Plying

Plying (Hard Spun), who topped the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale at €825,000 to Yulong Investments/BBA Ireland, foaled a chestnut Lope de Vega (Ire) filly on Thursday morning, BBA Ireland's Michael Donohoe announced via Twitter. The 12-year-old is the dam of G1 Cheveley Park S., G1 Coronation S. and G1 Sussex S. heroine Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never). "Exciting future ahead for this filly and an outstanding addition to the Yulong broodmare band in time," Donohoe tweeted.

When a colt retires to stud, a regular theme of the promotional drive to attract mares involves a bullish statement by the owner pledging to support the stallion with their own mares, as well as a commitment to invest in the stallion's progeny at the foal and yearling sales. Yulong Investments' Yuesheng Zhang has hit the ground running with his commitment to his young sire Lucky Vega (Ire), who kicks off his Northern Hemisphere stallion duties at the Irish National Stud early in 2022. Spearheaded by BBA Ireland's Mick Donohoe,...

KILDARE, Ireland--Four days of foal trade certainly whetted the appetite for a quality auction of breeding stock at Goffs on Friday, and the widely anticipated sale of the Group 1 producer Plying (Hard Spun) (lot 1185) certainly didn't disappoint when the dam of Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) sold to Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland for €825,000. This was the most successful edition of this breeding stock session for a number of years with 13 lots making €250,000 or more; the corresponding number for the past two years was...

In life and in bloodstock, the confluence of a few small factors--decisions that may seem minute at the time--can quickly amalgamate into life-changing moments. Like, for instance, when Martin Cooney and Elaine Shaw opted to raise their hands at €21,000 during the 2018 Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale on an 8-year-old daughter of Hard Spun whose first two foals had not yet found the winner's enclosure; while, simultaneously, another bidder hesitated, and ultimately changed their mind too late. "Too late, sir," the auctioneer called, hammering Plying down to Jossestown Farm....

As the bloodstock auction industry rides a wave of resurgence into its final sector of the season, Goffs provides the curtain-raiser in its November Foal and Breeding Stock sales. The action begins next week with four days of foal sales from Nov. 15 to 18, which rolls right into two days of breeding stock on Nov. 19 and 20. The European marketplace provided some welcome upbeat surprises amid the overall tumult of the pre-vaccine pandemic in 2020, but this year has proven an extreme revelation everywhere, and nowhere moreso than...

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...

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...