By Brian Sheerin
Book 2 of the Goffs Orby Sale kicked off with joint top lots by Acclamation (GB) and Supremacy (Ire) at €80,000 with the gavel falling to trainer Johnny Murtagh and American buyers Legion Bloodstock respectively.
The Acclamation colt was consigned by Clare Manning of Bohergy Stud while the Supremacy filly was offered by Yeomanstown Stud and completed a strong spend from the overseas buyers throughout Book 1 and 2 at Kildare Paddocks this week.
Lot 611 represented a decent piece of business for Manning's client who sourced the colt out of black-type performer and proven producer Ascot Family (Ire) (Desert Style {Ire}) for €40,000 as a foal.
Manning said, “Scarlett Mullion pinhooked him. She bought him off Alice Kavanagh for €40,000 so it's a good result. He came to me in June and has just thrived ever since. Scarlett pinhooked two foals last year. Unfortunately, one of the foals didn't meet her expectations in Orby Book 1 so he actually went into training with Johnny. Johnny has come back around and bought this one so hopefully he turns out to be lucky.”
For Murtagh, he was simply returning to a source that had been lucky for him in the past.
He said, “I had a lot of luck over the years with Scarlett's granny Lady Clague. She was a pleasure to ride for [Winona, Key Change, Namid etc]. Scarlett gave a good report on the horse and he looks sharp and fast; a ready-made two-year-old. He could be one for the Goffs Bonuses and Million race. Hopefully after the weekend he'll look cheap.”
The Legion Bloodstock team have certainly provided a bit of colour to Goffs all week. Rarely spotted without a smile, the American buyers have clearly made the most of their trip to Ireland and followed up their Book 1 spend by adding the Supremacy filly to the haul.
“We got three horses out of Book 2 last year so we said we'd stick around again,” Kristian Villante explained. “We got a Starspangledbanner (Aus) colt for €300,000 in Book 1 and he is going to stay here. We also got a Sioux Nation filly that will stay here as well. We actually bought a couple of Advertises between Book 1 and 2 and they will come back to the States. It's really about the physique, which is why we like Advertise (GB).”
On the Supremacy filly (lot 718), he added, “I'm very happy with what we got today. She's out of a More Than Ready mare and looked a lot like him. She will come home with us and is an easy sell. Looked like an American horse, actually. I think we got good value and we really love coming over here.”
Of the 246 lots offered on day one, 175 were sold at a clearance rate of 70%. The median was down 23% to €15,000, the average fell 9% to €21,563 and the turnover also dipped 15% to €3,773,500.
Magic For Moanmore
The American flavour to the sale did not end there. Peter Vaughan of Moanmore Stables enjoyed a good result with a Tiz The Law colt (lot 662) bought in the States for just $8,000 selling to Eoin O'Sullivan for €60,000.
“We buy a few in Kentucky each year and liked this one as a model, so took a bit of a punt on him. We were just lucky that the sire has really taken off since,” Vaughan said. “He's got a good chance of being champion freshman sire in America and he had a nice winner for Aidan O'Brien at Listowel just the other day. We wish the buyers every success with him.”
Dods Does The Business
Henry Beeby implored buyers to shop the entirety of the sale rather than Book 1 and Michael Dods, who drew a blank in Book 1, made up for that by signing for three colts to the tune of €105,000 on Thursday. The spend was headed by a €70,000 Kodi Bear (Ire) from Railstown Stud with the British-based handler revealing that he would have one eye on the new Goffs-backed bonus races next year.
He said of lot 707, “It's a speedy pedigree. We didn't think we'd have to go to that far but it's a speedy pedigree and we're pleased to get him. This sale has been lucky for us so we like coming over here. We've got to look at the bonus races in Britain now and that definitely helps.”
Pinhooking Fortunes On Thursday
Of the 260 horses catalogued during Thursday's session, 77 were pinhooks, and after a single withdrawal, 76 horses visited the ring. A total of 15 did not meet their reserves and were buy-backs, leaving 61 yearlings marked as sold. Of the latter group, 20 made a profit ranging from €700 to €43,700. Forty-one 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
Hats off to Dan and Rory Maher of The Forge Stables in Templemore. The twin brothers won't be changing their address following the sale of their Twilight Son (GB) colt (lot 675) to Sean Grassick Bloodstock, but turning €1,500 into €30,000 in less than a year has to go down as a worthwhile exercise.
Dan said, “We loved his movement as a foal. Twilight Son is well able to get smart horses and hopefully he turns out to be lucky for the next man. It's a good day's work but we thought there was another few pound in him to be honest. In actual fact, I was disgusted he didn't make more because he's a belter!”
Buy of the Day
Donna Cowens and Nicky Souza de Oliveira of DNA Equine bought a nice horse on paper at least when snapping up a brother to Sylvester Kirk's smart two-year-old Brian (Ire) (Shaman {Ire}). Being a January foal, there's no doubt that lot 589 should be up to the demands of breezing and could look well bought at €18,000 come the spring.
Thought for the Day
We can all agree that a clatter of €50,000 bonuses in Ireland and Britain for the horses bought at Goffs this week is a brilliant initiative. The Goffs Million will take place next year as well, which is another huge positive. But are these bonuses as accessible as everyone thinks? Having canvassed the opinion of a number of buyers–including some top trainers–at Goffs on Thursday, many shared that they decided against paying the €5,000 fee to be eligible for such incentives. The feedback from those buyers was that €5,000 is simply too much to ask owners to stump up on top of the purchase price. Goffs will argue that, if you're not in you can't win, and the carrot here is quite a lucrative one. But during a time when trainers are struggling enough as it is to get orders, it's hard to argue with the point being made about the entry fee being too high.
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