'Trade Was Amazing' – Industry Leaders Have Their Say On Fantastic Foal Sales

Close to 1,500 foals have changed hands at Goffs and Tattersalls over the past fortnight during what industry stakeholders have acknowledged to be a magic marketplace. This was the year to sell a foal with all of the key figures jumping dramatically at both sales houses. 

Not only were the pinhookers predictably strong after what was widely agreed to be an unexpectedly good end to the yearling sales, but a number of end-users–Godolphin, Yulong, Juddmonte and more–really stepped up to the plate at both sales. 

There were records broken at Tattersalls and Goffs and, the fact that the Wednesday foals in Ireland averaged just €14,178 less than the Orby Sale tells you everything you need to know about the strength of the foal sales. 

While there are still a number of foals set to sell at Arqana, it seems as though now is a fair time to press pause and take stock of some of the key themes that have emerged from the past fortnight. 

From top judges Philipp Stauffenberg, Eddie O'Leary and Joe Foley to consignors and stud owners, some of the big names of the industry have weighed in on what young sires to follow, market predictions and more.

Philipp Stauffenberg, pinhooker

When you think back to the foal sales at Goffs, the average was close to the Orby. That tells you enough. Then here at Tattersalls, if you go through the results at the high end of the market, it is dominated by end users. Because of the strength of the yearling market, obviously some people decided to try and land a punch at the foal sales. That makes life difficult for us pinhookers. But the trade was amazing. I bid very strongly on Chaldean (GB) as a foal. Loved him. I knew that it would be difficult to try and buy his sister [last Friday] and unfortunately I couldn't fend off other buyers when I opened her at 1 million gns! She actually was not for pinhooking, though–I have one client who is keen to buy a really top-class filly and he was willing to go to 2 million gns but we didn't have a chance. I am very happy with the horses I bought. My only regret was that I didn't pick up as many high-end foals as I'd have liked to. I still think I bought one of the nicest colts we saw at any sale in the Night Of Thunder (Ire) colt we bought at Goffs-he was just absolutely gorgeous. I would have liked to have bought two or three more high-end fillies in particular but I stretched myself out of my comfort zone for every one I did bid on and then they made even more to end-users. Looking at some of the younger stallions, I bought a Minzaal (Ire) out of a black-type mare at Goffs and I would give that stallion a big chance. From what we have seen of his stock, he is more or less the one who looks good. 

O'Leary: “If you see a bull calf you don't need to see the bull so I think people could breed to him blind.” | Tattersalls

Eddie O'Leary, Lynn Lodge Stud

You can get more than ever for the nice horse but less than ever for those that don't make the grade. The lesser horses are desperately hard to sell. I've never seen the floor of the market so low. It's all about the nicer horses. Why's that? Prize-money. Nobody wants the fun horse. The demand is for the high-end horses. Now the pinhookers are teaming up to buy the better calibre of horse and that's making them even dearer to buy. I bought 15 in Goffs and 11 here at Tattersalls. I sold yearlings by Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) and A'Ali (Ire) this year and found them to be lovely horses. I tried to buy foals by them again but I actually couldn't buy an A'Ali in the end. Of the stallions with first foals, Minzaal is doing well. Perfect Power is throwing horses much better-looking than he is. If you see a bull calf you don't need to see the bull so I think people could breed to him blind. He's throwing Kodiacs if you ask me. I think it's fair to say we were expecting a kick up the you know what coming into Book 1 but we didn't get it, largely down to Kia Joorabchian's involvement. We all seriously hope that Kia and Evangelos Marinakis have a good year next year and, who knows, they might bring even more people into the game. That will be important.

Caoimhe Doherty, Forenaghts Stud

The yearling sales were very strong but a lot of pinhookers did lose money. We bought two foals this year and four last year. We bought at a level–an Australia (GB) filly for €30,000 and a Naval Crown (GB) for €24,000. We're happy at that level and time will tell if we bought value or not. We have a Naval Crown filly at home at Forenaghts Stud and we think she's very smart. There's a lot of Dubawi about his stock and he's one I like. 

