Paul Giles Pinching Himself after Sibling to Gimcrack Hero Sells for 350k at Goffs

When Moyfinn Stud's Paul Giles sold a Galileo Gold (GB) colt [lot 318] for £68,000 during the second day of the Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale, it was said to be the most money he'd ever received for a horse in his life. So, what was Giles thinking just a short time later when his three-parts brother to last week's G2 Gimcrack Stakes winner Cool Hoof Luke (GB) sold to Amanda Skiffington for £350,000, the third highest price in the sale's history?

“That sort of money was what I dreamed of, it's not what I expected–you have to pinch yourself a bit,” the County Meath native summed up. “I've been in horses all of my life in one way or another and I've never had anything like that. As a matter of fact, the price I got for the other horse before was the biggest price I'd ever got in my life.”

“It's been a good day's business,” Giles added in understated fashion, still basking in the glory of a result which would never have happened had he not bought the Dutch Art (GB) mare Dutch Monument (GB) for just 15,000gns at the 2022 Tattersalls December Mares Sale.

At the time of the sale Dutch Monument was carrying the Tasleet (GB) colt who on Wednesday prowled around the Doncaster sales ring as lot 334, while the son of Advertise (GB) who gave the pedigree the ultimate update around 45 miles north of here last week was still four months shy of his first birthday.

Telling the story of how he came to buy Dutch Monument, Giles said, “I was in Newmarket and I was looking for a mare for my two nephews and maybe myself. I was looking for three days but everything we picked out went out of our reach.

“This mare caught my eye when she was coming around the parade ring and then she caught my eye again, so I asked the boys what they thought. We took her out, had a look, and asked what the reserve was. Thankfully, she fell within budget–it was just a stroke of luck.”

Skiffington was also counting her lucky stars after seeing off the attentions of two buyers who have been prolific at Doncaster this week. Highflyer's Anthony Bromley helped to set a brisk early tempo, but it was Oliver St Lawrence who provided the stiffest resistance before crying enough when the bidding reached £350,000.

“It was horrible,” Skiffington said of the battle, scarcely able to hide her affection for the colt who will carry Fiona Carmichael's familiar purple and green-starred silks when he makes it to the racecourse, although who will train him is yet to be confirmed.

“He's just a lovely individual and he's got the pedigree, too. I happen to love Dutch Art mares. There was a lot I really liked about him. I loved the horse and my whole team loved him. We hoped he'd be a bit less, but with that upgrade last week he was never going to be cheap.”

Dutch Monument herself is out of Lovina (Ity) (Love The Groom), who was placed at Listed level in Italy and has produced four black-type performers in the land of her birth, including the Italian 1,000 Guineas heroine Lokaloka (GB) (Pursuit Of Love {GB}).

Fireworks at #GoffsPremier as Lot 334, the Moyfinn Stud consigned Tasleet half-brother to G2 Gimcrack winner COOL HOOF LUKE, is knocked down to Amanda Skiffington for £350,000🧨

The highest price of the sale so far…#TalentSpotting | #DonnyRockets pic.twitter.com/3IZFGTQbJG

— Goffs UK (@GoffsUK) August 28, 2024

With 27 horses selling for £100,000 or more, the demand for the top bracket horses at Goffs remained strong. However, a 82% clearance rate followed by a 8% dip in the aggregate to £14,972,500 illustrated the difficulties at the middle to lower tiers. The average also fell by 14% to £39,610 and the median by the same percentage to £30,000.

Goffs UK managing director Tim Kent commented, “We're perfectly satisfied with the trade that we've witnessed across two solid days at the Premier Sale. The car parks have been full since Sunday morning and there was plenty of traffic through the yards in advance of the sale, so we were hopeful of a good trade but there was an understandable nervousness before we started. However, the nerves were quickly settled when the sale started strongly and it has continued in a similar vein from start to finish, which was a pleasant surprise for vendors, purchasers, and the sales company representatives!

“The top of the market was particularly strong with 27 horses selling for £100,000 or more whilst four yearlings sold for more than last year's top price of £200,000, with the £350,000 top price being the third highest in the sale's history – a fantastic result for the Moyfinn Stud team.”

He added, “Whilst we are proud of the 82% clearance rate, it would be remiss of us not to acknowledge the continued selectivity within the market, and this was evidenced by some yearlings who didn't 'tick all the boxes' being sold for a price which would have been unimaginable in the past. However, when you consider that there are a huge number of factors that determine the success of a sale, many of which are out of our control, I think we will look back on Premier at the end of the sales season and reflect on a very satisfactory two days in Doncaster.

“Buyers this week are all eligible for Harry's Half Million, which was run for the first time at York last week and had a prize fund of over £625,000. It has been great to hear so many people saying that they are buying with next year's race in mind and we look forward to seeing these horses on the racecourse whilst more immediately, we will work towards the Goffs Orby Sale on 1 – 4 October which contains the only qualifiers for the Goffs Million plus the €1,000,000 worth of bonuses available to graduates of this sale. See you there!”

