THIS sale has experienced six consecutive years of growth and to match last year’s record-breaking figures was always going to be tough. However, we have achieved the second highest figures in this sale’s history for which we are delighted, and to finish with a clearance rate of 89% demonstrates the strength of the market here at Doncaster.”

With these words Goffs UK managing director Tony Williams summed up the trade over two days of the Premier Yearling Sale at the Doncaster venue from the sale company’s perspective. The outstanding highlight was a new record price for a yearling at the sale, and the previous record was smashed in the process.

This was the first test of the yearling market this season in Ireland or England and there was a degree of trepidation heading into the week, with a number of concerns being expressed about the potential softness of the market.

As ever, those at the lower levels found the going tough, while the number of six-figure lots fell slightly from 42 to 37, though this was still ahead of the 2016 figure of 32 such lots.

A striking figure was that the number of lots selling for £200,000 or more was three this week, whereas 10 reached this figure 12 months ago. Demand for quality middle-range yearlings was good and was much the same as last year, especially those selling for between £50,000 and £75,000. Was trade this week an accurate barometer for the rest of the sales season?

History would relate that it is far too early to make accurate predictions, and it is only after all sales have been completed that a proper evaluation of the market can be made.

A strategic move by Newsells Park Stud to give Arqana a swerve this year and to consolidate its presence at Doncaster was rewarded when, less than an hour into the sale, they sold their star Gleneagles colt, a member of the sire’s first crop, for £380,000 to Alastair Donald of SackvilleDonald, acting for King Power Racing’s Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

The half-brother to this year’s listed winner and Group 2 Prix Hocquart runner-up Al Malhouf was widely touted in advance as the star billing and he didn’t disappoint. Donald said afterwards: “He was the standout horse at the sale and one of the nicest I’ve seen at Doncaster in many a year. He’s a gorgeous individual and a half-brother to a good horse by a potentially exciting young stallion.”

Newsells Park’s Julian Dollar was persuaded by Tim Kent and Tony Williams to send the colt to Doncaster, being assured that he was the type of horse who would add extra profile to the sale. Their enticing worked, and the nine-strong draft from the Hertfordshire farm grossed just short of a million and averaged just less than £110,000.

With 24 purchases made over two days, SackvilleDonald spent £1,393,000 and only Angus Gold on behalf of Shadwell Estate laid out more money.

Headline lot

Indeed it was Shadwell who took home another of the headline lots from the Newsells Park consignment, giving £120,000 for the very next lot into the ring, a son of another first-crop stallion in Muhaarar. This half-brother to a winner out of a stakes-placed Montjeu mare traces back to the family of the brilliant Mill Reef. A third six-figure lot from Newsells was their son of Zoffany, the first foal of an unraced Galileo own-sister to Grade 3 winner Dress Rehearsal, and he sold to Rabbah Bloodstock for £110,000.

All four yearlings by Gleneagles in the catalogue sold and three of them were among the top lots. The best of the Houghton Bloodstock draft at the sale was the only daughter of the dual 2000 Guineas winner at Doncaster, Pantile Stud’s first foal of an Oasis Dream mare. The filly’s fourth dam is the celebrated Toussaud, one of the world’s greatest broodmares and a foundation mare at Juddmonte. This late offering on day one was purchased for £140,000 by Edward Creighton and will race for John Dance.

Cormac McCormack was among the top six purchasers at this year’s sale and he acquired Camas Park Stud’s son of Gleneagles for £100,000. The colt comes from the family of Group 1 Prix de la Foret winner Mount Abu. McCormack also paid £140,000 on Wednesday for a son of Starspangledbanner offered by Anna Sundstrom’s Coulonces Sales, a €78,000 foal purchase.

Three yearlings by Rathbarry Stud’s Acclamation were among the top 10 lots at the sale, and the best of these was the day two sale topper sold by Lady Carolyn Warren’s Highclere Stud. The daughter of the winning Dansili mare Swiss Kiss, herself a half-sister to three stakes winners, cost Edward Creighton £240,000 and is another who will carry the colours of John Dance. The owner has enjoyed a great season with the former Goffs UK graduate Laurens. Highclere Stud’s six yearlings averaged just over £109,000.

The final lot at the first session of the sale was Trinity Park Stud’s Acclamation half-sister to Group 2 Greenlands Stakes winner Mobsta and Joe Foley had the final say for her at £185,000. She will race for Steve Parkin’s Clipper Logistics. Completing the trio of six-figure sales for the Rathbarry flagship sire was the stud’s own offering, a half-brother to four winners from the great Meon Valley female line of Reprocolor. Richard Knight completed a private sale for him at £150,000 after he was retained in the ring at £180,000.

