'Dream Of Dreams' – Blue Point Sister To Bay City Roller Stars At Goffs Orby Sale

Joseph O'Brien was the big winner on day one of the Goffs Orby Sale with the trainer coming away with a number of six-figure yearlings, including the €850,000 Blue Point (Ire) half-sister to Classic contender Bay City Roller (Ire) (New Bay {GB}). 

Billed as one of the highlights of the sale, the sister (lot 114) to the unbeaten G2 Champagne Stakes winner was bought by European clients Agrolexica International Trading BV, who confirmed that the filly would be on her way to Owning Hill. 

The sale-topping figure almost brought Tom Whelan to his knees. Like Bay City Roller, the Blue Point filly was consigned by his Church View Stables on behalf of breeder John Connaughton, and there was little doubting what the result meant to those closest to the filly. 

Whelan said, “Ah sure I'm over the moon. I'd say I was half relaxed up until €500,000. After that, sure I lost the power in my legs! My legs started to go from under me. As the fella says, I came from a terraced house and worked hard all my life. To produce a horse like that–it's the dream of dreams. It's not a one-man job and I have two fellas at home. It's a big team effort to get these horses to the sales. Like Bay City Roller, this filly was bred by Mr Connaughton, who sends them to me for prepping. Bay City Roller has made the pedigree and, for the filly to get here in the shape that she did, everything just came together perfectly.”

He added, “This is one of my biggest days in the game. I sold a horse of my own once for €220,000 while, on the track, I'll never forget a horse called Sea The Lion finishing third in the Ebor. He was bred by Mr Connaughton and, after the horse broke down, we essentially nursed him back to life. The advice was to put him down but we got him back and he won close to €200,000 in prize-money. That was a great story to be associated with but I think this would have to rival it. We are living the dream.”

So, too is O'Brien. Along with the day one top lot, O'Brien will train the €500,000 Sea The Stars (Ire) colt [lot 145] on behalf of an unnamed major owner-breeder while the trainer also signed for a Starspangledbanner (Aus) filly [95] for €225,000. In total, O'Brien signed for just shy of €1 million worth of yearlings in his own name alone. 

Confirming that the Blue Point was on her way to O'Brien, Ananias Antoniadis said, “She has been bought by a central European client and will be trained by Joseph O'Brien. She has a very good pedigree and has good conformation also.”

Of the 246 lots offered on Tuesday, 210 were sold at a clearance rate of 85%. The turnover was up 11% to €25,028,500 while the average climbed 8% to €119,184 but the median fell by 2% to €80,000. 

Juddmonte Lands Half-Brother To Saffron Beach 

Juddmonte may have earned a reputation for being one of the world's best owner-breeders but the outfit's recruitment at public auction has led to big-race success on the track, most notably in the case of 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean (GB).

The team added a Lope De Vega (Ire) half-brother to dual Group 1 winner Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) (lot 219) to the squad for €750,000 with general manager Simon Mockridge explaining why the Ballylinch Stud-drafted colt was a good fit.

He said, “At the end of the day, he's a half-brother to a very good mare and Lope De Vega has had a tremendous season. All the right reasons; good individual, very nice horse, we need colts. He was an obvious one for us. You've got to pay for a nice horse.”

Mockridge added, “What's important is that you've got to look for a horse with a stallion's pedigree and that's certainly what he's got. Lope De Vega has had a fantastic season and had two new Classic winners this year. He is without a doubt a horse we have to look to, as we saw with the Middle Park winner [Shadow Of Light (GB)] at the weekend. This horse looks as though he would fit into the programme quite well for us.”

All told, Juddmonte spent €1.64 million on three colts after adding a Kingman (GB) [226] and a Frankel (GB) [243] to the team later in the session. 

Father And Son Team In Clover With 550k Lope De Vega Filly

The big results for Lope De Vega just kept on coming and John and Peter Fagan of Deerpark Stud enjoyed a moment to remember when the father and son team sold their filly (lot 112) by the stallion to Godolphin for €550,000.

