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Racing Sponsor Vertem Ordered To Cease Operations Over ‘Serious Regulatory Issues’

Vertem Asset Management, the company that sponsors the G1 Futurity Trophy at Doncaster, has been ordered to immediately cease carrying on all regulated activities by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

A 48-year-old man was arrested and questioned under caution in connection with the move the authority took “following serious regulatory and operational issues coming to light”.

Vertem, which trades under WealthTek LLP, was founded in 2010 by prominent racehorse owner John Dance, whose colours were carried by a number of high-profile horses, including multiple Group 1 winner Laurens (Fr) and this season's King George winner and Gold Cup runner-up Bravemansgame (Fr).

Dance's horses are based at Manor House Farm in Middleham, where former assistant to Sir Michael Stoute, James Horton trains for the owner.

The owner-trainer combination enjoyed a winner on Wednesday when Harlem Nights (Ire) won at Wolverhampton, bringing their tally for 2023 to two winners from 12 runners. The pair enjoyed 18 winners together in 2022.

Along with Horton and Paul Nicholls, trainer of Bravemansgame, Dance had runners with Karl Burke, Tom Dascombe, Richard Fahey, Charlie Hills, Jedd O'Keeffe and Hugo Palmer last year.

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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.

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Siyouni: From Syndication To Stardom

Just as the illustrious Pivotal (GB) was retiring from stud duties at the age of 28, Siyouni (Fr), who can certainly now be regarded as his most significant sire son, was reaching the peak of his powers with his first French championship. He finished last season by adding a Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner to his burgeoning CV, and this year Siyouni is currently responsible for the joint-top-rated horse in the world in the dual French Classic and Eclipse S. winner St Mark's Basilica (Fr).

At the age of 14, Siyouni is riding the crest of a wave. For at least the last four seasons he has been the most expensive stallion in France by a wide margin, his 2021 fee rising to an all-time high of €140,000. And his popularity at the sales is undiminished–15 of his yearlings passed through the recent Arqana August Sale for an average price in excess of €300,000. Bahrain's KHK Racing bought the most expensive of these at €1.5 million and Coolmore, doubtless emboldened by their previous success with the stallion, gave €650,000 for a filly from Ecurie des Monceaux, birthplace of their young Arc-winning stallion Sottsass (Fr).

How much of a permanent mark Siyouni will make on the breed remains to be seen, but already he is the sire of not just an Arc winner but five individual Classic winners with 17 Group 1 victories to their credit, as well as the GI E P Taylor S. heroine Etoile (Fr). Things, however, could have been so different, with the horse's story reduced perhaps to a footnote in Thoroughbred history as the winner of the 2009 G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere.

“It's not to our credit, but Siyouni wasn't very far from getting castrated and sent to Hong Kong,” says Georges Rimaud, manager of the Aga Khan Studs in France.

“He was certainly a very good racehorse, and at two in particular, but then at three, he unfortunately did not manage to win a race. He placed in several races, and was second in the Prix Jean Prat. But we were left wondering what we were going to do with him. Was it enough to stand him? Was he the type that people be looking for?”

It turns out that Siyouni was indeed the type that breeders were happy to take a chance on, though his appeal was broadened, and the risk shared, by the Aga Khan Studs taking the decision to syndicate him–a move not made by the operation since Darshaan (GB) retired to stud in 1985. A good omen, if one were needed.

“We syndicated him to bring in a bit of money for one thing, and then also I always feel that if you get more participants around something, whether it's a horse or something else, you dilute the risk a little bit. If you are successful you are going to probably dilute the revenue as well, but I thought it was worth the shot with that horse. So we agreed–all our team and His Highness–agreed to syndicate him at a small price of €28,000, and he would stand at €7,000 for the standard syndication.”

The gamble worked, at least in the initial sense of encouraging breeders to use the stallion. “He very quickly covered 150 mares or more,” Rimaud recalls. “He was always quite busy. We ended up with quite a few foals that looked very nice. And you know when you have good foals out there because people come back. We had the same demand the following year, and the following year.”