Goffs chairman Eimear Mulhern supported the sale with an Exceed And Excel half-sister to a pair of German stakes winners, two of six winners for their winning Platini dam. Oliver St Lawrence secured her for £200,000 on behalf of Fawzi Nass who stood alongside the agent as he fought off a number of challengers for the lot.

Strong challenge

Denis and Cathal Brosnan from Croom House Stud watched as the best of their consignment, a son of Showcasing out of the stakes winning Elusive City mare City Image, sold to Angus Gold for £190,000. He was the subject of a strong challenge from Mark Richards of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, but Sheikh Hamdan’s man had the greater firepower and landed the spoils.

Acclamation’s son Dark Angel had a pair of standout lots on day two. Highclere Stud’s son of Group 3 winner Age Of Chivalry sold to Peter and Ross Doyle for £170,000, the most expensive of their 17 purchases, while Gay and David O’Callaghan’s Yeomanstown Stud received £150,000 from Cheveley Park Stud for a daughter of the winning Camacho mare Wiltshire Life, bred on the same cross as the Thompson’s Juliet Capulet, winner of the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes last autumn.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s five purchases grossed £530,000 and Mark Richards made his presence felt over the two days. His most costly acquisition was Norris Bloodstock’s son of Oasis Dream, enjoying quiet a renaissance year with a pair of Group 1 winners, and the colt is from a great Juddmonte female line, that of Group 1 winners Twice Over, Timepiece and Passage Of Time. He was purchased in utero for 38,000gns and sold for £150,000.

Another significant buy for Hong Kong was Hillwood Stud’s son of Zebedee, a half-brother to five winners, the best of which was the Group 3 French winner Lady Macapa.

James Hanly’s Ballyhimikin Stud sold four lots which averaged almost £100,000 and the best of the quartet was their son of Kodiac and the stakes winning Miss Honorine. Hanly bred the colt in partnership with Anthony Stroud and Trevor Stewart and Mark Richards had the final say when the hammer fell at £140,000. Another star in that draft was a Camacho half-brother to the Premier Sale top lot last year, and he colt Dermot Farrington £125,000 on behalf of Phoenix Thoroughbreds’ Amer Abdulaziz.

High bill

The extensive draft from Tony and Roger O’Callaghan’s Tally-Ho Stud grossed £1,021,000 for 17 sold, the only vendor to reach a seven-figure total. No fewer than four of the draft brought final bids in excess of £100,000. Shadwell Estate gave £150,000 for a son of Cable Bay, from the first crop of that Group 2 winning son of Invincible Spirit, who cost €75,000 as a foal.

Armando Duarte’s bid of £140,000 secured a Starspangledbanner half-brother to the listed winner Melbourne Memories, while Richard Knight, acting for Sheikh Al Malek Al Sabah, gave £120,000 for a Kodiac half-brother to a pair of group-placed winners. Another son of the farm’s super sire Kodiac, the first foal of juvenile winner Got To Dance, was bought by Powerstown Stud for £105,000.

Two lots sold for £135,000 and both were sons of Tally-Ho stallions. Godolphin gave that amount for a Society Rock half-brother to three winners sold by Mark Dwyer’s Oaks Farm Stables and bought for 50,000gns as a foal, while Sheikh Mohammed’s brother Sheikh Maktoum paid the same price, through Shadwell, for a Kodiac half-brother to Group 3 winner Age Of Chivalry sold by Paddy Burns’ Loughtown Stud, a €52,000 foal.

John Dance employed the services of Ed Sackville to buy one of the last lots on day one, a daughter of No Nay Never out of a winning daughter of the Group 3 winner and Group 1 1000 Guineas runner-up Sundrop, for £120,000 from Luke Barry’s Manister House Stud.

Shadwell’s six-figure purchases numbered eight in total, and the list was completed by Barton Stud’s Showcasing colt and Kilcarn Park Stud’s Dream Ahead half-brother to the listed juvenile winner Thanksfortellingme, both for £115,000, WH Bloodstock’s Tamayuz colt for £110,000 (35,000gns foal), and Guy O’Callaghan’s Grangemore Stud’s colt from the first crop of Gutaifan at £100,000 (17,000gns foal).

The continuing popularity of Ballyhane Stud’s Dandy Man rewarded the team at Baroda and Colbinstown Studs when SackvilleDonald paid £115,000 for a colt from the family of champion miler Canford Cliffs.