Out of the Group 2-placed Bletchley (GB), who Deerpark Stud sourced for 200,000gns through Suzanne Roberts at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale, the result on Tuesday proved to be well worth the wait.

Peter said, “We're absolutely delighted. She is a gorgeous filly and hasn't put a foot wrong since she has been here. All credit has to go to the team at home. From my father John, our manager Patrick Kirwin, Rachel Harvey and Suzanne Roberts, who bought the mare for us. Lope De Vega is a fantastic stallion and he has danced every dance this year. 

“He's one of the best stallions in the world and is a fantastic broodmare sire on top of everything else. The mare cost us €200,000 and we had a few issues getting her in foal but this filly was worth waiting for.”

Delight For Doherty As Night Of Thunder Colt Clears 500k

Forenaghts Stud manager Caoimhe Doherty could scarcely hide her emotions after the farm's Night Of Thunder (Ire) colt (lot 79) out of Group performer American Apples (Fr) (American Post (GB) sold to Billy Jackson-Stops and George Scott for €500,000. 

Shrewdly bought at Arqana in 2021 for €130,000, American Apples has already repaid that outlay and there was no denying what the result meant to Doherty. 

She said, “We work so hard and there's just so much pressure. When you come here with a really nice horse you hope you are going to get paid. Like, we are a really small team; we've only 15 mares and 10 yearlings this year. This is the highest-priced horse I've ever sold. Tony Smurfit gave me a massive job and I don't know why he gave it to me!”

Doherty added, “This is an amazing result and I just can't believe it. Tony and I loved the horse from day one. We love Night Of Thunder and are massively invested in him. This is the first foal out of the mare who we bought on one bid in France. She is the most beautiful mare and it's just so exciting.”

It was at this sale last year where, alongside Jackson-Stops, Scott stuck his chest out on Bay City Roller. Victorious Racing has now become an increasingly important backer to Scott's Newmarket stable and the trainer shared why the Night Of Thunder colt topped his wishlist on Tuesday. 

The trainer said, “He showed himself better and better over the last couple of days,” said Scott. “Night Of Thunder has done phenomenally well and he's a really strong, forward-going sort of horse, just the type we try to buy. Obviously we had a lot of luck at this sale last year so we were keen to come back and find the standout horse in this year's sale. We felt he was the right horse. 

“He's been bought for Victorious Racing, who we've had nine stakes winners for this year. It's been an exciting year and we're looking to build on that, if possible. He was the only horse we were concentrating on today and it doesn't often work out that you manage to get the only one you want. It's a relief and we were very much stretched at that point. We got the horse though and we're really excited about him.” 

Top Owner Harris Finds Potential Suitor For Top-Class Sprinter Mill Stream

Former breeder and owner of high-class sprinter Mill Stream (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) Peter Harris marked his first trip to Goffs in over a decade by snapping up a Blue Point filly from a family he knows well for €580,000. Consigned by Castlebridge, lot 166 hails from Sea The Stars filly Copplestone (Ire), herself a sister to Irish Derby third Stellar Mass (Ire). 

“I bred all of the family much earlier on, that's really why I wanted her,” Harris explained. “She is a really nice filly and is well-related. You've got to keep it going. She'll probably go to Adam Kirby to be broken in and then she'll go to Jane Chapple-Hyam. It is more than I expected to pay but not dramatically so.”

Asked if his new recruit might one day visit Mill Stream when he retires to stud, Harris, who bought the filly through Anthony Stroud, replied, “It would depend on distance because we'll have to see what distance she will turn out to be best over. But at least it would be free if I did decide to do that! I could save myself some money. When I was training, I used to come here and buy 12 yearlings every year. That was a good number because you would fill the lorry with 12 horses which meant they didn't have to go anywhere else on the way home. The last time I was here was in 2008. I don't think there's any chance of us buying 12 but we have a list for tomorrow so who knows.”

