PART 1 of the Goffs Arkle Sale concluded on Wednesday evening with all kinds of records having been broken.
Over the two days, a total of 384 horses sold for just over €25 million, resulting in an average price of €65,176. Compare that with last year's total spending of €19.5 million on 366 horses, when the average price was €53,499 - which was itself a sale record at the time.
The median price this week was €55,000, a big jump from the €45,000 median of 2025.
The all-important clearance rate came in at 87.5%.
An amazing 63 horses fetched six-figure sums over the two days. Last year that number was 29.
Driving demand at the top level were some familiar names. J.P. McManus spent €1.7 million on 14 horses, Harold Kirk and Willie Mullins gave €1.36 million for seven new recruits, and Highflyer Bloodstock bought 20 horses for a total outlay of almost €1.3 million.
Point-to-point handlers such as the Doyle family's Monbeg Stables (20 purchases) and Paul and Ellmarie Holden's Coolmeen Farms (10 horses) also got stuck in, while Gordon Elliott signed for just a pair but they were two of the highest-priced lots of the week.
Senior figures at Goffs believe the sale produced the best ever aggregate, average and median in history for a store horse sale.
Exciting mare
Having bought just one horse on Tuesday - the day's top lot - Elliott repeated the feat on Wednesday, paying €240,000 for a mare by No Risk At All from Niall Bleahen's Liss House in Galway. It's thought that Elliott was acting on behalf of Gigginstown House Stud.
Already named Noosa Sport, the filly is a full-sister to Grade 3 chase winner Geelong Sport, and a half-sister to one of the best runners over jumps in France currently, Leader Sport (by Nirvana Du Berlais).
After he saw off Dan Astbury for the filly, Elliott said: “She’s a lovely filly and as soon as we saw her we liked her. We always come here looking for a filly that looks a bit like a gelding, and that’s her. She moves very well, she has everything. We’ve been lucky buying a filly off this vendor before [Brighterdaysahead], so hopefully we will be again. She’s got a great pedigree, it’s a proper pedigree, so we’re delighted to have her.
“You’ve got to keep restocking and hopefully we’ve got a few nice horses out of this sale. Please God there’ll be a few more to come.”
Niall Bleahen, who bought the filly for €40,000 as a yearling at Arqana, said: “It’s great. All along, since the form came into the family, you knew all the stars were starting to align. It’s alright talking about it though, but it’s a different story until it happens. When you go to buy, you’re always aiming to find something that’ll suit those people. They’re perfectionists when you put the horse in front of them, so you have to rear them properly and pick them well. It takes a lot of time and mileage to do that.
“It’s brilliant that Gordon and the O’Learys have put their faith in us again. They’ve had great luck with Brighterdaysahead and hopefully this one can be somewhere near as good."
Back to the source
Harold Kirk and Willie Mullins also went back to a consignor who has been lucky for them in the past, Tony Costello of Treannahow Stables in Clare. On Tuesday the champion trainer and his agent gave €265,000 for one of the 10-strong Costello draft and on Wednesday they paid Costello €210,000 for a Cokoriko gelding.
Kirk had to dig deep to get the better of Paul Holden for this horse, already named Okekoko, and said: “It was hard work, I didn’t think he’d make that. Cokoriko is another sire that’s been very lucky for us. We’ve had Kitzbuhel win two Grade 1s last season and we’ve had several others. This is the most gorgeous horse; a fantastic mover, a very good pedigree. He comes from the vendor of King Rasko Grey too. I loved him, and Willie loved him, the first time we saw him. We love the sire too. He’s as nice an individual as I’ve seen by the sire.
“It’s the strongest sale I’ve ever been at. I didn’t expect it to be this strong, but Doncaster was strong and when the first sale is strong it usually carries on. It makes it difficult for everybody because you are having to give more than you expect, but if you don’t buy them you don’t have them. You have to restock every year the best you can, from stores to form horses. It feels like €100,000 is the new €60,000. That’s supply and demand.”
Earlier in the day Kirk and Mullins showed their appetite for the cream of the crop when paying €200,000 for a No Risk At All gelding from Walter Connors' Sluggara Farm. The purchasers bought a €170,000 Masked Marvel gelding from Sluggara on Tuesday.