After that, it was up to Siyouni himself, or indeed his runners. With 14 first-crop winners in 2014, he was France's leading first-season sire and leading sire of 2-year-olds. That group included the G3 Prix de Cabourg winner Ervedya (Fr), who would reward the Aga Khan and Siyouni's former trainer Alain de Royer Dupre by becoming her sire's first Classic winner in the following year's Poule d'Essai des Pouliches before travelling to Ascot to win the G1 Coronation S.

“Every beginner was winning,” says Rimaud. “So we felt pretty good about it. And then we produced our first Group 1 winner by him, and then you don't have anything else to do. I mean, it all happens. The rest is, as some people say, it's history. But I am not sure the history is finished: it's ongoing. He has produced probably around 150 foals every year.”

There is no hiding the pleasure that Siyouni's success has brought the operation as Rimaud recounts his career to date. It is of course not the first time the Aga Khan Studs has retired a homebred to stand at one of its farms–far from it–but perhaps the somewhat unexpected nature of the steep upward rise, from a relatively lowly stud fee, echoing that of his own celebrated sire in England, makes it all the more satisfying.

“We're thrilled with it,” he says. “This is the horse who was born and raised on our farm. We bred the mare. Everything was homemade. He was born at Saint-Crespin and he was broken in at our breaking farm. From there, he was sent to Alain de Royer Dupre, who found him quite precocious. You know, this is not a trademark for us, to have precocious horses.”

Rimaud continues, “You don't expect to go from sort of low grade to elite. That was the way it went, starting at €7,000. I don't want to insult anyone who used him in the early years, but at €7,000, he improved the quality of the foals of those mares considerably. As we say in French, he's an améliorateur [enhancer], and he really does that.”

The motto of the Aga Khan Studs has long been 'success breeds success' and in this instance it has been doubly true for the breeders who not only sent their mares but also took a share in the young stallion at the outset. Rimaud is quick to acknowledge those who have helped to establish Siyouni at Haras de Bonneval.

He says, “The thing was that the Aga Khan Studs had not syndicated horses for a long time, so this was almost a new thing. People adhered to that syndication, and were very pleased to come in and do something with us.

“They've invested, they believed in the horse, they put their mares in. And some of them had to leave because of the pressure of selling their shares at higher prices and then not necessarily being able to go back to the horse, which is also a frustrating situation where you have people that have helped Siyouni make it with lower stud fees.”

In May it was announced that Siyouni, who is out of the Danehill mare Sichilla (Ire), whose offspring also include Group/Grade 1 winner Siyouma (Ire) (Medicean {GB}), would be available to cover to Southern Hemisphere time at a fee of €100,000. He has had scant representation in Australia thus far, but among his six runners there are four black-type performers, including the listed-winning juvenile See You In Spring (Aus). Her Darley-bred dam Spring Colours (GB) (Shamardal), who is out of a half-sister to the champion miler Goldikova (Ire), was exported to Australia in 2017.

“We were tempted to shuttle him several times,” Rimaud says. “When he was just about to make it and we felt that maybe it was the time to take that opportunity, we had some offers in Western Australia and different places, from Anthony Mithen. When we did the deal with the horse originally it wasn't even considered, but then we had real interest when he started to do well.”

Ultimately it was decided not to take the risk, and Siyouni has hardly been short of suitors in France in the intervening years. Indeed, he can be credited with playing a key role in the resurgence of the French bloodstock scene over the last decade, along with his fellow Normandy-based sires Le Havre (Ire) and Kendargent (Fr), who retired to stud the year before him and are both now recognised as internationally important stallions. At the time of Siyouni's retirement, the most expensive stallion in the country was Elusive City at €15,000.

“His success has undoubtedly helped us and it has helped the stallion stations around France,” says Rimaud. “It gave them confidence that it was possible to have a stallion of that calibre and sell the nominations and make it work. They have done a good job with Le Havre as well, and the stallion operations in France have all benefited from this. I don't think it's solely due to Siyouni, but it certainly reinforced the view that it is possible. France has actually become a sort of a platform where international investors can come in easily.”

The generally accepted rule is that only one in ten stallions retiring to stud really makes it. A grand racing career and the bluest of bloodlines offer no guaranteed path to success. Siyouni of course did not emanate from humble origins, but equally he was not initially afforded the calibre of mares of some of the other stallions he now tussles with in the tables.

