By Brian Sheerin
Sheer unbridled enthusiasm. That's exactly what was on show at the November Foal Sale at Goffs this week where, on top of a millionaire lot, turnover climbed by 26% to €32,640,000, the average by 34% to €48,717 and the median by 21% to €29,000. Those are the types of figures that compare favourably to even Book 1 of the Orby and they left Goffs chief Henry Beeby understandably delighted at close of play on Thursday.
He commented, “The cream of the Irish foal crop is our proud boast and I think we can say without fear of contradiction that our buyers agreed as we have witnessed a sale of true strength and depth that was, at times, simply extraordinary.
“The early signs were good with packed car parks and yards from first thing Saturday which led to a sale on Monday that kicked us off in some style with a trade of real vibrancy from start to finish. That vibe continued on Tuesday as we stepped up a gear although nothing could have prepared us for Wednesday's truly electric and historic sale.
“A seven-figure foal is always a big deal, and we are indebted to both vendor and purchaser, as well as the notable underbidder, for their faith in a stunning young colt. He was by no means the only showstopper though as foal after foal attracted proper bidding duels as all the leading pinhookers battled with several significant end users for stunning colt after superb filly as the day progressed. Indeed, the growth recorded in every statistic was simply mind blowing by Wednesday evening and firmly cemented Goffs November as the first choice for the best Irish foals once again as so many vendors were more than happy to acclaim the sale as the best there is for the category.”
He added, “There are so many factors that contributed to the week's success, not least the huge numbers of young pinhookers looking to invest, which is a unique aspect of Goffs November as we enjoy the patronage of so many generations. That means that all levels of the market made progress, and it is certainly worthy of comment that the number of six figure lots increased from “42 last year to 75 this time with three times more surpassing the quarter of a million mark.
“Another key point is the diversity of buyers so clearly illustrated by 18 different buyers signing for the top 20 lots and 54 individual entities investing in six figure foals. That points to a quality and depth to the market that augurs well for the Irish thoroughbred industry. All that said today was harder work and made the point that demand is not endless albeit any foal that caught the eye of the pinhooking fraternity was as hard to buy as during any other session.
“As ever we extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to every vendor for their support as we are nothing without their wonderful foals and wish each purchaser the best of luck whether they bought to resell or race. If the former we stand ready and waiting to work for the buyers as they switch to vendor mode next autumn. Goffs Orby and Premier provide consistency and strength at all levels of the market and no team will work harder for you.”
Horan Has The Midas Touch
It was Jerry Horan of Ballynure Park Stud who played a star role at Goffs on Thursday. Following on from a familiar theme all week, Horan's Sioux Nation colt proved most popular when selling to Ciaran 'Flash' Conroy of Glenvale Stud for €70,000. There was an interesting backstory to the top lot, too. Bought by Horan during the mares' session of this sale last year for just €8,500 in utero to the colt, that trade represented a tidy profit within the space of 12 months for young Horan.
He said, “Absolutely delighted. It was at this sale last November when Jamie Moriarty picked out the mare for me. She was vendored and he told me that we should buy her so we got her bought for €8,500. Brought her home and she went to Bernard Cloney to foal. He kept her for a while and, I know everyone says this after they get a touch, but this colt was just so easy to look after and was just very straightforward from day one. We sent him to Alice Kavanagh for prep and she did a great job with him. He's been very busy ahead of today and my own team–Tara, Sarah and Ciara–did a top job.”
He added, “I've been lucky with the mares but I do buy a few of them so you're always going to get a touch when you have strength in numbers. But I've been lucky enough to get a touch every year with one or two mares and manage to trade away with the rest. It's not too bad.”
If the story didn't represent enough of a quick enough turnaround, what about the Showcasing (GB) colt that Horan sourced less than six weeks before the sale for €10,000? The hammer fell–again to Glenvale–at €30,000 on Thursday. Not even Bitcoin has climbed that much in the past six weeks.
“In fairness, Hamish McAuley found him online,” Horan explained. “I didn't even know that he was in the sale. It was a nice bit of business–just over two months. I'd a Mehmas (Ire) foal yesterday who made €80,000 and I'd bought the mare for €31,000 so, in fairness, it's been a very good week. Over the course of the week, everything I sold made a good bit more than I thought they would. It shows the depth of people who were buying here at Goffs. Footfall was unbelievable and, even yesterday, I couldn't believe the amount of people who were out looking at the Thursday foals. Phenomenal.”
Of the 223 offered on the Thursday session, 134 foals were sold at a clearance rate of 60%. Turnover was €2,001,500, which is down by 23% on last year, while the average was €14,937 (-4%) and the median was €11,000 (-8%).
“It's been a phenomenal week.”
Ballynure Park Stud received €70,000 from Glenvale Stud for their Sioux Nation colt (Lot 886), who was bought in utero for €8,500 from @BarodaStudIre at last year's November Breeding Stock Sale. pic.twitter.com/f0EHYeNdp2
— Goffs (@Goffs1866) November 21, 2024
Talking Points
Sioux Nation's stock has been on the rise for a while now but this was the year where things went to a new level for the Coolmore-based stallion. After a good yearling sale season, Sioux Nation enjoyed a memorable week here at Goffs, with his progeny leading the way on two of the four days of trade. All told, 36 foals by Sioux Nation sold for an average of €53,917 while four rocked into six figures.
Tally-Ho Stud remained the undisputed top dog buyers with 14 horses bought for a combined €1,037,000.
It wasn't just the domestic pinhookers who contributed to the booming trade with Philip Stauffenberg [who spent €910,0000 on seven foals], Sumbe [spent €660,000 on two foals] and Scandinavian buyers The JC Organisation [spent €650,000 on two foals] featuring on the top 10 buyers' sheet.
Of the sires with their first foals selling at Goffs this week, it was hard not to be taken with Minzaal (Ire), who posted a €52,635 average for 26 lots sold.
Not even the dip in the figures on Thursday could take away from what had been a blockbuster foal session. However, the drop off in the Thursday trade might raise the question about whether the minimum bid for the final day should be €3,000 or not. If it was €1,000, perhaps a few more foals would have sold in the ring, which would have helped the clearance rate. At the end of the day, 24 horses didn't get a bid in the ring and 16 were vendored €3,000 on Thursday.
Buy of the Day
Given how the progeny of Cotai Glory (GB) sold this week and how well lot 817, a colt by the Tally-Ho Stud-based stallion stacked up physically, it's hard to argue that he wasn't well-bought at €42,000. Bred by Chris Hayes, fast becoming something of a dab hand at this discipline, the Cotai Glory colt was consigned by Boherguy Stud and was knocked down to Barton Stud's Tom Blain who signed under AR Bloodstock. The colt is the fourth foal out of Oasis Dream (GB) mare Butoolat (GB), who has already produced a winner, and appears to be a typically-precocious model by the stallion.
Thought for the Day
Attention now turns to the mares' section of the breeding stock sale on Friday and one of the potentially fascinating subplots will revolve around Kia Joorabchian's level involvement. We all know that Amo Racing injected great enthusiasm into the yearling market from October onwards. Well, given the operation has retired three new stallions in the past month, it will be interesting to see whether Joorabchian and his buying team will be recruiting mares to visit newbies King Of Steel, Bucanero Fuerte (GB) and Go Bears Go (Ire).
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