Princess Reigns Over Goffs At 1.9m

Her weanling daughter stole the show on Wednesday but as the mare sale got underway at Goffs it was the turn of Inca Princess (Ire) (lot 970) to claim the limelight, and the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) eventually elicited a sale-topping bid of €1.9 million from Laurent Benoit.

The French agent, who outbid Ballylinch Stud's John O'Connor after other challengers, including Joe Foley and Will Douglass, had dropped away, was reluctant to divulge the name of his client, saying simply that it was “an amazing opportunity to buy a mare like this.”

Still only nine but already the dam of two Group winners by Galileo (Ire) in G1 Criterium International winner Johannes Vermeer (Ire) and G2 Kilboy Estates S. winner Elizabeth Browning (Ire), Inca Princess is again carrying to the stallion with whom she has been exclusively mated since retiring to stud in 2011.

Her appearance in the ring, as well as that of her €1.1 million foal sale-topping daughter, comes as the result of the China Horse Club and John Magnier dissolving their Desert Star Phoenix partnership, and their presence, along with a host of mares and foals owned either solely by Teo Ah Khing's China Horse Club or with various affiliates, has given a significant boost to the November trade.

Within seven lots, a little over €4.5 million had been added to the coffers for just four mares, three of whom are carrying to Galileo. Benoit was back in action in an attempt to buy lot 973, the dual Australian Group 1 winner Melito (Aus) (Redoute's Choice), whose Galileo colt sold to Ken Bolger for €625,000 on Wednesday. After an agonisingly drawn out bidding process, which had started as low as €30,000, he eventually gave way to Hiro Kawasaki at €950,000.

Kawasaki was representing the 11-year-old mare's buyer Katsumi Yoshida, whose family already race her eldest son, the five-time winner Campbell Junior (Aus) (Encosta De Lago {Aus}) who has also been runner-up in the GIII Lord Derby Trophy in Japan.

He said, “She will be going straight back to Japan. She should suit some of the Japanese stallions, perhaps Deep Impact or Heart's Cry.”

Muravka (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), the dam of G1 Darley Prix Morny winner The Wow Signal (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), was offered barren as lot 971 and she will join the elite band of mares at Barronstown Stud after David Nagle bid €950,000 for the nine-year-old.

Mystery surrounds the next stop for the well-travelled Fix (NZ) (Iffraaj {GB}), but Tom Goff managed to secure the dual Group 2 winner in foal to Galileo for €750,000 and said, “She's a lovely, roomy mare who looks to be carrying a good-sized foal. It's a fantastic pedigree which goes back to Showcasing (GB) and Prophecy (Ire) and I'm absolutely over the moon to have been able to buy her.”

Sold as lot 976, Fix is a daughter of the unraced Destined (GB) (Danehill), who was bought from the Tattersalls December Sale of 2005 by New Zealand agent Paul Moroney for 35,000gns. Her half-brother, the Chris Waller-trained treble Group 1 winner Foreteller (GB) (Dansili {GB}), was another to have been bought from Juddmonte's December draft, by Moroney's fellow New Zealander Guy Mulcaster.

Fix's first foal, also by Galileo, had sold 24 hours earlier for €400,000.

Godolphin Boost
A respectable clearance rate of 85% was achieved from the first offering of mares, with 197 of the 233 offered sold for turnover of €13,239,250. This represented a decline of 29% from last year's sale which featured the major dispersal of the Wildenstein horses. The average also dropped, by 22% to €67,204, and the median was down by 10% to €27,000.

The Castlebridge Consignment is way out in front with ring receipts of almost €6.3 million but Godolphin's sizeable draft also added €1.3 million to the day's takings. Much reduced from last year's sale, there were still 41 lots on offer, and Forenaghts Stud, Katsumi Yoshida, Tally-Ho Stud, Kirsten Rausing and Jamie Spencer were among the breeders to have picked up well-bred fillies and mares from the consignment.

Convocate Goes Home
The Garranlea Stud draft, which had turned over €448,000 for three foals earlier in the week, offered lot 914, the Exchange Rate mare Convocate in foal to Galileo, and she fetched a bid of €400,000 from Eddie Irwin of Marlhill House Stud who bought out his partner China Horse Club.

Irwin had also gone to €120,000 for the preceding lot (913) Ponty Acclaim (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), owned in the same partnership. The 8-year-old former winner of the G3 Cornwallis S. is in foal to Pride Of Dubai (Aus) and has colts by Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Australia (GB) to race for her.

One from the same draft that got away, however, was lot 912, Thai Haku (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}), the dam of eye-catching recent maiden winner Sarrocchi (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who herself topped the recent horses-in-training sale at Goffs for €215,000 before winning on debut at Leopardstown for Aidan O'Brien.

BBA Ireland's Michael Donohoe, acting for an undisclosed client, bought the 10-year-old carrying to Lope De Vega (Ire) for €250,000.

“The 2-year-old was impressive at Leopardstown and she could be anything,” he said. “I actually thought the mare was good value, we would have been prepared to pay more.”

Proven Producer The Pick
Drafts from the Aga Khan Studs can never be overlooked and Ebalista proved to be the star of the 19-strong consignment when selling to Dermot Cantillon for €300,000.

Offered as lot 905, the 12-year-old dam of G2 Prix de Royallieu winner Ebiyza (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) and two other black-type earners, was bought for Tony Smurfit's Forenaghts Stud and is in foal on a May 7 cover to the highly sought-after Siyouni (Fr).

“She's out of a champion from one of the Aga Khan's very best families and she's in foal to a very good horse. I love these proven producers,” said Cantillon.

The following lot (906) was another member of the family, Elbasana (Ire) (Indian Ridge {GB}), a half-sister to the G1 Ascot Gold Cup winners Estimate (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}) and Enzeli (Ire) (Kahyasi {GB}). Sold carrying to Gleneagles (Ire), the dam of Group 3 winner Edelmira (Ire) (Peintre Celebre) was bought for €150,000 by BBA Ireland.

Just over €1 million was added to the day's turnover from the Aga Khan's draft, which included the 3-year-old maiden Alaykha (Ire) (Sinndar {Ire}) (lot 1017), who will race on from the stable of Gary Moore, who bought her for €42,000.

The second and final session of fillies and mares begins at 10am today, with two more days of foals to sell over the weekend.