Barry Lynch, bloodstock agent

I was mainly selling at the foal sales and we had a very positive experience. There was great footfall and, the horses who were good physically and were up to the market, they were very well received. We had Minzaal and Sioux Nation colts that sold very well around the mid-market level. Sioux Nation seems to be gone to another level and certainly seems to be exceeding expectations. He's got well-bred crops to run for him going forward and you'd hope that those horses will be prolific and he will continue on an upward trajectory. As for Minzaal, I have been a huge fan of his from the start and his foals have been very well received as well. The Blackbeard (Ire) foals seem to be strong, well-built horses and I liked the Persian Force (Ire) foals as well. They sold well and were well-supported. Tally-Ho Stud has a great system and a great history of making stallions. He's covered a good book of mares and will be given every chance. At the end of the day, the European yearling market is worth somewhere in the region of 300 million so, when Amo Racing come to play, that moves the market. There was obviously a knock-on effect. The other thing that stuck out to me at the foal sales was the broad spectrum of sires that sold well. There were some stallions in the mid-market, the likes of Cotai Glory (GB) and Gleneagles (Ire), that sold very well. I think that's a great sign of the market that it's not just the 60 grand and above stallions who sold well. 

David Cox, Baroda Stud

People got a lot of money out of yearlings and were always going to reinvest. I knew it was going to be strong but seeing the end users coming in was very interesting. I thought Alex Elliott's comments after buying Chaldean's sister were interesting. He said, 'We bought her for 2.5 million gns but would probably have had to spend a lot more on her as a yearling.' That purchase made sense for Amo Racing. But, on the whole, it was great trade. I bought a few foals but played it fairly safe with the sires. We didn't get any first-crop sires but we did buy a Ghaiyyath (Ire) and I would be confident that we haven't seen the best of him yet. I was actually stabled beside the Perfect Power (Ire) colt who topped the sale on Saturday at 72,000gns and he stood out to me. Plenty of people seem to be talking about Minzaal and Blackbeard and we sold a couple of nice Persian Force foals at Goffs so he definitely has a chance.

Oliver St Lawrence, bloodstock agent

I'm not a major foal buyer but, the same as everyone else, I thought the Minzaals were very nice. Caturra (Ire) seems to be getting nice foals as well. I don't entirely understand how everyone seems to have forgotten how tricky the yearling sales were. I mean, we had some really tricky sales prior to Book 1. Everyone seems to think that Book 1 is the market but I'm not so sure. It will be interesting to see how some of these mares who aren't in foal to the right stallions sell this week. I think things could look a bit trickier after this week. There were some serious holes in the yearling market, particularly earlier in the year, and, at the later sales, you had to be by the right stallion. We obviously work closely with breeders through our nominations and we are getting more people than ever ringing us looking for foal shares to the bigger stallions. That's just the way it has gone. But there will be some value to be had if one is clever enough to source it. 

Anthony O'Donnell, Darley

The one thing I took from the foal sales at Goffs and here at Tattersalls was the great energy that young pinhookers brought to the whole thing-and not just for the 10 or 20 grand foals, either. A lot of younger men and women partnered up to buy the better calibre of foals and that's what you need to be doing now because that window at the yearling sales appears to be getting smaller. Another thing I found interesting was, on the plane home from the foal sales the other day, I got speaking with a buyer who didn't manage to buy anything here. He hadn't planned on shopping at the mare sales but, because he didn't get a foal, he's back looking for a mare with a good cover so that's what you call thinking on your feet. Speaking with my Darley hat on, we have been genuinely delighted by the start that Perfect Power and Naval Crown have made. Not only have they sold well, but they have been bought by some brilliant people. That's exciting. 

Joe Foley: “Baaeed was the one for me.” | Tattersalls

Joe Foley, Ballyhane Stud

I wasn't surprised by the strength of the foal sales. How could you be? After Book 1, which had a knock-on effect at Book 2, there was always going to be a huge demand for foals that looked like they could be high-end candidates at the yearling sales. There are newer players who are after coming into the game and they want to compete with the top guys. To do that, they had to spend a lot of money. The market has risen accordingly and the elite horses at the elite sales have been hard to buy. One thing I would say is that the middle tiers were solid enough as well. Given everything that is going on in the world, it was okay. Now, it was hard work at times, don't get me wrong, but it was reasonable. I saw a lot of foals at Goffs and at Tattersalls and Baaeed was the one for me. They look like they are going to turn into better yearlings, which you wouldn't be surprised about. He was an exceptional racehorse and his foals didn't disappoint. The Perfect Powers are also very nice. He was a weapon of a racehorse and I've actually bought into three foals by him.