Rimaud himself gives a nod to the hand fate plays in such developments. He says, “It's incredible really, that's exactly what it is. And you can't predict these things. It just happens.”

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Power-Packed Premier Sale Kicks Off

The opening hour of last week's Yorkshire Oaks card was about as good as it gets for a sales firm just days out from its flagship stand. Thirty-five minutes before Goffs UK was firmly in the spotlight with the running of its time-honoured Premier Yearling S., Premier Yearling Sale graduate Zain Claudette (Ire) (No Nay Never) provided a welcome introduction with victory in the G2 Lowther S. Bought for what now feels like a staggering bargain (£20,000) last summer, Zain Claudette has won three of her first four starts including two group races and has compiled earnings of £123,411 for owner Saeed H Al Tayer and trainer Ismail Mohammed.

Ever Given (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}) cost the Dandy Boys £40,000 last September, but he proved that was money well spent when taking home the lion's share of the £200,000 purse of the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale S., pushing his account to £118,897.

The latest renewal of the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale begins on Tuesday and concludes on Wednesday, with 400 yearlings set to go under the hammer. The Silver Yearling Sale will immediately follow the Premier on Wednesday, with 90 commercial yearlings set to sell.

Michael Owen has been a staunch supporter of the Premier Sale in recent years, and in the aftermath of his syndicate the Dandy Boys winning the Goffs UK Premier Yearling S. with Ever Given, Owen confirmed he would be back shopping this week. And he comes armed with a £34,007 voucher, thanks to the new 'Premier Prizes' incentives attached to the race for the first time this year. The Premier Prizes include a voucher for a 'free horse' for the race's winning owner-a voucher of value equal to the average of the prior year's Premier sale-plus a day of hospitality at York Racecourse, and a free six-month rental of a horse box for the winning trainer, in this case Tom Dascombe.

“When we are talking about ways to improve racing, ultimately it all comes down to owners,” said Goffs UK Managing Director Tim Kent. “The Goffs UK Premier Yearling S. is often targeted by the leading syndicates. Happy Romance won the race last year and the owners of Happy Romance were first-time owners, and it was a great story. So we thought, 'how do we add a bit more to that race to try to incentivize ownership?' We felt this was a way to bring people back in and hopefully help those syndicates. Not only does [the race winner] have a good 2-year-old, they now also have the chance to buy another one for the following year.”

Kent said he hopes the added incentives now attached to the sale race will encourage buyers to have an extra bid or two.

“Hopefully it causes people to think a bit differently,” he said. “The race has been very popular, and some good horses have won it: the likes of Acclamation, Dark Angel and Wootton Bassett are the headline horses for it. Hopefully it has something for everyone and gets people thinking a bit differently.”

The Goffs UK Premier Yearling S., of course, is just one reason for buyers to shop the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale: others include the numerous Royal Ascot 2-year-olds, Group 1-winning sprinters and Classic winners, like the six-time Group 1 winner Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), to have emanated from the sale's ranks. This year has proven another very fruitful one for Premier graduates on the track, its star graduates in addition to the aforementioned Zain Claudette including Dream Of Dreams (Ire) (Dream Ahead), the popular winner of the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. after twice finishing second in the race; Happy Romance (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), last year's sale race winner who has won a pair of Group 3 sprints since; Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}), last year's G2 Prix du Calvados winner who was third in the G1 1000 Guineas; Mystery Angel (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}), the Listed Pretty Polly S. winner who was second in the G1 Oaks and, like Fev Rover, was bought here by Nick Bradley; and multiple group-winning 3-year-old sprinter and Royal Ascot victor Rohaan (Ire) (Mayson {GB}). Supremacy (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) also won last autumn's G1 Middle Park S. From last year's sale, there are currently more than 50 individual 2-year-old winners.

“It's been another good year on the racetrack and that's what this sale is all about,” Kent said. “It's less about the pedigree and more about the type of the horse. Buyers want to get there and see a ready-made racehorse. That's what people expect when they come to us and that's certainly what plays out on the racecourse. We've had a very good year, we've had some good winners and good runners and hopefully there is more of the same to come. People come to Doncaster expecting to see a certain type of horse and we're confident those in are play.”

