought in on a filly and a colt and we had some success with [Aqueduct winner] Fromanothamutha, who is with Ray Handal.

“I bought him with Jason Taylor and Diamond T Racing, and we bought seven more yearlings last September at Keeneland.”

With horses spread among a range of trainers including  Steve Asmussen and Brad Cox, O'Neill has been well and truly bitten by the bug, and decided to spread his wings beyond his home country.

O'Neill continued, “Jason Taylor and David Ingordo were coming over here and I made friends with Bo Bromagen and Ramiro Restrepo and they said I should talk to Charlie O'Neill [of ITM] and get on the flight over to Ireland as they thought there would be good value. We're also going to check out Newmarket and see what happens there but this has been a great sale, and it's beautiful here. More Americans need to come out here to see how great this place this is.”

O'Neill will be involved in three yearlings bough by Taylor on Tuesday–two colts by No Nay Never for €280,000 (lot 154) and €120,000 (lot 52), and a first-crop daughter of Magna Grecia (Ire) (lot 159) picked up for €200,000.

Starspangledbanner In Lights

The good results kept on coming for Flash Conroy's Glenvale Stud. Less than 24 hours after supplying the 2022 Orby Sale topper, Conroy produced an excellent pinhook in lot 347, a Starspangledbanner (Aus) filly that Glenvale picked up as a foal for €82,000 before selling on Wednesday for a tidy profit when the hammer fell at €330,000.

Out of the unraced Dansili (GB) mare Balakera (Ire), the Starspangledbanner filly boasts a strong Aga Khan damline, being from the family of G3 1000 Guineas Trial winner Baliyana (Ire) (Dalakhani {Ire}) and many more black-type and group performers.

She was picked up at the November Foal Sale at Goffs from Ryebridge Stud last year and Wednesday's sale to Olivia Perkins Mackey represented one of the best pinhooks of the entire session.

It wasn't the only good result for Starspangledbanner, either. Earlier on in the afternoon, lot 299, another filly by the stallion, changed hands from Gormanstown Stud to BBA Ireland for a cool €325,000.

Out of the late Lady Rothschild's Willoughby (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who was herself sold from the recent Waddesdon Stud Dispersal for 310,000gns, the filly is a half-sister to two winners, including the Ed Walker-trained listed winner Glenartney (GB) (Le Havre {Ire}).

Those fillies were the headline-grabbers on what proved to be another rock-solid sale for Starspangledbanner with all 10 of the yearlings offered by the former speedster selling for an aggregate of €1,495,000 at an average of €149,500.

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Great Solution for Growing Venture at Gestut Lunzen  

BADEN-BADEN, Germany–His name has been etched into the annals of German racing history as the winner, in 2018, of the Grosser Preis von Berlin, followed three weeks later by the Grosser Preis von Baden. Best Solution (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) then turned this Group 1 double into a treble by flying to the other side of the world and adding the Caulfield Cup to his fine record as a 4-year-old. 

In 2020, the Godolphin colour-bearer retired to stud in Germany with a powerful syndicate of some of the country's leading breeders behind him ensuring that he covered around 80 mares, a decent book size by German standards. He now faces the first important test of his stud career when 12 members of that first crop come under the hammer on Friday at BBAG.

Having started out at Gestut Auenquelle, which looks likely to welcome the Arc winner Torquator Tasso (Ger) to its stallion roster for next year, Best Solution moved this season to Gestut Lunzen, a new enterprise run by Nikolas Schenke and Tommy Witt based in the north of Germany between Hamburg and Bremen.

“We started off with just a couple of horses and stalls and grew from there,” says Witt, who also plays a hands-on role as the stallion man for Best Solution. “Last year the syndicate approached us to give him a little break and change of environment before the breeding season started. He did well in his development with us and he has stayed.”

Schenke and Witt both served apprenticeships at Gestut Fahrhof, with stints at Newsells Park Stud, and respectively Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky and Monty Roberts' Flag Is Up Farm in California. 

“We always saw the same countries but never met,” Witt explains. “Then when Nikolas came back to Germany he took over at Bernried, working for Gestut Ammerland, and I got a call from Nikolas to say he was looking for someone to work at Bernried, and we were both there for four years.”

In 2015 the duo started Gestut Lunzen, which has made early forays in the consigning business at the BBAG Autumn Yearling Sale. It will be no surprise to see the name represented at the major fixture before too long. 

Schenke says, “Now we have 25 mares as permanent boarders on the farm, so we do the foaling, yearling prep, breaking in, the all-round package. We are not as big as some other farms but we started from scratch and we've grown to about 60 boxes now and 80 acres, so we are getting there.”