Wednesday's purchase is a half-brother to three winners, including Soir De Gala (by Joshua Tree), a winner over hurdles and fences for J.P. McManus and Paul Nicholls. This is the family of Solness, a multiple Grade 1 winner for Joseph O'Brien in recent seasons.
Following the sale, Connors said: "Trade has been excellent. Horses are amazing, aren’t they? There seems to be a resurgence among the British trainers and the cycle is maybe turning. The diversity of buyers is important for us. With some of the randomness of National Hunt, it’s important it stays that way because then everybody has a bit of a chance.
“It’s not necessarily the case here that if you have the most money, you get the best horse. We’re all looking for the bit that none of us can see. We think we can, but it’s a good job we can’t because there’d be no racing!”
Frank Berry, racing manager to J.P. McManus, was the sale's leading buyer. His top purchase on Wednesday was a Walk In The Park gelding from Sarah Rohan's Ballytrasna Farm, who fetched €205,000.
Ballytrasna sold the horse on behalf of Fiona Magee who bought him privately from Jimmy Furlong in Wexford as a three-month-old foal. The horse is out of Cockney Wren, a bumper and hurdle winner whose first foal is a now a winner.
Megan Nicholls, daughter of trainer Paul, spent €140,000 on a Jukebox Jury gelding consigned by Peter Nolan. He is a full-brother to Scorpio Rising, a prolific hurdle race winner last season for Olly Murphy. Nolan's brother Tim bought the gelding as a foal for €30,000.
Megan Nicholls said: "Yesterday was frustrating - I think I was a professional underbidder. Delighted today we got this one. I think we were lucky he was in early, before people got warmed up, and as the day goes on it gets harder.
"We really liked this one. I bought him for dad, he will come back to Ditcheat, and is not for anyone in particular. I don't think we will have any problem selling him, and people especially love grey horses - they sell easily."
The top-priced two-year-old on Wednesday was a colt by Irish Derby winner Santiago, consigned by Ed Ryan's Weir View Stud. He was bought jointly by agents Ed Bailey and Nicky Bertran de Balanda.
Part 2 of the Arkle Sale takes place on Thursday.
IN his end-of-sale statement, Goffs CEO Henry Beeby emphasised the gratitude of the Goffs team to the vendors, purchasers and his own team for the parts they all played in an unforgettable sale.
"In the first instance, thank you to our vendors for the trust they have placed in the Arkle Sale as we’ve always said we are nothing without the horses," he said. "All the clever marketing, incentives and persuasion to attract buyers are worth nothing if the horses are not here but, my goodness, they were here in massive numbers this year.
"As I said at the start of the week, this is the best bunch of NH horses ever assembled at Goffs and happily the market agreed with huge rises in all the metrics once again and no less than nine lots hitting the €200,000 mark, up from three last year along with 63 realising six figures compared to 29 in 2025. That’s some progress and the other big numbers are the turnover, the average, and the median all of which are by our reckoning the highest of any store sale in history.
"Our second vote of thanks goes to our purchasers who turned up and bid with intent from yesterday morning to the close of business this evening. Rarely have we witnessed such sustained demand and the hunger for quality three-year-olds, and our handful of two-year-olds, has been heartening given what is happening in the wider world.
"Indeed, it is testament to the appeal of NH racing that trade has been so consistently strong. Lot after lot prompted titanic bidding duels as owners, trainers and agents from the UK and Ireland went head-to-head for classy store after classy store. Of course, they were encouraged by the amazing season for Arkle graduates who have carried all before them at the major meetings and in the point-to-point fields, so much so that we had a real conundrum about which horse or horses to put on the catalogue cover.
"We also want to express our appreciation to Defender for their support over a 30-year period. They help make the Arkle Sale truly unique whilst we are always indebted to the team at Irish Thoroughbred Marketing for their hard work and assistance.
"I think the other sentiment to express is one of immense pride. I find it hard to express the pride we feel in the progress this sale has made in recent years which is, of course, principally down to our clients but also our passionate, driven and friendly team who will always go that extra mile to deliver and take a pride in exceeding expectations. I’m proud to be part of that team and we’re all proud of our Arkle Sale."