By Daithi Harvey
KILDARE, Ireland–A bright, crisp morning at Kildare Paddocks greeted breeders, buyers and sellers on Monday for the opening session of Part 1 of the Goffs November Foal Sale. Trade resembled the outside temperature at times but held up reasonably well when compared with the corresponding day 12 months ago. Last year, a son of No Nay Never held sway when selling for €125,000 and it was another Coolmore son of Scat Daddy in Caravaggio who supplied the sale topper this time around when lot 88 sold for €100,000. Monday's clearance rate of 68%, while not a figure to get too excited about, was certainly a step back in the right direction after last year's figure of 59% while also encouraging was the 7% rise in the aggregate to €2,871,100. The average of €18,172 (-2%) and median of €14,000 (-7%) represented just minor decreases on 2018.
There were plenty of positive chatter about lot 88 throughout the morning and there was a noticeable increase in the audience numbers in the sale ring as the son of Coolmore's first-crop stallion Caravaggio made his entrance. The bids came hard and fast for the Altenbach Bloodstock-consigned colt and it was Peter Doyle who ultimately emerged on top with a bid of €100,000.
“He has been bought for resale,” Doyle confirmed of the son of Cape Joy (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}). “This is a lovely colt with a good walk and the Caravaggios look like nice horses and I'm looking forward to buying plenty more of them.”
This was the third six-figure lot that has been sold out of the mare following the three-time winner Motajaasid (Ire) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) in 2015 and the as of yet unraced 2-year-old Edge Of Town (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) who sold to Joe Foley last year for 130,000gns.
Altenbach's Alex Whitehead, wife of Powerstown Stud's Tom Whitehead was thrilled with the price the colt made for breeder Brigid Doyle.
“It's a great result, the mare has been very lucky and Caravaggio is obviously a very exciting young stallion,” Whitehead said.
On what was a great day for Coolmore stallions, a son of Starspangledbanner (Aus) became the session's second-highest priced foal late in the day when selling to Eddie O'Leary's Lynn Lodge Stud for €88,000. Lot 262, presented by Cloneymore Farm as the first foal out of the dual winner Rely On Me (Ire) (Kyllachy {GB}) will make a return trip to the sales ring next year. Lot 190, a filly by Camelot (GB) and one of only two foals by the sire catalogued in the session proved popular when selling to Jamie Railton for €72,000. Railton got the better of Joseph O'Brien for the daughter of the Jim Bolger bred Lucht Na Gaeilge (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}).
Afterwards Railton commented, “She will hopefully come back here for the Orby Sale next year. Joseph [O'Brien] knows more about Camelot than I do so hopefully it's a good sign that he liked her too.”
The filly was consigned and prepped by Joe Rogers of Ballintry Stud on behalf of breeder Noreen Maher who was delighted with the result.
“I'm very pleased,” Maher said. “I really want to thank Joe [Rogers] for the wonderful job he has done, it's all down to him. We were hopeful of a good sale as she has been very busy with lookers and one of the things that impressed me about her was her energy. She showed no signs of tiredness despite being in an out of her box for the last couple of days. I hope she does well for her new owners and the mare is in foal to Ribchester so we are also looking forward to that.”
Lot 97 provided a fine return for his breeder Seamus McGarvey when selling to Guy O'Callaghan's Grangemore Stud for €70,000. The son of The Last Lion, consigned by Ballybin Stud, was bred from China In My Hands (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) off an advertised covering fee of €7,500 while the mare had been acquired in 2015 for 18,000gns. China In My Hands is actually catalogued in the breeding stock sale on Thursday as lot 1037, in foal to El Kabeir, and comes from the speedy family of G1 Golden Shaheen winner Muarrab (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and Bungle Inthejungle (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}).
The Scat Daddy influence may also have been a factor when a son of Yeomanstown Stud's first-crop stallion El Kabeir sold to Barry Mahon of Goodwill Bloodstock for €52,000. Lot 159 was offered by Redmarble Farm out of the unraced mare Impasse (GB) (Dansili {GB}). The mare got a nice pedigree update earlier in the year when her half-brother Raa Atoll (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) won the G2 Oleander Rennen in Germany and this colt will no doubt be targeted at a yearling sale next year.
Monday provided an early flavor of how the progeny of a range of first-season sires would be received by the market and another to find favour was lot 58, a daughter of Irish National Stud stallion Decorated Knight (GB), offered by the same farm. The chestnut filly by the three-time Group 1 winner was knocked down to Blue Diamond Stud for €50,000 and hails from the famous INS family of the champion Desert King (Ire).
It wasn't a huge surprise to see Blue Diamond's Imad Al Sagar and Tony Nerses at Goffs to help support the stallion they bred and raced and they further demonstrated their commitment to Decorated Knight by adding lot 73, a colt from Limekiln Stud to their haul for €30,000 and lot 116, a colt from Olive O'Connor for €24,000.
Another to make a good start with a brace of foals was Mondialiste (Ire), the dual Group 1-winning son of Galileo (Ire) who stands at his owner Geoff Turnbull's Elwick Stud in Yorkshire for a fee of £6,000. They were headed by lot 208, a colt from Railstown Stud out of Moghrama (Ire) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) that sold to Mags O'Toole for €50,000. The 5-year-old mare is a half-sister to stakes winners Mythical Magic (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) and Esentepe (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}) and was bought by Elwick Stud at Tattersalls in 2017 for 16,000gns. The other Mondialiste offering, lot 169, made €25,000.
Tally-Ho Stud put their weight behind several foals by their own Cotai Glory (GB) picking up three by the first-crop sire including lot 222 from Collegelands Stud. This colt is out of the stakes performer New Magic (Ire) and was knocked down to Tony O'Callaghan for €43,000. The mare has bred two winners from two runners including this year's promising debut juvenile winner Theotherside (Ire) (Dandy Man [Ire}) while her Dragon Pulse (Ire) yearling filly was bought by Eddie Lynam for €42,000 in September.
Meanwhile Kildaragh Stud's Roderic Kavanagh set the early pace of the sale when giving €48,000 for lot 35, a Teofilo (Ire) filly from Corrin Stud. The foal is the second produce out of the Acclamation (GB) mare Wedding Wish (Ire) from the family of G1 Nassau S. winner Favourable Terms (GB) (Selkirk).
The same price was achieved late in the session for lot 250, a daughter of Starspangledbanner (Aus) from Derek Veitch's Ringfort Stud bought by Brendan Hollland of Grove Stud.
The sale continues on Tuesday from 10 a.m. when trade is expected to take a leap forward.
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