BOOK 2 of the Goffs Orby Sale concluded on Thursday evening following a day which saw two fillies share top billing with price tags of €135,000. In fact five of the day's top six prices were for fillies, continuing a theme which ran throughout the sale.
Thursday's session saw 150 of the 175 yearlings offered sold, a clearance rate of over 85%. The day's median price of €20,000 was identical to that of Wednesday's session and well ahead of last year's €15,000 median. Over the two days five Book 2 lots made six-figure sums, compared with one in 2024.
Jim Bolger bred one of Thursday's top lots and has a strong association with the other one.
Bolger bred the Teofilo filly consigned by his granddaughter's Boherguy Stud which was bought by agent Federico Barberini on behalf of Derby-winning owner Khalifa Dasmal.
The filly is a half-sister to Futurity Stakes third Geometrical, descended from wondermare Serena’s Song.
“I saw her this morning and really fell in love with her,” said Barberini. “She’s a lovely filly by a very good sire of fillies in Teofilo. I really loved her as an individual but she also has a fantastic pedigree. She comes from a beautiful family, and the mare has already produced a black-type horse, so there’s no reason why she shouldn’t do so again. She’ll stay in Ireland to be broken and then we’ll decide who’ll train her."
Clare Manning said: “That was a fantastic result. In the last three weeks or so of prep she just grew and filled out and developed into a nice filly. She puts her head down, comes out and has a really loose walk about her - a Galileo walk, I suppose.
“Any horse who has a nice walk and is physically correct and a nice model is going to be attractive to the market, but especially in a sale where you had so many good horses earlier in the week and the level has dropped a little. They stand out.”
Teofilo has been a grand servant to Bolger down the years, first by being an unbeaten champion two-year-old for him, and then by siring a long roll of high-class homebreds for him, including Loch Garman, Parish Hall, Pleascach, Trading Leather and Twilight Payment.
“We’ve always been big backers of Teofilo, we’ve always believed in him,” said Manning. “He’s brought us a lot of luck, and now he’s really doing it as a broodmare sire as well. I think he’ll be a good replacement for Galileo in that sense.
“Luckily we always have a few by him. I do think he gets overlooked, but people have sires they love and those they don’t like as much, and we just love him. We always will do, as he’s done so much for our family on the racetrack and from a breeding perspective.”
Boherguy Stud will offer 45 lots at the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale back at Kildare Paddocks next month, as part of Bolger’s consolidation of his breeding assets.
“We bred a lot of mares to Dawn Approach after Poetic Flare was a champion, and these are the results of that, so we have quite a lot by him this year compared to other crops,” explained Manning. “There are some nice horses there but sadly he’s not the most commercial or fashionable sire, so it made sense to send them to Goffs Autumn.
Mehmas filly
Tally-Ho Stud also went to €135,000 to secure Cahermorris Stables’ Mehmas filly out of Smart Flies, a winning Dawn Approach half-sister to Round Tower Stakes scorer Smash Williams related to the vendor’s Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Saoire.
Tally-Ho Stud is one of the most successful breeze-up operations in the business but another sale at two isn’t certain to be the fate of its latest six-figure acquisition.
“She could be for racing maybe…” said Tony O’Callaghan with a twinkle in his eye. O’Callaghan’s own silks have been carried by a few talented fillies in the last few seasons, notably Goffs graduates Caught U Looking and Lady Iman.
“We loved the Mehmas filly,” he added. “She came from a very good breeder in the west of Ireland, Mr Joyce. Of course we love the sire, too.”
Tally-Ho Stud flagship sire Mehmas continues to go from strength to strength, with Wise Approach becoming his ninth Group/Grade 1 winner in the Middle Park Stakes on Saturday and his yearlings selling for an average of more than €200,000 in Goffs Orby Book 1 this week.
Asked what exactly it is that makes Mehmas so successful, O'Callaghan ventured: “He’s been consistent since the start. They put their heads down and try. They’re honest and they have a will to win, so trainers like them.”
Cahermorris Stables has enjoyed a fine week at Goffs Orby with lots from the same family, having sold a Fracas full-sister to Smash Williams to Blue Diamond Stud for €240,000 and a Mehmas colt out of another daughter of Saoire to Joey Logan and Alan Harte for €160,000.
“I’ve had this family for a long time,” said the stud’s Joe Joyce. “Today’s filly looked very smart, and she’ll definitely be a good two-year-old.
“I’ve had a great week. The Fracas filly in Book 1 was a great result. The family is a long story, and to tell it would take more time than we have now. I sold the dam of Smash Williams and the Fracas filly for €210,000, and bought her back for a lot less after she won at two.
“The first foal she had was Smash Williams. We just had to go next door to cover her with Fracas, and it's a family we’ve had for more than 20 years now. Our first purchase was Take Flight's full-sister Saoire.
“We also bought Fracas that year, the next week in fact, for €100,000 here at Goffs. He won nearly £300,000 and took me around the world racing, so why wouldn't I use him as a sire? He owes me nothing.”
Joyce reported that he tipped Tally-Ho Stud the wink about today’s Mehmas filly.
“I had to give the O'Callaghans a bit of a push earlier on, and told them I had a nice filly,” he said “I think they copped on! The dam is in foal to Good Guess and she has a cracking colt foal on the ground by the same sire. He's a really nice stallion.”
Althani purchases
Connections of Qatari owner Alanood Althani, whose yellow and white silks were carried to victory at Glorious Goodwood this summer by the Andrew Balding-trained Goffs Orby graduate Sir Albert, have been busy at Kildare Paddocks this week and they went to €85,000 to secure a Sioux Nation half-sister to three winners out of a daughter of Street Cry and dual US Grade 1 heroine Panty Raid (Lot 764), from Gerrardstown House Stud.
