AS a first sale of its kind, the Goffs UK January Online Sale produced mixed results. The headline acts all provided hugely attractive returns for vendors, while horses lower down the pecking order found that buyers were either lacking or just not interested.

This was a timed sale, with no horse onsite and no auctioneer in the rostrum. With ongoing uncertainty about the ability of sales companies to stage live sales from time to time, it was an experiment worth taking, and with half of the lots selling, and three of the 36 lots sold realising six-figure sums, it was a valuable exercise.

Tim Kent, Goffs UK’s managing director said afterwards: “This was very much about breaking new ground for Goffs, and we were delighted with the first attempt. Having to sell online was obviously not our first choice, but given the current circumstances we had no other options and we felt it was worth offering an outlet for their horses. We were thrilled with the support that we received from our vendors and we are delighted with the outcome.

“We will now review the sale and get feedback from vendors and purchasers. There are always improvements that can be made with any sale and, whilst lockdowns continue in the UK and Ireland, we will look at other options for the Goffs online platform in the coming months.”

Morans stock up

The positive impact Noel and Valerie Moran are having on both the racing and sale scene was again evident when the Bective House owners purchased the sale-topping bumper winner Hollymount for £300,000 (€336,000).

Bidding opened at £180,000 and 36 minutes later the ‘hammer’ fell when the 21st and final bid was made. A five-year-old daughter of Jet Away, Hollymount was a comfortable winner of a mares’ bumper at Carlisle a fortnight before Christmas on her debut for breeder Jane Buchanan and trainer Stuart Crawford.

Gordon Elliott will now take over the training duties and he has the advantage of knowing the family a little, having Hollymount’s smart half-brother Malone Road in his yard. That Cheveley Park Stud-owned son of Kalanisi was another big sale horse, selling for £325,000 three years ago at the Aintree Sale. Their dam Zaffarella was purchased by Jane Buchanan’s father Alan and won four times over hurdles, on one occasion partnered by Jane’s brother Peter.

Fillies reign

All the top lots were mares and it took just 10 bids and the same number of minutes for the Grade 1 chase winner La Bague Au Roi to be sold for £170,000 (€190,400), having opened at £120,000. Peter Nolan Bloodstock acted for former Republic of Ireland international Kevin Doyle in her purchase from Juliet Minton’s Mill House Stud.

Sold as a broodmare prospect because owners Andrew Merriam and Nicky Turner are not breeders, the 10-year-old daughter of Doctor Dino won almost £300,000 in her racing career from Warren Greatrex’s yard. She graduated from being a listed bumper winner, through being a Grade 2 hurdle winner, and two years ago landing back-to-back Grade 1 chases, the Kauto Star Chase at Kempton and the Flogas Novice Chase at the Dublin Racing Festival.

With an outstanding female pedigree, she will now be a key member of the broodmare band at Slaney River Stud.

Ireland-bound

It took almost an hour before the seven-year-old Buck’s Bee sold for £125,000 (€140,000), but this half-sister to the outstanding Big Buck’s is heading to Ireland and a place at Kieran Mariga’s Coolmara Stables. The unraced daughter of Kapgarde is in foal, on a single cover, to Great Pretender and she was offered for sale by David Futter’s Yorton Farm.

With Walk In The Park already being spoken of as a possible mate for the mare, due to foal in the next fortnight or so, Buck’s Bee will be one of the standout mares at the Mariga’s farm in Youghal, Co Cork. The family also race a number of fillies trained by Henry de Bromhead and Gordon Elliott.

Sullivan Bloodstock’s Stormy Ireland raced a few times from Paul Nicholls’ yard, but she failed to build on her fine record when in the care of Willie Mullins. She won six times for the Irish champion trainer, five of them at graded or listed level, and she was twice runner-up at Grade 1 level, including at the Cheltenham Festival.

Peel Bloodstock’s Will Kinsey secured Stormy Ireland, a daughter of Motivator, in a private transaction for £75,000 (€84,000), and later indicated that the seven-year-old could stay in training and also be covered. Sullivan Bloodstock also sold the Grade 2 hurdle winner and Grade 1 placed Eglantine Du Seuil to Highflyer Bloodstock for £60,000 (€67,200).

White rebounds

Cork’s Donal White was pleased when he acquired Yorton Farm’s Aisance, a nine-year-old daughter of Saint Des Saints, for £64,000 (€71,580).

Aisance is a full-sister to five-time winner Wait For Me who was placed in the Grade 1 Weatherbys Champion Bumper at Cheltenham, and was sold in foal to Blue Bresil with a due date in April. White’s plan is to cover Aisance by Nathaniel.