Praise For Goffs As 135k Sioux Nation Colt Brings Curtain Down On Orby Sale

Galbertstown Stables boss Pa Doyle described trade at Goffs this week as “very strong for the nice horses” after selling a Sioux Nation half-brother to Diego Ventura (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) to Tally-Ho Stud for €135,000. 

That was the highest-price paid on Friday as the curtain came down on Book 2 where a 72% clearance rate [down 3% on last year] was posted. The turnover for 322 sold was down 18% to €6,603,800 while the average fell by 8% to €20,509 and the median by 14% to €15,000. 

As is clearly illustrated in the numbers, the demand is for the top tier horses. Below that level, things get a little trickier. Tally-Ho boss Tony O'Callaghan has seen his share of market trends and reiterated that trade was strong if you had the right horse. For those in the lower brackets, they struggled.

“He has the pedigree and is a good stamp of a horse,” O'Callaghan reflected on the half-brother to the 104-rated juvenile. “The trade is good enough–there were six or seven bidders for that horse. Trade is good for the nice horses. Everyone wants the nice horses. Nobody wants a bad horse.”

Asked if the Sioux Nation colt (lot 837) was bought to go breezing, O'Callaghan said, “For the moment anyway. Things change. But sure we raced the half-brother [Diego Ventura]. We breezed him, sold some of him to Gavin Cromwell and, as the saying goes, the rest is history. 

“Everyone needs to up the ante and, if they don't get a good horse, take the hit and be done with it. Nobody wants a bad horse. The standard in Ireland is massive. You go to the Curragh, Aidan [O'Brien] could have three in a maiden. That's an eye-opener. They set a great example. We may try and compete.”

Doyle agreed. And on top of that, the leading consignor singled out Goffs for special praise for attracting a diverse buying bench, even in times of increased polarisation. 

“Sean Ronan bred the Sioux Nation,” he explained. “They put a lot into it and this was as good a horse as I have ever brought to Book 2 here. We sold his brother here last year but I think this is a more balanced horse. You'll definitely hear more of this horse when he hits the racetrack. He's by a proper sire and everything worked out in time for the sale. He was always going to come here and hopefully it'll be onwards and upwards as he's gone to a good home.

“Coming up here this week, we didn't know what to make of the market and nobody could predict how it would go. But this was a good sale. Definitely. It was full of nice horses and there was a lot of money here for those nice horses. Plenty of people were here from all over the world for Book 1 and Book 2 so fair play to Goffs.”

Reflecting on Book 2 in particular, he said, “I thought Book 2 was a very simple sale to work. Any sort of a nice horse made money. Even our own horse, everybody wanted him. But again, the credit has to go to Goffs. Book 2 here last year was bad. But typical of Goffs, they went away and upped their game. Everybody came back here because Goffs do a great job and the sellers have a lot of trust in the sales company. If they make a mistake, which they did last year, they correct it twice over. I think we saw that here this week. It was very strong for the nice horses.”

The O'Callaghans also signed for a Cotai Glory (GB) colt alongside Valfredo Valiani for €60,000, with the Italian agent reporting lot 808 would likely be for breezing as well. 

Valiani said, “He's not the first horse I have bought for them. They did well with a Blue Point (Ire) filly that I bought for them as well. I saw this Cotai Glory colt who I liked a lot and Roger, Henry and Tony went to look at him and they liked him as well. Thankfully he was a nice horse. You know, they are great people and I love working for them. They are extremely professional and I am always learning from them as well. They are very good at what they do.”

He added, “I bought an Earthlight (Ire) filly for €90,000 in Book 1 for a big Italian stable and I have bought a few more in Book 2 who are going back to Italy as well. It's been a good week.”

Beeby Addresses Dip In Book 2 Figures

It's not like Henry Beeby has gone around this week with the attitude of, 'well, the market is black and white so we have to just accept the middle bracket is going to struggle.' The team worked hard to get the horses and the buyers here and, as Doyle pointed out, there was a healthy buying bench at all levels. The figures were down drastically on last year's Book 2 session, but Beeby was keen for that not to take the gloss of what was respectable trade during Book 1. 

He said, “On Wednesday we celebrated a superb renewal of Orby Book 1 that defied many pre-sale predications with a sale of vibrancy and depth as a truly international buying bench did battle for many of the finest thoroughbred yearlings to be offered this year. We are extremely proud of the results with feedback from both vendors and purchasers proving overwhelmingly positive about the quality of horses, the Goffs service and the results in the ring as we grew the numbers in each metric over the average headed by the magnificent top price of €2 million.