While, as Kent alluded to, there will be numerous star graduates to come from the sale that may not have lit up the catalogue page, there are nonetheless plenty of pedigrees in the book that fit the advertisement of fast, powerful racehorses. Those include lot 40, a Dark Angel (Ire) half-brother to G2 Coventry S. winner Rajasinghe (Ire) (Choisir {Aus}); lot 57, a Kodiac (GB) half-brother to G3 Superior Mile scorer Balty Boys (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}); lot 88, a Hot Streak (Ire) half-sister to champion 3-year-old sprinter Total Gallery (Ire) (Namid {GB}); lot 125, a Showcasing (GB) son of the listed winner Fig Roll (GB) (Bahamian Bounty {GB}), already a stakes producer thanks to the G3 Prix d'Arenberg scorer Al Raya (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}); and lot 291, a full-brother to G2 Duchess of Cambridge and G3 Albany S. winner and G1 Cheveley Park S. second Illuminate (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}).

Describing the typical Donny yearling, Kent said, “It's going to be a 2-year-old, and it has to have a good walk; that's one thing people really want to see in a Doncaster yearling. It's got to be an athlete and it's got to be ready to go. It's got to show a bit of speed and it's likely to be running over sprint distances as a 2-year-old and may progress up to a mile as a 3-year-old, but really a mile is the maximum capacity for the sort of thing we're selling. They have to have a toughness and determination about them that means you can get the tack on them and get on with them and get running. They're not just whiz-bang 2-year-olds, but they're 2-year-olds that can give you a shot at Ascot and those big 2-year-old meetings and train on. Something like a Guineas horse would be what we'd like to aspire to in the future.”

There are yearlings catalogued, too, that fit that Classic profile, like lot 74, the Kingman (GB) filly out of G3 Nell Gwyn S. winner and G1 1000 Guineas third Daban (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}); lot 101, a Kingman (GB) colt out of G2 Kilboy Estate S. second Earring (Dansili {GB}), whose own dam Together (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) won the GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup and was second in the 1000 and Irish 1000 Guineas, the G1 Fillies' Mile and G1 Matron S.; lot 102, an Invincible Spirit (Ire) grandson of the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Mehthaaf; and lot 169, a Lope De Vega (Ire) colt whose dam is a half-sister to G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. victress Persuasive (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}).

Premier graduates are going on to success not only on the racecourse, but also in the breeding barn. Acclamation and his son Dark Angel, as well as Wootton Bassett, have been excellent ambassadors for the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale as sale race winners that have gone on to success at stud. Those looking to follow in their footsteps include Group 1-winning Premier graduates Advertise (GB), Golden Horde (GB) and Harry Angel (Ire). Champion sprinter Harry Angel, a son of Dark Angel, has five first-crop yearlings catalogued to this year's Premier sale.

“It's great to see them come full circle like that, to see a graduate of the sale's progeny coming through,” Kent said. “We've seen some lovely horses by Harry Angel, I've seen a couple lovely yearlings by him and I know my colleagues have done the same. He's an exciting one; he was a brilliant racehorse. Clive Cox did a wonderful job with him and hopefully he can continue that line going forward.

“If you look at what Acclamation has done, he's been a phenomenal stallion. Dark Angel has re-written the history books in many ways and to be honest, there aren't that many stallions in the world that are hotter than Wootton Bassett after his move from France to Ireland. It gives the whole team an immense amount of personal satisfaction that a horse that won our sales race can go on to win a Group 1 in France and has now been bought by one of the leading stallion operations in the world and has been given the very best chance at stud.”

The European yearling sale caravan rolls into its second sale of the season with vibes positive after the Arqana August Yearling Sale 10 days ago, and Kent's enthusiasm is palpable heading into Goffs UK's headline sale.

“It's the physical that really will get people going when they get here,” he said. “Whatever you see on the page, we think it will be even better in real life, and that's what is exciting us. We've seen videos and photographs of these horses and seen how they've improved since we saw them however many months ago. All of the nominations team have horses they think will top the sale, and we're having a bit of fun between us, telling each other that we're going to do better than our colleagues. It's great that we all have horses we're really excited about. They're a great bunch of physicals and these horses do what it says on the tin. It's athletic racehorses we're looking for and we think we've chosen almost 500 horses that fit that mould over two days and we're excited to show them to purchasers at Doncaster.”

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