Zoffany (Ire) | Horse Racing Free Tips

From the Experts: Cathy Grassick

On the back of the eagerly anticipated stallion fee announcements in Europe, Gary King spoke with a number of leading industry figures about value. Today we hear from Cathy Grassick.

GK: Who have you identified as a first-year stallion at an appealing opening fee?

CG: Earthlight (Ire) is excellent value retiring to stud at €20,000 for a dual Group 1-winning 2-year-old by Shamardal. First season with runners, for me Ribchester (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) is really good value considering his sales results and the type of yearling he produced. He is standing at €17,500 down from €30,000 for his first year at stud. He was such a good 2-year-old, breaking his maiden in the G2 Mill Reef and his father Iffraaj was himself a top first-season sire.

GK: Best value proven stallion, and why?

CG: I think Zoffany (Ire) (Dansili (GB}) is really great value at €20,000. He is capable of getting performers at the highest level, both colts and fillies, such as Thunder Moon (Ire) and Fleeting (Ire). He is a solid source of 2-year-olds and is even starting to look like a broodmare sire of note with the likes of Tiger Tanaka (Ire).

Kendargent (Fr) (Kendor {Fr}) in France is also super value at €10,000 for very much similar reasons. He is an excellent source of top class racehorses and is becoming a broodmare sire of note.

GK: Who would you consider to be an under the radar stallion?

CG: I think Equiano (Fr) (Acclamation {GB}) in his new home at the Irish National Stud for just €3,000 is really great value and a stallion very much under the radar. He had such a good year in 2020 and provides a good source of solid speed to Irish breeders.

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Zoffany’s Thunder Moon Cuts a Dash In the National

Sunday’s G1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National S. at The Curragh looked of vintage variety on paper and although it lost a notable in Ballydoyle’s Battleground (War Front), an incident-packed renewal ultimately witnessed a colt to quicken the pulse in TDN Rising Star Thunder Moon (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}). Purchased by Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez from Anne Marie O’Brien following his scintillating debut success over this course and distance Aug. 9, the 15-2 shot tracked the pace but was holed up with nowhere to go inside the final two furlongs. Declan McDonogh was looking for racing room down on the rail and it came in plenty of time as the fleet-footed bay darted through a gap to cut down St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the final 75 yards. Surging to the line, he had 1 1/2 lengths to spare over that rival’s fast-finishing stablemate Wembley (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who snatched the runner’s-up spot by a short head. “I was always going to ride him cool down on the fence from the one draw and take all the chances,” McDonogh explained. “They didn’t go hard enough to get a spread on them and so they bunched up a little bit and I had to check him. He was always giving me the feel that he was going to run them down and he was very impressive. He did extremely well to recover and win smoothly–he has the makings of a smart colt.”

Thunder Moon had won a Dundalk barrier trial July 29 prior to his emphatic 3 3/4-length defeat of the useful yardstick Colour Sergeant (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) here last month, but was still the least-experienced member of the line-up in what is always an daunting test for greenhorns. It is unknown how the Listed Chesham S. and G2 Vintage S. winner Battleground–who was taking out after a bout of coughing–would have fared, while Zhang Yuesheng’s Aug. 9 G1 Phoenix S. hero Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) had little luck in running and finished with gusto to be fifth. The other 2-1 joint-favourite, Godolphin’s July 11 G2 Superlative S. scorer Master of the Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), had his chance and looked the winner when swooping two out but had raced keenly from the break and probably paid for his exertions. Even Khalid Abdullah’s Masen (GB) (Kingman {GB}) was compromised, as he reared in the stalls and when given the go-ahead to start did too much on the front end. Added to that, Wembley and St Mark’s Basilica were tardy from the gates and the eventual runner-up lost almost as much there as he was beaten in the finish.