Starman Plays A Star Role

Yearlings by Starman (GB) certainly caught the imagination. Lot 252 became the first six-figure yearling of the day when the colt sold to Richard and Peter Fahey for £105,000. He also achieved the notable feat of being the first yearling by Starman to sell for a six-figure sum at public auction, setting the path for what came later in the day when two more followed, including another colt by the July Cup winner who was knocked down to Oliver St Lawrence on behalf of Bahraini buyers for £220,000.

Of the 27 yearlings by Starman offered at the sale, 25 were sold at an average of £52,360 and an aggregate of £1,309,000. Out of the five highest-priced lots, he was responsible for two of them.

Lot 458, the most expensive of his bunch, was consigned by Monksland Stables and is out of an unraced half-sister to Queen Supreme (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), a multiple Group 1 winner in South Africa. His two-year-old half-brother, Assertively (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), finished fourth in a Group 3 at Baden-Baden earlier in the afternoon.

“He stood out for us as the colt we wanted today,” said St Lawrence after he'd trumped the competition with a late bid, causing a one-word expletive from Ed Sackville to be aimed in his direction during the post-sale media debrief.

“I know we bid more for the Tasleet, but this one was a lovely-moving colt and the two-year-old ran well today. Archie Watson went to see him and I think Archie will get him, although I'm not promising anything!”

“There are some nice ones around,” he added of the Starman yearlings he'd seen over the course of a few days in South Yorkshire. “They're quite big–some of them look very big for Doncaster. Doncaster traditionally has a lot of small horses.

“We'll see. We're obviously taking a risk on Starman being a good stallion, but there are definitely some nice ones around.”

That view was shared by Daniel Creighton, who struck at £185,000 for a filly out of the G3 Dick Poole Fillies' Stakes runner-up Lady Aria (GB) (Kodiac {GB}). She was consigned by Tally-Ho Stud who stand the first-season sire.

“I've been impressed with the Starmans that I've seen but she stood out,” Creighton said of lot 416. “She goes to Karl Burke and has been bought for Ryan Kent. We came here to try and buy a horse for Royal Ascot for next year and she ticked a lot of the boxes on her pedigree. It's a very fast family with loads of two-year-olds in it.”

“I got beaten by the Big Mojo man on the Showcasing, but I was saving a bit back because I really liked this filly,” he added when reflecting on a near-miss earlier in the day. “We'll find out next year if it pays off!”

Quirke's Got His Mojo

Conor Quirke was the “Big Mojo man” in question and lot 316 was the Showcasing (GB) colt on whom Creighton had to settle for the role of underbidder. Offered by Whitsbury Manor Stud, he is the third foal out of the Listed-placed mare Dancing Warrior (GB) (War Command).

Creighton, positioned on the balcony opposite the rostrum with Karl Burke for company, pushed Quirke all the way but a bid of £140,000 was enough to secure the colt for the RP Racing team which has enjoyed notable success with the Breeders' Cup winner Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), as well as last month's G3 Molecomb Stakes scorer Big Mojo (Ire) (Mohaather {GB}).

“The sire is very much proven, but he's not flavour of the month, per se,” said Quirke. “I didn't think he'd cost that much, but he was the nicest horse in the sale, in my opinion.

“We were in good company. Karl Burke was the underbidder and he knows a good Showcasing when he sees one. At the end of the day when you go from 100 grand to 140 grand, is there that much difference? The owner wasn't going to lose over five grand and we were very happy with the result and to get a nice horse.”

He continued, “With Big Evs retiring it's great to have a horse to fill his boots and, if Big Mojo goes full circle and does the same as Big Evs, then we'll need one of these two-year-olds to step up next year.”

Incidentally, this colt was one of two yearlings by Showcasing to make six figures at the sale, with Oliver St Lawrence also going to £130,000 for a filly [lot 357] offered by the National Stud, on behalf of Sally Nicholls.

It was certainly an afternoon's work well done by the National Stud and Nicholls. Just a few lots earlier they'd teamed up to sell a Havana Grey (GB) colt [lot 349] who made £100,000 on the bid of Richard Hughes.

Eco-Power Ramping Up Its Involvement In Racing

You might have called home a winner or two in the Eco-Power Stand at Doncaster Racecourse at some stage, but you might not be aware that those involved with the locally-based waste management company are quietly starting to get seriously involved in racehorse ownership through their Eco-Power Racing enterprise.

Two-year-old filly Royalty Bay (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), runner-up in July's G3 Prix Six Perfections at Deauville, is perhaps the most talented performer to have carried their green and yellow silks to date, one of eight individual runners for the team this year spread between the Malton yards of John and Sean Quinn and Seb Spencer.