Eisser Senan, spokesman for the party, said: “I’m here with Mrs Althani’s father and she’s bought quite a few lots since day one. This filly might go into training in Ireland.
“Mrs Althani has been in racing since 2018 and has a few horses in training in England, and this is another addition to her string.
“Sir Albert was bought from Goffs last year. Mr Althani saw the potential in him and he’s done very well. She had six horses in training last season and is up to nine this year. We retire the fillies who perform well or have a good page to stud in Ireland.
“We also have horses in training with William Haggas and Karl Burke now. We started with Andrew. He’s brilliant, as we all know, he’s the top trainer in the country. We got to know Karl because he’s had very good success, particularly with his two-year-old statistics. We sent him some horses for the first time last season.”
Commenting on Mrs Althani’s latest purchase, Senan added: “She’s a lovely walker and has the physique to develop next season and the season after.
"The granddam was top-class and had a good page. The dam has produced winners, and I think Sioux Nation can help this filly do even better than some of her winning siblings.
“We’ll get together after the sale and assess what we’ve bought so far and how we can grow. We want a manageable operation, we don’t want the numbers to explode.”
Willie Browne stocks up
Breeze-up maestro Willie Browne was doing his best to restock for next year’s sales against stiff competition.
He signed for Forenaghts Stud’s first-crop Minzaal filly out of a Dawn Approach half-sister to Rockfel Stakes winner Lucida (Lot 708) at €80,000, under the JB Bloodstock banner, and for the Castlebridge-consigned St Mark’s Basilica colt out of Pulcinella, a winning daughter of Dubawi and Petrushka (Lot 790) at €65,000, with MC Bloodstock.
Browne said of the Minzaal filly: “We saw her several times over the last couple of days and she’s the standout filly here. She’s a lovely walker and is very well put together. Her sire Minzaal was a fast horse and hopefully he’ll pass on that speed. From what I’ve seen of the sire's yearlings they’re sharp and look like they’ll be early two-year-olds.
“We’re looking for speed and she looks like she’ll have it.”
On the St Mark’s Basilica colt, he added: “The sire is starting to do very well. His two-year-olds seem to have come into their own in the second half of the year, which is a little bit worrying for our game, but he’s a grand horse, he looks like a runner and his siblings are well rated, so he has every chance.”
Reflecting on the market, Browne said: “All these breeze-up horses are probably 20 grand dearer than last year but that’s the way it is. There’s a young bunch of breeze-up people now and they’re very brave, so we’re trying to keep up with them.”
Weld loyalty
Dermot Weld holds the distinction of having bred and trained Galileo’s first classic winner, Nightime, and of breeding from the mare the world champion Ghaiyyath, a €1.1 million graduate of the Goffs November Foal Sale.
The legendary trainer remained faithful to Ghaiyyath, now making a name for himself as a sire, by buying a filly by him out of a winning daughter of Shamardal and Group 1 runner-up Walkamia (Lot 772) from Ballygallon Stud for €75,000.
“Bobby [O’Ryan] and I bought her on spec,” said Weld. “She’s by the right sire! I know all about him, I bred Ghaiyyath and he’s doing extremely well at stud. She also comes from a very good family, there’s a nice bit of Linamix in there and you can see that colour coming through in her. She looks like a racey filly and she was beautifully presented.”
“I still have both Nightime and her dam Caumshinaun at home and they’re in great order, I’m glad to say. Nightime didn’t go in foal this year, so we’ve retired her as well now. It’s been a wonderful family for us over the years.”
Record results
Wrapping up the day, Goffs CEO Henry Beeby said: "Book 2 of the Irish National Yearling Sale always has a hard act to follow after two days of the best in Orby Book 1, and this year upped the ante as Monday and Tuesday returned record breaking results with new highs for average at €136,256 and the €98,000 median headed by a trio of millionaire lots.
"That Orby 1 is a world class yearling sale that is the measure of any on the planet when we have the horses is proven time and again and so it was the case this week as we enjoyed a trade of sustained demand as demonstrated by the 89% clearance rate.
"Orby 2 operates at a different level but the unceasing hunger for horses over the last two days has continued the trends set since August as we have seen mighty trade at Saratoga, Deauville, Doncaster, Keeneland and Fairyhouse, all at their own levels. In fact, the Orby 2 average is a record as well, and the median came within a bid of the high of 2022, whilst we have sold more six figure lots and the number making €50,000 or over has also risen dramatically, and all from a strong clearance rate of 86%. Another notable statistic is that the last 10 lots averaged well above the sale average so dispelling any suggestion of the sale tailing off in any way.
"Buyer diversification is also noteworthy and the combined efforts of the Goffs Purchaser Attraction Team and our friends at Irish Thoroughbred Marketing has led to a huge number of buyers from all over the world with new faces coming specifically for Orby 2 and 35 different entities signing for lots making €50,000 and above – that’s some spread.
"There is no doubt that the unique Goffs Two Million Series has a positive impact on Orby 2 as well as its predecessor and the five Book 2 graduates who took home a €50,000 Goffs Bonus have acted as inspiration for buyers over the last two days much the same as those buying earlier in the week. Indeed, the €5,000 Orby 2 daughter of Coulsty bought by Nick Bradley last year is a graphic illustration of why it pays to “tick the box” at Orby 1 and Orby 2.
"As we close out the Irish National Yearling Sales week there is no doubt there will be more headlines elsewhere in the coming weeks to follow those from USA, France and closer to home over the last couple of months, but nothing will diminish the record-breaking achievements and vibrancy of Orby 1 and Orby 2. For that we repeat our thanks to every vendor and each purchaser as we are nothing without both groups."