Despite the unsatisfactory nature of the way the contest unfolded, there was enough overall quality to make this a race to follow closely and few would bet against the winner coming out on top when meeting any of these rivals in the future. McDonogh had words of warning for those who hope for a second shot at Thunder Moon. “He was only in third gear through the race and didn’t even feel like he was in top gear at the line, so he’s a very exciting colt,” he said. “Even when I checked, he didn’t lose a whole lot of momentum and was straight back into his stride and powered on again. He has a great will-to-win and a great heart–he really wants to please you. I won this on another horse for Kevin Prendergast [Kingsfort (War Chant)] who had only won a maiden beforehand and it takes a proper one to do that. If he has a nice tempo to run at over a mile he’ll relax and stay well. I’d say the ground was as slow as he wants it, he has a real fast-ground action and I think fast ground will suit him really well as he’s a strong traveller. It’s been a long time since I rode one like him–he has a lot of qualities and has the mind to go with it.”

Thunder Moon’s family is that of the day’s G1 Irish St Leger heroine Search For a Song (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), with his third dam being the high-class Moyglare distaffer Trusted Partner (Affirmed). It was a granddaughter of that G1 Irish 1000 Guineas heroine, the unraced Small Sacrifice (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells), who caught the eye of Anne Marie O’Brien at the 2007 Goffs November Mares Sale and she showed her keenness of judgement by securing her for only €18,000. A half-sister to the G3 Horris Hill S. third Aahaykid (Ire) (Intikhab), she went on to produce the Listed Sir Henry Cecil S. winner Table Rock (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) who was later renamed Anticipation (Ire) in Hong Kong. Small Sacrifice is a full-sister to Out of Thanks (Ire), who produced the G3 Sirenia S. winner Love Lockdown (Ire) (Verglas {Ire}), while another of her half-siblings Tiny Petal (Ire) (Grand Lodge) threw the G1 Criterium International hero Vert de Grece (Ire) also by Verglas. This is the family of the GI Matriarch S. heroine Dress To Thrill (Ire) (Danehill) and her full-sister Polished Gem (Ire) who just this week further enhanced her mighty reputation. Small Sacrifice’s yearling colt is by Caravaggio.

Sunday, Curragh, Ireland
GOFFS VINCENT O’BRIEN NATIONAL S.-G1, €250,000, Curragh, 9-13, 2yo, 7fT, 1:28.53, gd.
1–THUNDER MOON (IRE), 131, c, 2, by Zoffany (Ire)
1st Dam: Small Sacrifice (Ire), by Sadler’s Wells
2nd Dam: Trust in Luck (Ire), by Nashwan
3rd Dam: Trusted Partner, by Affirmed
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN; 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Mrs C C Regalado-Gonzalez; B-Whisperview Trading Ltd (IRE); T-Joseph O’Brien; J-Declan McDonogh. €150,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $189,183. *1/2 to Table Rock (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), SW-Eng & SP-HK, $643,136. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Wembley (Ire), 131, c, 2, Galileo (Ire)–Inca Princess (Ire), by Holy Roman Emperor (Ire). O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan O’Brien. €50,000.
3–St Mark’s Basilica (Fr), 131, c, 2, Siyouni (Fr)–Cabaret (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). (1,300,000gns Ylg ’19 TATOCT). O-Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor; B-Robert Scarborough (FR); T-Aidan O’Brien. €25,000.
Margins: 1HF, NO, HF. Odds: 7.50, 22.00, 9.00.
Also Ran: Master of the Seas (Ire), Lucky Vega (Ire), Charterhouse (GB), Laws of Indices (Ire), Mac Swiney (Ire), Military Style, Masen (GB). Scratched: Battleground. Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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Goffs Orby Catalogue Anchored by Sea The Stars Filly

The catalogue for the Goffs Orby Sale, which includes a Sea The Stars (Ire) half-sister to a trio of Group 1 winners out of Theatrical (Ire) mare Green Room (lot 176), is now online. Numerous blue-blooded pedigrees make up the two-day sale, with 474 yearlings set to go under the hammer on Sept. 29-30. Sunday’s G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. winner Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) is a €175,000 graduate of the Orby Sale.

