“We'll Keep Trying” – Clive Cox on the Search for Next 'Donny Rocket' at Goffs

DONCASTER, England–Clive Cox might not have a degree in mechanical engineering, but it's fair to say that there have been few better trainers than him over the years when it comes to masterminding the career trajectory of a 'Donny Rocket'.

Think Harry Angel (Ire), the July Cup and Sprint Cup scorer bought by Cox for just £44,000 at the 2015 edition of the Goffs UK Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale, or the Prix de l'Abbaye heroine Gilt Edge Girl (GB) (Monsieur Bond {Ire}), his very first Group 1 winner who he'd bought for 17,000gns at the equivalent sale in 2007.

Just last week Cox was celebrating at York again when his Diligently (GB)–a colt by Harry Angel who fetched £100,000 at this sale last year–won the Harry's Half Million By Goffs Premier Yearling Stakes, following up the victory of the stable's Dragon Leader (Ire) (El Kabeir) in the same race 12 months earlier.

“I'm really proud to have achieved that, winning it two years running,” the Lambourn trainer said of that feat on Monday morning, less than 24 hours before the first of 463 lots is scheduled to go under the hammer at this year's Premier Yearling Sale.

“Harry [Beeby, the late chairman of Goffs] was a very special person to me and just winning it once was great–we'll keep trying to come back and do something similar.”

“A bit of luck,” Cox added when asked to pinpoint the secret behind the success he's enjoyed with his recruits from this sale, a list which also includes Reckless Abandon (GB), a dual Group 1-winning two-year-old after being picked up for just £24,000, plus the Al Mohamediya Racing-owned pair of Golden Horde (Ire) and Jasour (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), bought for £65,000 and £85,000, respectively.

“We've been coming here for many years with the same sort of approach. It's an exciting point in the year–it doesn't always go right, but it's wonderful when it does.”

Still a maiden after five career starts, Reposado (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB})–last year's top lot when selling to Robson Aguiar for £200,000–is yet to have things fall right for him, but Aguiar and the Amo Racing team have enjoyed better luck with £82,000 buy Arizona Blaze (GB). He was beaten just a head by Diligently on the Knavesmire last week, having previously won the Marble Hill Stakes and finished third in the Phoenix Stakes.

It was around this time last year that Sergei Prokofiev, the sire of Arizona Blaze, was starting to be talked about as a first-season sire to be reckoned with. Twelve months on and it's now clear why, with the Whitsbury Manor Stud resident having produced 15 individual winners in Europe, four more than closest pursuers Pinatubo (Ire) and Sands Of Mali (Fr).

Now attentions turn to the first-season sires destined to make a name for themselves in 2025, headed perhaps by Tally-Ho Stud's Starman (GB), the busiest new stallion in Europe in 2022 when covering a bumper book of 254 mares. The July Cup winner is set to be represented by 28 yearlings this week.

“I do like the ones I've seen,” said Tally-Ho's Roger O'Callaghan whilst overseeing inspections of their own 25-strong draft, which includes seven yearlings from Starman's first crop. “They've got very good temperaments. They might take a bit of time, like he did himself, but I like what I see–they'll sell well.”

That optimism was shared by cousin David O'Callaghan of Yeomanstown Stud, the team responsible for the Middle Park Stakes winner Supremacy (Ire) and six of his yearlings–from a total of 17–set to be offered this week.

“I think they're going reasonably well, but we'll know more once the sale starts!” he summed up. “He was a very fast two-year-old who won the Richmond in record time and then went on and won the Middle Park, beating a deep field. If his progeny can match him, everybody will be happy enough.”

Supremacy, of course, is another previous graduate of this sale when bought by that man Cox for £65,000 back in 2019.

“We've still got a few more to see, but I'd be happy with what I've seen so far,” the trainer added of his former stable star's first crop. “They look very sharp and racy. He was a very fast horse himself and I see no reason why he won't pass that gene on–I really hope so.”

Cox was joined on the Doncaster sales grounds by many of his peers in the training ranks, including Karl Burke, Roger Varian, Ed Walker, Hugo Palmer and Harry Eustace, while Adrian Keatley was also back looking for the next Symbol Of Strength (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), last week's Gimcrack Stakes third who was picked up for £100,000 at this sale 12 months ago.