It thus came as a major vote of confidence when the syndicate which includes such powerful names as Gestut Rottgen, Gestut Hof Ittlingen, Gestut Gorlsdorf, and Gestut Brummerhof, entrusted a young stallion to the relatively new venture. Gestut Lunzen also stands the Group 3 winner and German Derby-placed Accon (Ger) (Camelot {GB}) for his owner Holger Renz, but the addition of a stallion with the international profile of Best Solution has elevated the stud's own profile another few rungs up the ladder. 

“That gave us a big push,” admits Schenke. “We've worked from the bottom up but it is working out alright and it gave us the confidence that we haven't done a bad job over the last few years.”

Best Solution is an intriguing addition to the stallion ranks and is something of an outlier as a son of Kodiac with all his big-race wins coming at a mile and a half, though he was up and running as early as the July of his juvenile season and later that year won the G3 Autumn S. Indeed, the sire's only other Group 1 winner beyond a mile is Best Solution's full-brother El Bodegon (Ire), who landed the 10-furlong Criterium de Saint-Cloud in heavy ground last season to give James Ferguson his first success at the top level. 

One doesn't have to look too deep into the pedigree of the brothers to see the source of their staying power. Their Juddmonte-bred grand-dam Kushnarenkovo (GB) (Sadler's Wells) was herself a winner at a mile and a half and is a full-sister to the St Leger winner Brian Boru (Ire) and a three-parts sister to G2 Hardwicke S. winner and National Hunt sire Sea Moon (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}). Their dam Eva Luna (Alleged) won the G2 Park Hill S. over 1m6f two months after breaking her maiden and then winning the Listed Galtres S.–a feat that another Juddmonte filly, this year's Galtres winner Haskoy (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}), looks set to attempt to emulate.

Schenke and Witt have seen plenty of Best Solution's stock at their own farm and on Thursday were busy perusing his offspring at BBAG, where Sea The Moon's breeders Gestut Gorlsdorf will offer a filly by him, lot 204, the first foal out of one of Sea The Moon's daughters, Tabby (Ger), from the family of smart Group-winning juvenile fillies Wannabe Grand (Ire) and Cairns (UAE).

“They look quite early types from what we have seen,” says Witt. “It will be interesting to see what they can do as 2-year-olds. I'm sure some of them will be early developers.”

Schenke adds, “For his first two seasons he was the busiest stallion in Germany and this year he covered 45 mares which for a third season in Germany is not too bad.

“We've seen a lot of his foals at the farm because quite a lot of the mares he covered last year came back when the breeders were happy with the foals.”

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The Major Talking Points From The Premier Yearling Sale At Doncaster

The first major yearling sale of the autumn in Britain or Ireland, the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale provided entertainment from the beginning to the end, but most importantly, boasted impressive figures. Brian Sheerin was in attendance and discusses the major talking points from the sale.

Figures on the up

The team at Goffs UK could hardly have wished for a better start to the Premier Yearling Sale. The day one figures were off the charts. Of the 218 lots offered on Tuesday, 199 were sold, representing a clearance rate of 91%. 

The aggregate was up 28% to £8,954,500, the average rose 15% to £44,997 and the median climbed 27% to £38,000.

There were noticeably less people around the sales complex at Doncaster on day two. While the figures failed to match what took place on Tuesday, there were some impressive numbers recorded on Wednesday, with an 87% clearance rate on a day where the aggregate climbed 11% to £7,003,000. 

The average on Wednesday went up 0.5% while the median fell by 4% to £32,000. That came despite the fact that there was some late drama in the ring with three of the last seven lots making six figures. 

All told, the sale went well. Of the 406 yearlings catalogued, 363 were sold, translating to a clearance rate of 89%. The aggregate was up 20% to £15,987,500 while the average was up 8% and the median rose by 9%.

Big Results From Small Numbers For Fitzgerald

Alice Fitzgerald knows what she is doing. It was at the Premier Yearling Sale in 2021 when Fitzgerald sold her homebred Basil Martini (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}} out of 10,000gns purchase Under Offer (Bated Breath (GB) to MV Magnier for £160,000.

Fast forward 12 months and Fitzgerald, who never brings more than one or two to the sales, bagged another big pay-day by selling her Kodiac (GB) colt out of Night Queen (Ire) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}) to Manor House Farm for £160,000. 

What's even more impressive about Fitzgerald? This isn't even her day job. 

John and Jess Dance Stock Up

Given John and Jess Dance bought six-time Group 1 winner Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) at this sale in 2016, it's only natural that the owners would have an affinity towards Doncaster, which was evident in the results. 