Ballylinch Stud will offer the 12th foal of the unraced Green Room, whose 2018 Galileo (Ire) filly Espania (Ire) topped the 2019 Goffs Orby Sale at €3 million. Espania is a full-sister to G1 Investec Oaks heroine and €900,000 yearling Forever Together (Ire); €680,000 Goffs Orby yearling and G1 Dubai Fillies Mile heroine Together Forever (Ire); the SP Do You Love Me (Ire)-an €3.2 million purchase and the top lot at the 2018 Goffs Orby Sale; and a half-sister to G1 Prix Jean Prat hero and sire Lord Shanakill (Speightstown). Green Room has already produced the €1.1 million Goffs Orby graduate Signe (Ire) to the cover of Sea The Stars.

Perennial champion sire Galileo (Ire) is represented by eight yearlings, including; The Castlebridge Consignment’s lot 237, a son of GI E. P. Taylor S. heroine Lahaleeb (Ire) (Redback {GB}); a filly (lot 305) out of G1 Ascot Vale S. victress Nechita (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) from the Baroda Stud draft; a 3/4 sister to G1 Irish Derby winner Trading Leather (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) (lot 311) from Manister House Stud; MGSW and GI Gamely S. runner-up Quiet Oasis (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB})’s daughter (lot 357) from the Barronstown Stud draft; Oaks Farm Stables’ lot 306, a filly out of GSP Nell Gwyn (Ire) (Danehill), herself a full-sister to European Champion 3-Year-Old Rock of Gibraltar (Ire) (Danehill); lot 122, a filly from The Castlebridge Consignment out of MSW & MGSP Easton Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}); another from Castlebridge, a filly (lot 42) out of MGSW & MGSP Banimpire (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}); and finally lot 16, a colt offered by Islanmore Stud, the third foal from MSW & GSP Alive Alive Oh (GB) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}).

A single yearling by Dubawi is part of the Staffordstown draft as lot 17, a colt out of French MSW All At Sea (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), whose second dam is German Champion Older Mare Albanova (GB) (Alzao); while among Dark Angel’s 20 yearlings is the second foal out of the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Jet Setting (Ire) (lot 211) from Baroda Stud. Abbeville Stud brings a son of Exceed And Excel (Aus) (lot 92) out of Italian Group 3 winner Cottonmouth (Ire) (Noverre), who has already foaled Italian Champion Older Horse and MG1SW Dylan Mouth (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}). Moonlight Cloud (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire})’s Frankel (GB) half-brother is offered by Baroda Stud as lot 458, and they are also the consignor of note for a Kingman (GB) half-brother to 2020 G1 Henkel Preis de Diana heroine Miss Yoda (Ger) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) (lot 291). Camas Park Stud’s draft contains a full-brother to European champion and young sire Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never) (lot 388). G1 Coronation S. victress Maids Causeway (Ire) (Giant’s Causeway) is represented by a Showcasing filly (lot 267) for Ballyhane. The bay is a half-sister to MGSW Elizabeth Way (Ire) (Frankel {GB}).

In 2019, the Goffs Orby Sale grosses ¥42,927,500 for 364 sold of 429 offered. The average was €117,933 and the median was €65,000. Topping proceedings over the two-day stand was the aforementioned Espania (Ire), who sold for €3 million to M V Magnier/Westerberg from the draft of Ballylinch Stud. Allthough unraced, holds an entry for the Sept. 13 G1 Moyglare Stud S.

A full preview of the Orby Sale will be conducted after the Aug. 12-13 Goffs Land Rover Sale at Kildare Paddocks with online bidding and strict social distancing protocols in place. The Land Rover Sale is the first sale in Ireland since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and Goffs is working closely with Horse Racing Ireland to ensure that the protocols in place mirror those on Irish racecourses. Goffs is committed to delivering the best marketplace possible given the current situation, with further announcements in connection to the Orby Sale and Oct. 29-30 Sportsman’s Sale in the future.

“In the first instance we want to thank the many Irish breeders and consignors who have overwhelmingly maintained their support of the Orby Sale with drafts of quality and depth leading to another selection of pedigrees and physical specimens that simply fills us with enormous pride,” said Goffs Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby. “On visit after social distanced visit to stud farms across the land the Goffs inspection team have been supported by colts and fillies of true quality that would make the grade with ease into any other premier sale.