Other high-profile graduates include a pair who acquitted themselves well at Royal Ascot this year in the shape of the Windsor Castle Stakes winner Ain't Nobody (Ire) (Sands Of Mali {Fr}) and the Queen Mary Stakes third Maw Lam (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), while a mention should also go to the Havana Grey (GB) filly Adrestia (GB).

Bought for just £50,000 at this sale, Adrestia then provided Derryconnor Stud's Katie McGivern with a dream result when she returned to Doncaster a few months later to top the Goffs Breeze-up Sale at £420,000.

Members of the breeze-up fraternity are becoming an increasingly familiar sight at sales such as this one, with the likes of Katie Walsh and Norman Williamson amongst those in attendance on Monday, while a healthy consignment from the National Stud has been a welcome addition, both this year and last.

This week the National Stud is set to offer eight yearlings, with head of bloodstock Joe Bradley highlighting Lot 195, a Night Of Thunder (Ire) filly out of the Prix Bertrand de Tarragon winner Aim To Please (Fr) (Excellent Art {GB}), and Lot 222, a Churchill (Ire) colt out of the Princess Margaret Stakes scorer Angel's Hideaway (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), as ones to watch.

“Night Of Thunder has had an amazing year, with his fillies in particular,” Bradley began. “She's out of a Group 3-winning mare. She's been very popular and I think a lot of people will appreciate her–she's sharp.

“The Churchill colt, his breeding speaks for itself. Churchill is a very good stallion and Angel's Hideaway was a great mare. We're very happy with him and they're both very nice types who suit the sale.”

Bradley also put in a positive word for the National Stud's Lope Y Fernandez (Ire), who will be represented by 14 yearlings from his first crop in the coming days.

“We couldn't be happier with Lope Y Fernandez,” he added. “Last year at the foal sales people were very receptive to him and we've got 75 across the yearling sales this year, so there will be plenty of opportunities for people to buy them. His 14 here at Doncaster are all nice, early types. He's ticked every box and, as long as he keeps doing that, we'll be in a great place next year with his runners.”

St Mark's Basilica (Fr) was the fastest out of the blocks among the first-season sires when he was responsible for eight yearlings sold at the Arqana August Sale at an average of €446,250 and an aggregate of €3.57 million. This week Lot 459, offered by Gillon Bloodstock, will be a unique commodity as the only yearling by the five-time Group 1 winner in the sale, a colt out of the Listed-placed mare Mighty Spirit (GB) (Acclamation {GB}).

Like the yearlings offered by the National Stud, the St Mark's Basilica colt certainly hails from a historic nursery having been raised at Floors Stud since he was a weanling. Christopher Gillon, formerly stud manager, has been operating under his own name out of Floors Stud since the part dispersal of the late Duke of Roxburghe's stock in December 2020.

“We're obviously in the same place, so I've tried to keep things exactly how we did them before,” Gillon said of how things have developed in the meantime. “It worked so well before that it seemed silly to change it, and it seems to be working as the quality of mares we're getting in is a lot better now and we're picking up some good-quality young stock to bring to the sales.

“We started off with a couple of yearlings to sell and each year we've kind of grown and picked up a few more. Now we're starting to get to some of the bigger and better sales and this year we've got about 10 yearlings to sell which is up from last year. We're back at Book 1 this year and that's the first time under Gillon Bloodstock which is great. We're slowly building which is exactly what it's all about.”

As for what the Premier Yearling Sale is all about, that's best left to Goffs chief Henry Beeby, who summed up what prospective buyers have been seeing in recent days, and what we can expect, as the countdown continues to the start of trade at 10am on Tuesday.

“It's a good, strong catalogue, full of commercial, good-walking individuals which is what we focus on,” he said. “This sale has the strongest identity of any sale because when people come in here, they walk in and they know what they're going to find. There's some quality in there and some good pedigrees.

“We saw at Saratoga across in New York and at Arqana that if everything is in the right place at the right time, horses are selling very well. It's quite a selective market, maybe even more selective than normal, but we major on the individual and the individuals are here, so I'd be hopeful of a buoyant sale.”