Under Manor House Stables, they signed for nine different yearlings at a total of £837,000, which was only bettered by the £1,162,000 that Peter and Ross Doyle spent across the two days on a whopping 17 different horses. 

However, of the top 10 spenders at the Premier Yearling Sale, nobody boasted a better average than John and Jess Dance. 

The couple spent an average of £93,000 on their nine lots, illustrating that they are seeking quality over quantity more so than ever before. 

High Praise From Doyle

Ross Doyle is renowned for being one of the best judges in the game. Along with his father Peter, he has sourced Mehmas, Barney Roy, Limato, Japan, Fairyland, Magna Grecia, Olympic Glory and much more. 

Therefore, when he praised Goffs for attracting the best bunch of yearlings that he has seen for some time, it reflected well on the quality of the sale.

Doyle signed for two of the top lots in the sale, a colt by New Bay (GB) [211] for £200,000 on day one, and a lovely Dark Angel (Ire) colt [251] the following day for the same figure. 

Grangemore signed for the Dark Angel colt at last year's Tattersalls December Foal Sales for 40,000gns and the sale to the Doyles, who didn't reveal where the horse would be trained, secured a tidy pinhooking profit. The New Bay colt will be trained by Richard Hannon. 

Two Top-Notch Pinhooks

There were a number of good pinhooks over the course of the sale but two stood out. The first was that of lot 21, a gorgeous Ten Sovereigns (Ire) filly that Jamie Railton bought for €26,000 off Ballybin Stud at the November Foal Sales at Goffs last year before selling to Richard Hughes for a cool £110,000 on Tuesday.

The second was an even greater piece of inspiration as Violet Hesketh and Mimi Wadham, who run WH Bloodstock, and transformed lot 171 from a €38,000 purchase back in February to a £120,000 yearling just six months later. 

A colt by Kuroshio (Aus), lot 171 was tipped to do well after a number of shrewd judges got him vetted and, in the end, he was knocked down to Mark McStay and it's understood the colt will be sent to Fozzy Stack to be trained. 

Kuroshio Holding His Own

Kuroshio has been around the world and back but this year represented the classy Australian's first crop of runners since he took up residency at Starfield Stud in 2020. After a slow start to the season, Dontspoilasale (Ire) has come along and won for the stallion in Ireland, and looks potentially progressive, while Jessica Harrington's Panic Alarm (Ire) should be winning races for the stallion when he gets softer ground conditions. 

All told, anyone who has backed Kuroshio will be a lot happier now than ever before as last week's figures were respectable. Away from the headline-maker, lot 171, the Baroda Stud-drafted filly [lot 258] also secured a solid sale for the stallion, and changed hands to join John and Jess Dance for £48,000. All four yearlings by the stallion were sold. 

Force Behind Highclere Stallion

Some will argue that Land Force (Ire) is riding the crest of a No Nay Never wave, and that may have been an entirely plausible summation of the situation had his yearlings not been so impressive in the flesh. 

Top judges Clive Cox-who went to £85,000 to secure lot 71-and Oliver St Lawrence bought progeny by the stallion. Some of the best in the breeze-up business, Katie Walsh, Longways Stables and Con Marnane, also rowed in behind Land Force this week. 

Jake Warren even tipped the Highclere-based stallion for first-season sire honours and, while there is a lot of water to pass under that particular bridge, the early signs are promising for anyone with a Land Force in their stable. 

Of the 17 offered this week, 14 were sold at an aggregate of £510,000, which averaged out at £36,429.

Noteworthy Buyers

A number of top agents, trainers and breeze-up buyers relayed how footfall had increased at the sale and, as a result, it was going to be even harder to smoke out a bargain. 

Well, buyers also had to contend with major competition from afar as Wesley Ward also got in on the action, signing for lot 200, a Lynn Lodge-consigned £82,000 daughter of US Navy Flag. 

Ward is clearly a fan of the stallion and why wouldn't he be? The Patrick Grogan-bred Love Reigns (Ire), whose only defeat in three starts for the American-based trainer, came when she finished fourth in the G2 Queen Mary S. at Royal Ascot. Time will tell if Ward has bagged himself another Royal Ascot filly. 

It should be said that, for all that Eddie O'Leary has a host of international clients, he still made time for his neighbour at Goffs. At one point in the afternoon on Wednesday, Nick Nugent on the rostrum announced, 'from one corner of Mullingar to the other,' when Roger O'Callaghan of Tall-Ho purchased a Mehmas colt [lot 349] for £45,000 off his fellow Westmeath native. 

