The two-day Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale concluded on Thursday with a filly by Sioux Nation heading the final session at €72,000.
Consigned by Noel O'Callaghan's Mountarmstrong Stud, lot 663 is a granddaughter of the G3 Prix du Bois winner Ela Merici (Fr) (Beaudelaire {Fr}) and was bought by the father-and-son team of Con and Neil Sands of Bronson Racing. The filly will be trained by Joseph O'Brien, who currently trains Bronson Racing's 92-rated winning juvenile Goa Gajah (Bay A Bali {Brz}).
A Mehmas (Ire) colt (lot 481) and a filly by his sire Acclamation (GB) (lot 609) each made €70,000. Oghill House Stud consigned the former, who caught the eye of Bobby O'Ryan. His great granddam was Dead Certain (GB) (Absolom {GB}), the winner of the 1989 G1 Cheveley Park S.
Lot 609, out of a Smart Strike half-sister to GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Hootenanny (Quality Road), was purchased by Jack Davison Racing from the Rathbarry Stud draft.
Thursday's trade resulted in 199 sold (76%) from 263 offered for a gross of €1,863,000. The average was €9,362 (-30%) and the median was €5,500 (-45%). Overall, 394 yearlings (77%) sold from 512 offered for a gross of €3,705,400. The average was €9,405 (-33%) and the median dropped to €5,500 (-39%), but it should be noted that the 2021 edition of the sale included a dispersal from Derrinstown Stud following the death of Shadwell's Sheikh Hamdan.
BBA Ireland was the leading buyer by gross over the two-day stand just like last year, and purchased 24 head for €264,300. Clare Manning's Boherguy Stud edged out David Cox's Baroda Stud for leading consignor, with 18 sold for €290,500 versus 26 sold for €236,500.
Goffs Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby said, “You're only as good as your last sale” is an oft used adage when analysing bloodstock sales and we are all guilty of only measuring against the immediate predecessor.
“Twelve months ago the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale benefited from a large dispersal from Derrinstown Stud following the sad passing of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum who was such a valued and revered supporter of Goffs. That draft accounted for a quarter of the turnover with eight of the top 10 prices and propelled the sale to record breaking levels headed by a top price of €180,000.
“Those lofty heights were always going to be out of reach and so it is that the statistics from the last two days are well behind 2021. However we are far from despondent when reviewing this year's renewal as it has finished ahead of every other incarnation of the Open/Autumn Yearling Sale since its inception in 2010 with a second-best turnover, average and median flowing from a reasonable clearance rate of 77%. Whilst some of these figures do not necessarily point to massive returns for breeders, they do demonstrate a vibrancy to the proceedings and those that appealed most had plenty of admirers.
“Demand over the two days has been driven by a truly international buying bench with a flood of overseas buyers headed by a large group from Italy who accounted for nigh on 100 yearlings and another strong contingent from Eastern Europe who bought over 50 with a further 20 plus heading for China. There were also significant parties from Scandinavia, Germany, the Gulf Region, Libya, USA and France taking on spirited bidders from the UK and Ireland. All of these international visitors were attracted to Kildare Paddocks by the reputation of Irish breeders and their world class bloodlines which allow our passionate Purchaser Attraction Team, working in tandem with our network of international agents and the team at Irish Thoroughbred Marketing, to trumpet their attributes on the global stage. How lucky we are to have the assistance of the latter group as they provide an invaluable and unique service to those who choose to sell here whilst the superb IRE Incentive is a real plus for sellers in Ireland.
“As the sale closes we can reflect on vibrant, strong and positive renewals of all three parts of the Irish National Yearling Sale, each of which graphically makes our case that Irish breeders can sell, and sell extremely well, to the world at Goffs as highlighted by the Orby sale topper of €2.6M which proved to be the world's top-priced yearling filly of 2022 and a high of €300,000 at Sportsman's, the highest priced yearling ever sold in Ireland outside the Orby Sale.”
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