A GALILEO sibling to this year’s dual Derby winner Lambourn, himself a grandson of the great Coolmore multiple champion, stole the limelight on the first day of the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale, when she sold for €780,000 to Katsumi Yoshida, represented at the sale by Tomo Tsuda.

The Japanese team faced opposition from all quarters but, as bidding surged past the €600,000 mark, it was Ace Stud’s Paul Curran and an online bidder who put it up to the eventual purchaser. The price comfortably surpassed that of last year’s best lot.

In foal for the first time to Camelot, Enthralling was placed three times, notably when third to subsequent Group 1 winner Opera Singer on her second start at two.

In addition to Lambourn, Enthralling is a half-sister to Frankel’s two-year-old son Action, and he was runner-up in the Group 1 Futurity Stakes since the catalogue was printed, and is a live classic hope for 2026. They are all out of the Scat Daddy mare Gossamer Wings who was runner-up in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes.

Tsuda reflected on the purchase, and plans for Enthralling. He said: “There is lots of promise for the future with this pedigree.

“I love the two-year-old colt [Action], and I think he’s going to be really good next year. There’s a lot of speed in the mare’s bloodline and, to bring a mare like this back to Japan and cover her with our own stallions, that is our dream for the future.

“We had a lot of competition. She was the top mare in this draft [The Castlebridge Consignment] with a very athletic walk and strong backend. I love her. She cost a little bit over my budget! We haven’t decided what stallion she will visit in Japan yet. We will see what the Camelot is like and then we can make a decision. We are going to travel from here to Tattersalls and then on to Arqana. European mares fit in very well with us in Japan.”

Mixed statistics

Although the clearance rate (85%) and turnover were up for the session, the average and median prices fell back on last year's levels.

The day's leading vendors included Moyglare Stud (€1,371,000) and the Aga Khan Studs (€1,244,000). The Castlebridge Consignment topped that table with sales totalling almost €1.75 million.

PAUL Curran, Ace Stud’s bloodstock and racing manager, was not going to be denied for the best of an outstanding draft from Moyglare Stud. This was the 15-year-old Liber Nauticus, the Group 3 Musidora Stakes winner and sold in foal to sire of the moment, Night Of Thunder.

From a renowned Ballymacoll dam line, Liber Nauticus was purchased eight years ago for 425,000gns when the complete dispersal of that Co Meath farm was conducted. The foals she had on the ground at the time included the subsequent listed winner Miss Celestial, while the first mating arranged by Moyglare Stud, with Muhaarar, resulted in the Group 2 winner and Group 1 runner-up Trevaunance.

With a filly foal by Kingman being retained by Moyglare, along with older daughters, the decision was taken to sell Liber Nauticus, and an opportunity to secure a proven matron with a desirable covering, was seized upon, driving her value to €420,000. Whether she is carrying a colt or a filly, the offspring will be retained.

Curran said: “Her pedigree speaks for itself and the first thing that caught our eye was the cover. We’ve had a lot of luck with the stallion this year. We were very happy to buy in, and we think we’ve got her at a price that, commercially, you could come back to the sales with the Night Of Thunder and make double a figure like that.

“Having said that, what we’ll more than likely do is foal her down and race the foal ourselves. We’re end-users after all, and we tried on a lot of his yearlings here and at Book 1 and Book 2. When you can buy a mare of her quality, and with what she’s producing with the likes of Trevaunance, to get a Night Of Thunder out of her, be it a colt or a filly, at that price is quite reasonable. In another year or two’s time, you might be talking about astronomical figures for his stock.”

He added: “There’s no plans for her [next cover] yet. We tossed around a few ideas and she could probably suit one of our stallions in the likes of Shaquille. There’s no reason why we wouldn’t, but it’ still early days yet.”

ANOTHER star from the Moyglare draft was the stakes-placed Galileo mare Terrific. This full-sister to the Group 1 winner Together, runner-up in four top-flight contests, including two classics, is the dam of four winners, her Siyouni daughter Bellezza being a dual Grade 2 winner in the USA and Grade 1-placed.

John O’Connor of Ballylinch Stud was not going to be denied, bidding confidently until he secured her for €300,000. This 1,300,000gns yearling sold at four for $1.9 million.

Afterwards, he was joined in the bidders by Moyglare Stud’s Fiona Craig, and it transpires that this was something of a full circle moment.

O’Connor explained: “I am delighted to get her. We both liked the mare when Fiona bought her in America as a young mare, and the very same time I bought Wonderfully. We both got very well-bred mares.

“Terrific is a lovely mare, already a proven mare, she can breed a Group 1 horse. We have stallions that can suit her. We will hopefully get some nice stock out of her, and retain some to breed on from. It’s an investment in the future really.”

Craig added: “Bellezza could win them a Grade 1 - she stays in training. The sale has gone well, but it is sad too. I hate selling the mares, it’s very upsetting, unlike the foals. The mares I am attached to, but it was great [results-wise]. Compliments to everyone who bought them, and I wish them all good fortune in the future - but excuse me if I go away now and have a cry.”

ANXIOUS to depart the sales complex, Broadhurst Agency’s Laurent Benoit had little time to speak after purchasing two lots that, due to a withdrawal, followed each other into the sale ring. The pair sold for a total of €520,000.

The more expensive of the pair was Zarshana, the last lot in the first tranche of lots from the Aga Khan Studs, and the best of the 11 which averaged €74,546.

In foal to Erevann, the Group 3 winner Zarshana, a daughter of Sea The Stars, is a half-sister to the brilliant Zarkava, an outstanding runner and influential broodmare. Her son is the sire Zarak, granddaughter is the classic winner Zarigana, and her great-grandson is this year’s Group 1 juvenile winner Zavateri. She cost Benoit €270,000.

Newtown Stud sold the next lot in the ring, again to Benoit, and this was another daughter of Sea The Stars, the unraced Night Of The Star.

With a first cover by Mehmas, and due in mid-January, the four-year-old Night Of The Star is a full-sister to Group 2 winner Knight To Behold, and a half-sister to two other Group 3 winners. Night Of The Star bred the Group 1 St Leger winner Millenary.

Dashing to catch a flight, Benoit offered a short comment. “Regarding the first purchase, it was a great opportunity to get into the Zarkava family. She is a lovely, quality mare, she is heading back to France, and she is for [Haras d’] Etreham.

“The second one [Night Of The Star], the one that I wanted in the catalogue, when I saw her on the sales ground, I am even more happy to have her. She will go back to France, she is a long-term plan, and she will go to Siyouni.”

JIM Bolger’s unraced Vocalised mare Ceistiu, in foal to Mehmas, sold to the Tally-Ho team for €260,000. She is the dam of the Group 3 Gordon Stakes winner Merchant, a son of Teofilo, and the hugely promising two-year-old filly Slaney View, a daughter of Mehmas.

Ceistiu is a full-sister to group winner and Group 1-placed Steip Amach, while one of her half-sisters has clicked with Mehmas, producing Group 1 National Stakes winner Scorthy Champ, Group 2 winner and Group 1 runner-up Malavath, and Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes winner Knight.

Roger O’Callaghan suggested Ceistiu would be wedded to Mehmas for the rest of her life, while father Tony proposed Maranoa Charlie as a possible mate in 2026. Roger laughed and said the decision would “probably made an hour before she was due to be covered.”