“The last two days have been very different however, as the numbers are some way off what any of us would like and well behind the last two years. A clearance rate of 72% is not the most positive and all the key statistics are back to 2021 levels which is disappointing notwithstanding they mirror trends seen at every other second tier European yearling sale so far and competition for the good ones has been as fierce as ever.”

He added, “As an auction house we exist to serve breeders and provide a marketplace to the best of our ability by investing huge time and resource into every area with marketing, travel, incentives and so much more. That we have done, even if some may say it is not enough, and it could be that these two days are simply following the market correction trends that are going to be the story of 2024. So, we will analyse, review and discuss with the benefit of time and reflection before we make any finite decisions about the format or numbers in Orby Book 2. Frankly it is too easy to say “catalogue less” when so many breeders look to Goffs to sell their produce and our question in reply would be to ask “what about the rest?” There is no silver bullet to the current issues and the “polarisation” of the market has been building momentum for a few years as evidenced by so many sales company statements (ours included) and commentators making the word the most overused in the bloodstock world. Indeed, it has become very evident that those yearlings that do not have it all – pedigree, “fashionable” sire and conformation – are roundly rejected as there is always another to buy with so much choice and catalogues growing. That means the market is speaking, and loudly, and it is up to all of us to work together to navigate our way through this latest downturn although when one considers events in the wider world it could be argued that we aren't doing too badly.

“Accordingly, we will take our time to reflect and decide how we react for the benefit of Irish breeders as Goffs primary function is to serve them. We'll work with ITM to explore how to make the sale more attractive to overseas buyers who are so vital to the marketplace although that will not happen until we see the take up and footfall at our Autumn Yearling Sale in a few weeks' time as it is worth remembering the huge numbers of Italian and Eastern European purchasers that have flocked to Kildare Paddocks in early November over the past few years.

“For now, I repeat our supreme appreciation of every purchaser and each vendor for their support throughout the week. The Irish National Yearling Sale is arguably the most important week of the year for Irish breeders and there were so many true highlights for a lot of vendors including some great stories across all four days whilst we were proud to welcome so many international visitors to Kildare Paddocks.”

Lupini Continues Support Of Saxon Warrior

Natalia Lupini is one of the most upwardly mobile trainers in Ireland. Along with her partner Craig Bryson, the Italian native swooped for a Saxon Warrior (Jpn) colt from the Castlebridge Consignment for €65,000. 

Bryson said, “Saint Brandon (Ire), who won his maiden at Down Royal, will go for a valuable auction series final at Naas next week and he is by Saxon Warrior. We've another lovely horse by the sire in the yard so we are big fans of him. We like Saxon Warrior crossed with Invincible Spirit, so we were happy to get lot 887. He has a good walk and is a nice-looking horse. People have probably gone a little bit off the sire but he gets nice horses and they have a wee bit of class so they suit us.”

Lupini's stable is a trading one. The wheels need to keep turning in order to keep the stable lights switched on. After an admittedly sluggish start to the campaign, the stable has posted nine winners domestically, five of which were two-year-olds. 

Bryson continued, “We were a bit quiet at the start of the year but we just bided our time a bit and the horses came to themselves in the second half of the season. It's all come good in the end and we're happy with the season we've had. We've had five two-year-old winners and there are a few nice ones still to run. We've bought four yearlings this year.”

Pinhooking Fortunes On Friday

Of the 220 horses catalogued during Friday's session, 49 were pinhooks, and after two withdrawals, 47 horses visited the ring. A total of 11 did not meet their reserves and were buy-backs, leaving 36 yearlings marked as sold. Of the latter group, nine made a profit ranging from €1,400 to €17,200. A total of 27 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.

Buy of the Day

Janda Bloodstock is an important buyer at the middle market and there is a strong chance that the Eastern European buyer picked up a nice prospect for his clients in lot 923, a Tamayuz (GB) colt who cost €30,000. Offered by Coneyboro Stud Farm, the colt is a half-brother to the 97-rated Maximilian Caesar (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and looks every inch a racehorse. He looks very well bought.

Thought for the Day

Goffs is without doubt one of the best sales companies to socialise at. The balcony restaurant in particular offers a brilliant dining experience and many a good evening/night has been spent there. But do you know what would elevate the whole experience? A live feed from the back ring. Think about it. You're having your lunch, and rather than a big green bid board with numbers that mean nothing to look at, you could have the horses parading in the back ring to feast your eyes upon. If one person happens to look up at the screen, see something they like and then follow that horse into the ring, well then it has to be deemed a worthwhile idea. It can be exhausting work bargain hunting at the sales. In these days where such technology is relatively easy to utilise, this could be something that might take off and could complement the bid boards that are placed within the restaurants and bars around the complex.