O'Leary's Lynn Lodge Stud ended proceedings with 11 yearlings sold for £677,000 at an average of £61,545, making the operation the fifth most successful across the two days. 

Tally-Ho Dominate

It was an excellent sale for Tally-Ho. Not only was the stud responsible for the top lot, the Blandford Bloodstock-bought Night Of Thunder (Ire) filly [lot 278] out of five-time winner and listed-placed Thiswaycadeaux (Thewayyouare), but they also ended proceedings as the leading consignors with 24 yearlings making £1,544,000 in total.

That was needed, according to Roger O'Callaghan, who revealed that there were 60 more yearlings standing in the field at home in Westmeath, with 40 needing to be broken in and prepared for the breeze-ups.

Away from the excellent results posted by their own stock, Tally-Ho will have been delighted by how all the progeny of their resident stallions were received with yearlings by Kodiac, Cotai Glory, Kessaar, Galileo Gold, Mehmas and young sire Inns Of Court doing well. 

Night Of Thunder Stars

But the star of the show, without question, was Darley's Night Of Thunder. Along with Tally-Ho's sales-topping filly, the Mountarmstrong Stud-drafted Night Of Thunder [170] colt out of Pious Alexander, which ended day one on top at £230,000, ensured it was a memorable sale for the sire.

Mark McStay landed the day one leader, after which, the leading agent labelled Night Of Thunder, the sire of last week's spellbinding G1 Nunthorpe S. winner Highfield Princess (Fr), as a solid source of top-class talent. 

Classy Siblings On Show

Some pedigrees leapt off the page. The Galileo Gold half-brother [280] to Nunthorpe runner-up The Platinum Queen (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) made £170,000 to join Richard Spencer, the Ulysses (Ire)  half-brother [213] to Coventry S. winner Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) was knocked down to Dance Thoroughbreds for £150,000 and Whitsbury Manor's Havana Grey (GB) half-sister to Sandy Lane S. scorer El Caballo (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}) was all the rage at £230,000 with Jack Warren of Highclere doing the buying. 

Havana Grey Shines

Of the 22 horses offered by Havana Grey, all bar one were sold for a total of £1,089,000, averaging at £51,857. Whitsbury's Ed Harper revealed that his performance is exceeding the wildest dreams but, with nine individual black-type horses in his first crop, perhaps buyers were cottoning on to the fact that they have been witnessing something special.

Soldier's Answers The Call

This game is all about looking towards the future and the early signs are that Joe Foley has another real one at Ballyhane Stud in Soldier's Call (GB). 

The man knows how to launch a stallion and must have taken great credit about how Soldier's Call cleared £563,000 from 13 yearlings sold at an average of £43,308. 

What's more, Foley was prepared to put his money where his mouth is, and bought the top lot [212] by the sire for £105,000 off Tinnakill House Stud for Steve Parkin. 

The post The Major Talking Points From The Premier Yearling Sale At Doncaster appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Powerful Start A Boost For Ardad

It could be said that there's a stallion to suit all types of breeder at Overbury Stud, and the farm that was for so long synonymous with Britain's perennial leading National Hunt sire Kayf Tara (GB) now has a budding star of a very different type.

Ardad (Ire) finished 2021 as the leading first-season sire in Britain and was second overall to Cotai Glory (GB), who stands at Tally-Ho Stud, where Ardad was himself bred and where his sire Kodiac (GB) has long been king of the hill. 

Now eight, Ardad has so far pretty much done what could have been expected of him. On the track he was fast and early, with the high point of his racing career being his victory in the G2 Flying Childers S. From what we have seen of his progeny so far, they appear to be following suit: so much so that when the first bunch of runners from Ardad's first crop turned into a number of early winners, his book for last year suddenly leapt by around an extra 100 mares. 

If rock bands suffer from that 'difficult second album' syndrome, it's fair to say that the stallion equivalent is the difficult third book. Or fourth. In Ardad's case, however, those winners coming so early in the season meant that breeders were still able to take the opportunity of the final month of the covering season instead of waiting until this year either to renew their support or to use Ardad for the first time. But a graph plotting his covering numbers in his short stud career to date would clearly highlight the precarious nature of the stallion business. From 132 mares in his first season of 2018, Ardad then dipped to 70 in 2019 before slumping to 26 and then shooting back up to 156 last year. This year he will cover approximately 175 mares. 

