Goffs UK staged a pair of sales at its Doncaster headquarters on Thursday: the Autumn Horses-in-Training & Autumn Yearling Sales and the Silver Yearling Sale, which was amalgamated with the Autumn sales for 2020 due to the rescheduling necessitated by COVID-19. The Autumn Sale also had a new look in 2020 due to the movement of the point-to-point and form horse session to its own dedicated sale later in the calendar, and as such comparisons with last year are insignificant.
An offering of 129 horses in training kicked off proceedings, with the Philip Hobbs-trained jumper Crooks Peak (GB) (Arcadio {Ger}) (lot 131) leading the way when bought by Ryan Mahon for £36,000. Sir Robert Ogden's 4-year-old filly Arctic Fox (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) (lot 73), a three-time winner, was bought by Martin Todhunter for £25,000. In all, 97 were sold during the horses in training portion for an aggregate of £519,200, an average of £5,353 and a median of £3,500.
The Silver Yearling Sale saw 51 offered, with 32 selling for £148,600. The average was £4,644 and the median £4,150. A filly by War Command (lot 208) led the way, having been bought by Tony Coyle and David Bishop for £12,000. She is the first foal out of Bridge Poseidon (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), a six-time winning half-sister to Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Brusque (Canaveral). Colts by Mondialiste (Ire) and Pride of Dubai (Aus) each fetched £10,000.
The Autumn yearlings portion of the sale was topped by a first-crop daughter of Overbury Stud's G1 Irish Derby and G1 Dubai Sheema Classic winner Jack Hobbs; lot 302 was selected by Ian Pallas for £15,000. A quartet made £10,000: colts by Swiss Spirit (GB) and Cable Bay (Ire), and fillies by Outstrip (GB) and Territories (Ire). In all, 49 were offered as part of the Autumn yearling sale, with 31 sold for £125,600, an average of £4,052 and a median of £2,000.
Goffs UK Managing Director Tim Kent said, “This year's Autumn Sale was very different to previous years with the addition of the Silver Yearling Sale and the absence of a point-to-point/form horse session. The Silver Yearling Sale is usually held in conjunction with the Premier Yearling Sale but due to the altered sales calendar we were forced to incorporate it into today's sale.
“A decision was also made to remove the sale's traditional point-to-point/form horse session and instead offer those horses in a new dedicated sale–the first of the autumn for 2020. As such we have introduced the November P2P Sale which, due to new government restrictions in Doncaster, will now be held at Yorton Farm Stud on Nov. 11.
“The changes above make direct comparisons very difficult, but we were satisfied with the level of trade achieved today as we exist to sell horses and that is exactly what we have done. We would therefore like to thank all of our clients for their participation today and wish buyers the best of luck with their new purchases.”
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