Alcohol Free

Plying (Hard Spun), the 11-year-old dam of this season's multiple Group 1-winning filly Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never), is among the highlights of the Goffs November Breeding Sale on Nov. 19 and 20, for which the catalogue was released on Friday. Plying will be offered in foal to Lope De Vega (Ire) as lot 1185. There are a total of 525 fillies and mares catalogued across the two-day sale, and other highlights include the 3-year-old G3 Princess Margaret S. winner Santosha (Ire) (Coulsty {Ire}) (lot 1184); First Flower (Ire)...

Plying (Hard Spun), the dam of treble Group 1 winner Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never), will be consigned to the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale by Jossestown Farm. The 11-year-old mare, who is also the dam of French listed winner Alexander James (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), is currently in foal to Lope De Vega (Ire). The Fethard-based Jossestown Farm bought Plying from the same sale in 2018 for €21,000 just days after her then-weanling filly by No Nay Never was sold by her breeder Churchtown House Stud for €40,000 to...

G1 Coronation S. and G1 Sussex S. winner Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) will revert to the mile distance over which she won those two features for the Oct. 16 G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. after beating just one home in Wednesday's G1 Juddmonte International over a mile and a quarter. The 3-year-old filly, who also won last year's G1 Cheveley Park S., was racing beyond a mile for the first time. "Going up to a mile and a quarter was always going to be a punt," said trainer...

It would be perfectly natural to feel some regret for having sold a mare in the same year that she foaled a subsequent treble Group 1 winner. But you will hear nothing of the sort from Michael Gaffney of Churchtown House Stud, breeder of Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never). "We are absolutely thrilled with what she has done. We are very proud of her and very pleased for her owner Jeff Smith," says Gaffney. "It's a huge thing for us to have bred a filly like her--we are not...

The steady return of high-class flat action to the European turf heightened to a crescendo last week, with enthusiasts of that realm treated to a plethora of quality racing not only across the UK, Ireland and France, but also in Australia, where European-bred and -sired horses shone bright on the second day of The Championships. While significant pointers were staged for the middle-distance and sprinting divisions, all eyes were on the Classic trials, with now under two weeks until the Newmarket editions. And while a handful of black-type races shook...

Entries were revealed on Wednesday for the G1 Qipco 2000 Guineas and G1 Qipco 1000 Guineas, with 72 colts signed on for the 2000 Guineas on May 1 and 63 fillies for the 1000 the following day. Aidan O'Brien has saddled 10 winners of the first Classic of the season and has 12 entries for the 2000 Guineas, including 2-year-old champion St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and G2 Vintage S. scorer Battleground (War Front). O'Brien's son Joseph, likewise, has Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez's G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. winner Thunder...

The Juveniles The dark clouds had gathered come Ireland's opening turf fixture of the year at Naas in March, with the meeting held behind closed doors and giving rise to now customary scenes. As the curtain was raised, an oft-repeated sketch unfolded with Jim Bolger homebred Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) annexing the first juvenile event of the year, a feat which the trainer had previously achieved on multiple occasions including with Poetic Flare's sire in 2012. Normal service resumed but, then again, not. The global pandemic soon tightened...

Martin Cooney arrived at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale in 2018 with a modest budget and a simple plan: "buy a mare that was in foal, and that could be a quick way to turn our money around with a bit of luck," the Fethard-based horseman said. On Cooney's shortlist the first day of the sale was the 8-year-old Hard Spun mare Plying, in foal to Starspangledbanner (Aus). A $200,000 yearling, Plying had won three times for Sheikh Mohammed and trainer Henri-Alex Pantall before being culled for €12,000 at...