Casting his mind back to last spring, Overbury Stud's Simon Sweeting says, “We had 60-odd mares booked before the racing season started and we actually had got through a lot of those mares and then [his offspring] started winning. He had that four or five quick bursts of winners and the mares started coming in. We booked another hundred and he got through those, got them covered well through the second half of the season. So we are confident that he will be able to cover plenty of mares, but also equally determined not to over-face him and to try to keep the quality of the mares as high as we possibly can. And we're very fortunate that he is being sent some really super mares.”

He adds, “My figure is 175. It may be a little bit more, it won't be 200 though. I'm absolutely determined that we won't do that.”

It has been noted on a number of occasions by those who have been associated with Ardad's stock that they are gifted with an agreeable temperament which allows them to switch on when work is required and quickly switch off again once it's over. His dual Group 1-winning son Perfect Power (Ire) appears to be an almost textbook example of this if photos of him flat out asleep in racecourse stables ahead of major assignments are anything to go by. Sweeting notes that it is a trait common to their sire.

“He's one of those that can be relaxed one moment, cover a mare and be relaxed straight away after,” he says. “So he hasn't been a moment's problem with us in doing anything really. He's got great libido, but a horse can have great libido and still be fairly easy to handle.”

He continues, “He was always the same. To look at, he was exactly what you expected, apart from the fact that he's got this fabulous stride and it is passed on to his foals too.”

A quartet of sons of Kodiac had retired to stud the year before Ardad, with Prince Of Lir (Ire), Kodi Bear (Ire) and Coulsty (Ire) all standing in Ireland and Adaay (Ire) standing principally in England before being relocated to Italy. Another six of his sons have joined the ranks since 2019, with Ubettabelieveit (Ire) being the only new recruit in England at Mickley Stud.

Sweeting says, “A few years ago, you'd look at the list of stallions available in Britain and there just wasn't a proven sire below £15,000. In that bracket, if you are sending a mare to give her a first go, to a horse that's got a very good chance of throwing you a winner, you don't want to spend £25,000.

“They just were not about but now there's Time Test, there's Ardad, Havana Gold, and Havana Grey might turn into that sort of horse. So there is a lot more for a UK-based breeder to choose from rather than having to go to Ireland for that inexpensive, but decent quality horse. They were either here unproven or way out of most people's price range.”

Ardad himself started out at £6,500, a fee that remained in place for three seasons until it was dropped to £4,000 in 2021. For this season his price has gone up, but at £12,500 it is not an eye-watering rise.

“There's got to be something left for the breeder,” says Sweeting when asked if he was tempted to give Ardad a heftier hike. “And also I know from bitter experience that if people pay a lot of money for a horse who then has a couple of disappointing years, they will never forgive that stallion, however things turn out down the line. I don't want to have to pull his price back down again. And I always want people to think that he's been a fair price. We want our customers coming back in four or five years' time and that's really had a strong effect on how we set it. Yes, it could have been £15,000–I don't think it sensibly could have been much more than that–but I think with the balance of the quality of mares that we have and the numbers, we've got it just about right, with hopefully the chance of breeders still being able to make some money.”

Certainly the returns for Ardad's stock have risen in line with his profile, and a lot of the early buzz can be attributed to a number of breeze-up pinhookers taking a chance on his first yearlings and being well rewarded when selling them the following year. His yearling averages rose from 15,327gns in 2020 for 49 sold to 53,133gns last year for 30 of the 31 to have passed through the ring, while foal averages climbed from 9,696gns to 14,400gns to the 2021 high of 32,636gns.

Continuing to deliver horses of the quality of Classic prospect Perfect Power also won't hurt him, and though there may rightly be a question mark over the ability of Ardad's offspring seeing out the mile, Perfect Power is out of Sagely (Ire) (Frozen Power {Ire}), herself a winner over 10 furlongs, while granddam Saga Celebre (Fr) is not only the daughter of an Arc winner in Peintre Celebre but a half-sister to another, Sagamix (Fr), who also stood for a time at Overbury. Another of Saga Celebre's half-siblings is Shastye (Ire) (Danehill), the dam of Japan (GB) and Mogul (GB).

The number of foot soldiers for Ardad, who was also represented last year by the Group 3-winning filly Eve Lodge, will of course dip in the coming seasons, with his current crop of yearlings numbering just 18.

“Most of the trainers that have got the Ardads that have just turned three, they were saying at the end of last year, 'actually I think this horse is going to train on', and they wouldn't be saying that if they didn't have good reason for it,” says Sweeting.

“So, yes, he's got two smaller crops to come, but luckily not a third. If he hadn't had his first winners until the middle of May, which he could have done and still have been a very good stallion, he would've only covered 65 mares last year.”

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