Goffs on Thursday staged the first-ever bloodstock auction in England or Ireland conducted exclusively online, and the result was largely positive in the midst of the country's second national lockdown. With the Goffs team auctioning virtually in an empty ring at Kildare Paddocks, 86 horses in training were offered, with the clearance rate of 72% for 62 sold matching last year's figure. Turnover, similarly, was up 3% to €1,019,800 despite fewer offered and sold, and the average climbed 24% to €16,448. The median was down 22% at €7,000.
The top price of €125,000 far exceeded last year's €70,000 top lot, and taking the honours was Godolphin offering Paso Doble (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) (lot 553), who was bought by Tom Malone. The 3-year-old Paso Doble was previously trained by Jim Bolger and has won twice and been third three times in five runs this year over extended trips.
The Aga Khan consignment was responsible for the next three highest-priced lots, headed by JS Bloodstock and Matt Cumani's purchase Taramansour (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) (lot 574). The 3-year-old colt heads Down Under after having won in July for Dermot Weld. He was most recently ninth behind Paso Doble in a Fairyhouse handicap on Oct. 1. Also from the Aga Khan draft were 3-year-old geldings Alatar (Ire) (Ruler of the World {Ire}) (lot 572) and Zarzyni (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) (lot 577). They were bought, respectively, by John McConnell and David Barron for €64,000 and €62,000.
Matt Cumani was not the only Australian trainer active in the online bidding; Chris Waller swooped for Bashiyr (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (lot 575), a 4-year-old gelding also from the Aga Khan draft, for €50,000.
Goffs Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby said upon conclusion of the sale, “2020 is proving to be a year of firsts and the overwhelming majority are largely negative caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. However today's Goffs HIT Sale has been a positive as it has the distinction of being the first live auction conducted purely online in UK or Ireland. Whilst we are not pretending this was by design as we were forced to react to the current restrictions in Ireland, we have been very pleased with the reaction from both vendors and purchasers with plenty of spirited online bidding as well as several telephone bids leading to a very acceptable trade for the catalogue on offer headed by a very respectable six-figure top price that comfortably surpassed last year's and a proper rise in the average price. Indeed, today's experience has been encouraging enough for us to decide that our Autumn Yearling Sale will also be run as a live online auction in a couple of weeks' time.
“We would like to thank those vendors that stood their ground and gave us the chance to prove the worth of our online platform as it was truly a leap of faith for every one of them. We are also very grateful to the large number of purchasers who interacted with us remotely and wish them the very best of luck with their purchases, all of which were offered with veterinary certificates, online films and as much information as we could provide. Indeed, we were overwhelmed by the level of interest with 250 individual registrations to bid online which is quite something for an 86 lot sale.
“I confess that today was quite surreal in many ways as we auctioned to an empty sales arena but it certainly proved that the bloodstock industry is extremely adaptable which gives us all belief that we will navigate a way through this terrible time.”
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