Talking Points

• Oliver St Lawrence was quick off the mark to snap up lot 10, one of six Frankels in the sale, for €780,000. The well-related Frankel colt was offered by Imad Al Sagar's Blue Diamond Stud. “He's by Frankel, who needs no introduction to any of us,” St Lawrence said. “He's a big, strong, good-moving horse; the type that one can't help but like. I don't really know where he'll go but he'll head back to England for a client I don't often buy for.” St Lawrence added, “I wouldn't have bid too much more than that, I think that's about what he was worth. There's some really nice stock here generally and I think it's an improvement on last year. There's some nice, solid horses out there and I think Goffs have done a good job.”
• Lope De Vega enjoyed a sale to remember with Juddmonte and Godolphin, two of the powerhouse operations, signing for a colt and a filly by the stallion for €750,000 and €550,000 respectively. The Ballylinch Stud-based stallion ended the session with a €2,097,000 aggregate for eight yearlings sold.
• Bloodstock agent Richard Knight struck for a St Mark's Basilica (Fr) half-sister to recent St Leger winner Jan Brueghel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) on behalf of Salhia Stud for €460,000. The filly was consigned by Barronstown Stud. 

Pinhooking Fortunes On Tuesday

Of the 262 horses catalogued during Tuesday's session, 68 were pinhooks, and after two withdrawals, 66 horses passed through the ring. A total of six did not meet their reserves and were buy-backs, leaving 60 yearlings marked as sold. Of the latter group, 43 made a profit, and 17 lots lost money.

We have multiplied the price of the foal by 1.1 and added a running cost of €12,000 for keep, feed, veterinary, shoeing, sales prep and sales entry fees. Depending on whether someone has their own farm, or where they choose to board a horse, will obviously mean that costs for each individual can vary significantly.

It is worth noting that sometimes a horse can appear to be bought and sold by different names but have actually not changed ownership at all.

Golden Touch 

A lot of pinhookers have been swimming against the tide this year. Not Peter Nolan. Following on from a successful Premier Yearling Sale at Doncaster, where, along with his wife Katy, Nolan turned €22,000 into £100,000, he hit the back of the net again.

He may be better associated with his endeavors over jumps, but Nolan proved that his first forays with pinhooking foals on the level was by no means a fluke and followed up his Donny exploits by selling a Twilight Son filly for €100,000 on Tuesday. 

Sold to Kilbride Equine for €100,000, lot 91 had been sourced by the Nolans for just 19,000gns at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale last year. 

Peter said, “There's times you happen on a bunch like we did this year. We concentrated solely on buying foals last and it was probably the first year in a long time where we didn't consign foals. That meant we had more time and approached the whole thing a bit more professionally, really.”

Katy added, “We worked hard. I'd say there wasn't a single foal we didn't see at the sales. Neither of us are overly fussed stallion-wise, hence why we bought a Twilight Son, but we are sticklers for conformation.”

Nolan has become an increasingly important wheel in Noel Meade's operation. The pair have bought countless good horses together for a song, including this year's Oaks fifth Caught U Looking (Ire) (Harzand {Ire}). 

Outside of the bigger outfits, few pinhookers have had much to shout about in Europe over the past few weeks, but Nolan proves that, even in a difficult market, it is possible to turn a few quid. 

He said, “The two fillies that we really wanted last year were the Churchill and the Twilight Son. My father always said, 'if you like a horse that much, generally the next man will, too.' The Twilight Son was a lovely foal. She was quite toed out as a foal and we did a lot of work with her but most of it came naturally. We sold a Lucky Vega (Ire) filly as well today for €90,000. She cost us €42,000 so it has been a good few weeks for us. Touch wood, it continues. 

“I'm probably more of a jumps man but I have always liked the Flat side of things. Katy is more into the Flat and, since we have gotten married, it's been a good auld team. My father was a very, very good judge of a horse. He probably never had enough money to really make a go of it. But he was very good. And this one [Katy] is not too bad, either!”