“These are especially challenging times and Auction Houses are having to be more adaptable than ever in terms of dates and locations. However, as we have demonstrated in recent months, Arqana, Goffs and Tattersalls will consider every option to serve the industry as best we are able, putting our usual competitive natures to one side for the greater good. To that end I have agreed with Edmond Mahony at Tattersalls that we will meet following the forthcoming store sales to discuss the autumn sales programmes of Goffs and Tattersalls, and the options that exist.

“With specific reference to the Orby and Sportsman’s Sales we will continue to monitor the situation and look at any and all options as matters evolve but we would reiterate that the modern day Goffs was set up to provide a world class sales facility in Ireland specifically for the Irish breeder. That said at the same time we have a superb sales complex in the UK so we have options to serve the industry on both sides of The Irish Sea and will make a timely decision in the best interests of all our valued vendors when we have weighed up the strengths and weaknesses of each alternative against the backdrop of a situation that is literally changing by the day. However we feel it would be imprudent to rush in to any finite decisions beyond this week at this stage and we would ask for calm heads together with the continued support of our loyal clients as by working together we can deliver the best results for the world class Irish horses so sought after around the world.”

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Zoffany’s Thunder Moon a New Rising Star At The Curragh

Sunday’s seven-furlong Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden at The Curragh looked as if it could be storing something exciting beforehand and so it proved as Anne Marie O’Brien’s Thunder Moon (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) exploded onto the scene to earn TDN Rising Star status. Keen early tracking the leading trio, the 10-1 shot who had won a Dundalk barrier trial July 29 travelled with supreme ease once Declan McDonogh had got a grip on him. Given the command approaching the final furlong, the homebred split rivals and surged to the front soon after and was pushed out to put 3 3/4 lengths between him and the solid yardstick Colour Sergeant (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), with Ballydoyle’s Baton Rouge (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) a length away in third.

“I think he’s a smart horse. He went to a barrier trial a couple of weeks ago and did it well,” Joseph O’Brien’s representative Brendan Powell commented. “He’s typical of a Zoffany, very relaxed and a lovely-natured horse. He’s got a lot of filling out to do. Declan said he didn’t even have to hit him. He was just niggling him and as soon as he really grabbed hold of him, gave him a squeeze, he picked up and found that turn of foot. That’s a good asset to have. He’ll make up into a lovely three-year-old. He stays the trip well and he’s got a good future.”

Thunder Moon’s unraced Moyglare Stud-bred dam Small Sacrifice (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells) was bought by Anne Marie O’Brien for just €18,000 at the 2007 Goffs November Mares Sale. She has subsequently produced the Listed Sir Henry Cecil S. winner Table Rock (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), who was later renamed Anticipation (Ire) in Hong Kong, SW-Eng, SP-HK, $643,136. Small Sacrifice is a half to the G3 Horris Hill S. third Aahaykid (Ire) (Intikhab) and is a full-sister to Out of Thanks (Ire) who produced the G3 Sirenia S. winner Love Lockdown (Ire) (Verglas {Ire}). Another of her half-siblings Tiny Petal (Ire) (Grand Lodge) threw the G1 Criterium International hero Vert de Grece (Ire) also by Verglas. The third dam is the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Trusted Partner (Affirmed), whose leading performer was the high-class GI Matriarch S. heroine Dress To Thrill (Ire) (Danehill) and her full-sister Polished Gem (Ire). She in turn is responsible for six black-type winners, including the G1 Prince of Wales’s S.-winning sire Free Eagle (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), last year’s G1 Irish St Leger heroine Search For a Song (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and the G2 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. winner Sapphire (Ire) (Medicean {GB}). Small Sacrifice also has a yearling colt by Caravaggio.

1st-Curragh, €16,500, Mdn, 8-9, 2yo, 7fT, 1:26.67, gd.
THUNDER MOON (IRE), c, 2, by Zoffany (Ire)
1st Dam: Small Sacrifice (Ire), by Sadler’s Wells
2nd Dam: Trust In Luck (Ire), by Nashwan
3rd Dam: Trusted Partner, by Affirmed
1ST-TIME STARTER. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $11,667. O-Mrs A M O’Brien; B-Whisperview Trading Ltd (IRE); T-Joseph O’Brien. Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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