During yesterday's session John Kilbride added three fillies to the Eco-Power Racing ranks for a total of £138,000, but things stepped up a gear on Wednesday with the purchase of two six-figure colts.

Lot 307, a Blue Point (Ire) from Tally-Ho Stud, was the first recruit at £125,000, before that fee was trumped by the £140,000 paid for lot 382, a son of Havana Grey (GB) offered by Whatton Manor Stud on behalf of Denniff Farms.

“We're trying to populate our stable with good horses to run on the big days next year,” Kilbride said of the team's approach. “Quality is the key. It's very much a new operation, learning as it goes along. There have been teething problems, possibly, but we want to be around forever, we want longevity, and we're trying to do it the right way.”

The breeders of the Havana Grey colt certainly know a thing or two about longevity and the result was an emotional one for Fiona Denniff, who needed husband Mick to do most of the talking afterwards as she blinked back the tears.

“We knew he was a very, very nice horse,” Mick summed up. “You can see from Fiona's reaction that we're more than happy with that. It's fantastic because we've had quite a difficult year. We'd prefer not to talk about that.”

“The family has just been so good to us,” Fiona was eventually able to muster. “I bought Hill Welcome here for £3,000. She's a star and she's retired at home–she's still there at 26.”

This colt's dam, Guarded Secret (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) retired as a four-race maiden, but she's a half-sister to three black-type performers out of Fiona's beloved Hill Welcome, including Mary Read (GB) (Bahamian Bounty {GB}) and Tiana (GB) (Diktat {GB}), both of whom were placed at Listed level.

Mary Read is in turn the second dam of the high-class sprinter Kachy (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}), while Tiana has produced four black-type performers, headed by the multiple Group 2 winner Beat The Bank (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}).

Talking points

• Highflyer Bloodstock's Anthony Bromley and Classic-winning owner Phil Cunningham recorded a perfect 10 and ended the sale as the leading buyers. They spent a total of £1,010,000 on 10 yearlings over the course of the two days. The most expensive of the four added on Wednesday was the Night Of Thunder (Ire) colt who fetched £150,000 when going through the ring as lot 398. Consigned by Barton Stud, he is out of a half-sister to the G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes and G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Poet's Word (Ire), as well as the dual Group 3 scorer Malabar (GB) (Raven's Pass), who in turn is the dam of the G2 Hungerford Stakes victor Tiber Flow (Ire) (Caravaggio).
• There's no getting away from the fact we are living in an era of high fashion, which is why seeing the Tasleet colt topping the charts at £350,000 was extra cool. Nothing against your Havana Greys and Mehmases of this world, but there was something refreshing about seeing Tasleet, who now stands in India, doing the business with a big result. Granted, lot 334 benefited from a timely pedigree update, but Tasleet proved he can come up with a good one in Bradsell yet he was deemed surplus to requirements in Europe. It's the sort of result that can remind the folly of this business at times.
• Speaking of Mehmas and Havana Grey, their stock has never been higher. Mehmas cleared £1,164,000 for 16 yearlings sold while Havana Grey netted £1,033,000 for the same number of yearlings sold throughout the two days.
• You've got to hand it to Tally-Ho Stud, the operation is to Doncaster what Manchester City is to the Premier League; dominant. The O'Callaghan family sold 25 horses for a cool £1,610,000 this week. That follows on from £1,513,000 for 26 yearlings at this sale last year. But perhaps most pleasing, from a Tally-Ho point of view, was the performance of Starman.
• Just like at the V2 session of the August Sale at Arqana, some of the key figures took a dip at the Premier Yearling Sale, which was hardly surprising. A total of 27 horses clearing six figures would suggest that the top remains as strong, if not stronger, than ever. However, an 82% clearance rate along with a substantial drop in the aggregate, average and median, would suggest that the middle to lower tiers will remain tricky over the coming months.

Buy of the day

Tom Dascombe knows a thing or two about training two-year-olds and few would bet against him doing well with lot 336, a £50,000 Starman filly, who he purchased alongside Ed Sackville from Tally-Ho Stud. A sweet-looking filly who walks well and boasts plenty of action, she should have no trouble hitting the track next year. Given the progeny of Starman averaged a £67,308, Dascombe and Sackville can feel they got a bit of value.

Thought for the day

Another auctioneer-themed thought for Wednesday…..You've got to hand it to the team at Goffs, they did not hang about over the past two days. There were times on Tuesday and Wednesday where Henry Beeby and his fellow auctioneers became visibly annoyed by the pace things were moving at and they did their level best to hurry things along. In fact, there were one or two occasions where the selling had started when some of the yearlings hadn't even arrived into the ring! Compare that to Arqana last week where, when the sale hit a patchy part, some of the auctioneers' reactions were to slow the pace. Did it result in an upsurge in trade? No. We may never match the American sales houses for the speed at which business is conducted but hats off to Goffs for making a concerted effort. It can only be a benefit to everyone.