Curtain Falls on Boutique Hony-Hof Operation at Goffs 

There will, rightly, be much attention paid to the Niarchos draft at the Goffs November Sale as the family operation undergoes restructuring, but there is one boutique dispersal which also deserves proper perusal.

Manfred and Edith Hellwig of German-based Gestut Hony-Hof bring 11 mares and nine foals to market though the Castlebridge Consignment, many of whom offer access to one of the best German families of recent decades.

In 2000, the Hellwigs bought from Gestut Karlshof a yearling filly by Monsun (Ger), a full-sister to that year's G1 Deutsches Derby winner Samum (Ger), who would later be named Salve Regina (Ger) and go on to claim her own Classic laurels in the G1 Preis der Diana. The family's place in German bloodstock history has been even more deeply carved since then. In 2006, another full-brother, Schiaparelli (Ger), brought a second Deutsches Derby home, and while their sister Sanwa (Ger) didn't make it to the track herself, she atoned for that by producing yet another Derby winner, Sea The Moon (Ger) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).

Salve Regina herself has established a dynasty at Hony-Hof, the central German farm “close to nowhere”, which includes the GII Ballston Spa H. winner Salve Germania (Ger) (Peintre Celebre), whose full-sister Salve Haya (Ire) is catalogued as Lot 1148. Six of the 11 mares to be offered at Goffs are Salve Regina's descendants, as are four of the foals.

“That whole family has been so good to us, and also to Karlshof,” says Simon Minch, the longstanding manager of Gestut Hony-Hof. “The number of group runners they've brought out of it and black-type horses, it's like a gift that keeps on giving. It's a family that just doesn't seem to go out of fashion.”

He adds, “The one thing you have to say about that family is that it gets good, honest, tough horses. They don't wilt easily, they normally go on and have good, long careers to them. You know, the rarely-see-a-vet type.”

Leading the draft of mares on the Friday of the sale is Sea The Sunrise (Ger) (Lot 1139), a Sea The Stars granddaughter of Salve Regina offered in foal to Gleneagles (Ire), and her weanling filly by Arizona (Ire) will be sold as Lot 525 on the Tuesday.

Minch continues, “A lot of that family aren't that big are very, very good. Like Salve Regina herself. She was the height of the average coffee table. Same with the dam of Sea The Moon, she was even smaller. Salve Del Rio was a two-year-old winner for us, and he was fourth in the German Derby, and third in a Group 2. He was barely 15 hands, but he was as tough as nails. 

They don't wilt easily, they normally go on and have good, long careers to them. You know, the rarely-see-a-vet type.

“And Sea the Sunrise, she's also an interesting outcross as well. She's a lovely mare and she's got a lot of potential to her. You're buying a lot of good stallion stuff in there.”

It's not all about the Salve Regina clan in the Hony-Hof draft though. For a start, the horse that has brought the farm the most acclaim in recent years is the G1 Prix du Cadran winner Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}). She too isn't that big and is as tough as they come, but she's from a different family altogether.

Her half-sister Palace Girl (GB) (Areion {Ger}) sells as Lot 1142 and is in foal to Churchill (Ire) with a yearling by Adlerflug (Ger) on the ground. Her filly foal by Isfahan (Ger) is Lot 524.

Then there's the German champion two-year-old, Ocean Fantasy (Fr) (Make Believe {GB}), a rare foal purchase by the stud who went on to win the G3 Preis der Winterkonigin and finish placed in the G2 Diana Trial. Selling as Lot 1141, she is in foal to Lope De Vega (Ire) while her filly foal from the first crop of St Marks's Basilica (Fr) could bring some interest late in the day on Tuesday as the final lot in the ring (532). Her dam's half-sister La Mehana (Fr) (Al Wukair {Ire}) is a treble Listed winner who was placed in the G1 Prix de Royallieu since the catalogue was printed. 

“There's another very interesting family we have though, that shouldn't be overlooked,” says Minch. “It's been my pet project, and that's Wish You Well and Westfalica family.”

Those two named mares (Lots 1140 and 1149), by Soldier Hollow (GB) and Areion (Ger) respectively, are both great-granddaughters of the Oaks winner Jet Ski Lady (Vaguely Noble).

He continues, “We decided to go a different direction with that family. To go back to 1,600, 1,400-metre horses, with One Cool Cat and Areion and things like that. And the bit of speed back on it has paid dividends, and it has started giving black type for us again. Westfalica's two-year-old [Wikinger] won the big €200,000 sales race in Baden-Baden. So that was pleasing, and also from that family is Words Of Peace, who was fourth in the Winterkonigin, the top two-year-old race for fillies in Germany.

“So that's coming alive again, and then Wish You Well is a listed winner herself and her first foal by Caravaggio had one start and ran a grand race to be second. But interestingly the winner came out from that and won the sales race down in Munich recently. So the form of that race is looking pretty solid. They're both very young mares with plenty going for them. Westfalica has a foal by Sioux Nation and Wish You Well has a Starspangledbanner filly.”

The advancing age of the Hellwigs, who have had broodmares for 35 years, has prompted the dispersal of the operation which has been conducted in the true tradition of owner-breeders.

“Everything was bred for their own racing stable,” Minch explains. “It was only in the last one or two years we started selling a couple because we kind of knew it was coming to the end, but unfortunately it's come a bit quicker than anyone expected or wished for.

“They started off in North Germany and they were having a bit of fun, a hobby really, with a cattle farm and a few broodmares,” says Minch, who has managed Hony-Hof since 2005. “And then Salve Regina who won the Oaks for them. Mr Hellwig wanted to sell her, because of course there were offers, but Mrs Hellwig basically put her foot down and said, 'No, we're going to start breeding properly now.' They bought Gestot Hony-Hof in the late nineties.”

The 11 mares going to sale represents the largest number the farm has ever had at one time. The mares have been in Ireland to foal at Joe Hernon's Castletown Stud and have remained there in anticipation of their sales date.

“I'm very grateful to Joe, who I've known for years since I worked at Castle Hyde Stud, and to everyone at Goffs for their help in arranging everything,” Minch says. “And Theresa Lotz has been working here at Hony-Hof since she was 18. She did her apprenticeship with us and then she stayed on for the last 12 years. She's been absolutely magnificent in the amount of work she's put in. The whole operation just wouldn't run without Theresa.”

There will be poignant days for himself, too, as the sale gets underway.

Minch says, “People have asked me, 'what are you going to do after the last mare goes to the ring?' And I said, 'I'm going to go down to the bar and have a double whiskey.' That's what I'll probably do. It's going to be an emotional moment, but we've known it's been coming for a year now and our job is to get this done and organised for the Hellwigs with the best possible result for them.”