THE Goffs Premier Yearling Sale may have lacked the proverbial fireworks we’ve become accustomed to at record-breaking sale after record-breaking sale, but it demonstrated a strength and depth to the middle market which is heartening to a greater number of breeders than a handful of eye-watering spends in a selective sale.

The median price is generally considered the best measure of a sale, so this week’s increase of 17% to £35,000 pointed to a positive two days for consignors, as did the clearance rate of 86%. Goffs decision to reduce the catalogue helped to raise the average by nine points to £43,194.

No horse reached the £200,000 mark, in contrast to four yearlings 12 months ago, while 26 horses sold for six-figure sums, just one less than last year. It could be presumed that Goffs struggled to secure the choicest yearlings, with many vendors rumoured to be increasing their focus on Newmarket, where Amo Racing concentrated their spend last year.

It therefore may have been concerning to some when Kia Joorabchian turned up in Doncaster this week and confirmed that he and his team were moving the goal posts this sales season. “Last year, we were quieter at this sale because we went for the deeper pedigrees and we found that, come June, we were a little bit short of those speedier two-year-olds,” Joorabchian commented after securing a son of Persian Force with Robson Aguair for £110,000.

New targets

“As you’ve seen, our season has come good recently, and we just felt we needed a little balance and should probably do a little bit of shopping at this sale and do a little less in Tatts.”

Amo Racing bought four lots this week, with Robson Aguair’s name appearing alongside two, and in total, Kia Joorabchian’s spend came to £357,000. Last week’s outlay of €4,950,000 at Arqana had already suggested that the Amo team had revised their strategy and, earlier this week, a report by The Financial Times revealed another reason for last year’s focus at Tattersalls Book 1 and Book 2.

Four days before Book 1 began, a company owned by Joorabchian secured a £40 million loan from Apollo Global Management, with the debt secured against assets of Amo Racing, Amo Stables and Sports Invest UK.

Joorabchian was joined by Nottingham Forest owner and Greek shipping magnate Evangelos Marinakis at Tattersalls last October and The Financial Times previously reported that Marinakis borrowed £80 million from the same US firm.

Happy vendor

Pat Doyle’s Galbertstown Stables provided one of the early highlights, a Starman filly pinhooked by Peter Collier’s Premier Bloodstock at the Goffs November Sale for €30,000. The young sire’s blistering start at stud helped raise her profile, bringing £125,000 from Phil Cunningham and Highflyer Bloodstock’s Anthony Bromley.

It was the highlight of a successful week overall, according to Doyle, who reflected: “I thought it was a very good sale. Fair play to Goffs with what they’ve done, I thought there were a lot better horses there this year and there were an awful lot of people there looking this week; we were never actually as busy. It was very busy there from Sunday onwards, the footfall was fantastic.”

On whether trade felt solid throughout, Doyle agreed, adding: “It was more solid this year, I think, because there were better horses. Now, it fell a bit flat in places but that was always going to happen because of the sires - it’s become so dominated by certain sires for the breeze-up guys, who need a certain type of horse to appeal to Godolphin or Coolmore.

“People were very strong on new sires there as well; Naval Crown and Persian Force were the two we had. We’ll definitely be going back there next year anyway, it was a very good sale.”

On whether it bodes well for the upcoming yearling sales, Doyle replied: “Absolutely. You definitely would be hoping, and I couldn’t see any reason why it wouldn’t continue. You’d imagine there would be even more international buyers going to the likes of the Orby and Newmarket, between Book 1 and Book 2.

“You’d be a small bit disappointed if it didn’t. To be honest, I’ve really no doubt. I think the next couple of sales are going to be even stronger.”

THERE was a time when Angus Gold was ‘King of the Ring’ at Goffs UK, his huge spends putting Shadwell Estate at the top of the buyers’ table from 2015 to 2019, their outlay ranging from £1,435,000 to £2,204,000.

Shadwell’s return to the fray was a lot more low key, but much welcomed, on Wednesday, as they supported their first crop sire Minzaal with a £190,000 spend on the sale’s top lot. Jane Allison’s Manor Farm was the beneficiary, and bred the filly in partnership with partner Hugo Merry and Jose Morera, under the banner of the Morera Partnership.

“We bought the mare as a maiden, and she got off to a bad start by producing a not very attractive first foal,” Merry explained. “This was a beautiful filly all the way through, though.

“I like Minzaal and I like using Derrinstown stallions. We bred Anisette, who won three Grade 1s in America, from Awtaad and I still use him every year.”

After securing the daughter of listed scorer Hateya, Gold commented: “Obviously we like to support our stallions where we can and I came up here to have a good look at them all.”

Profitable pinhook

Mimi Wadham and Violet Hesketh’s WH Bloodstock were also rewarded for their support on Minzaal when selling a colt to Richard Hughes and Ted Durcan for £135,000. Pinhooked with Atlas Bloodstock at Goffs for €55,000, the February-born bay recently benefited from an important update when his Ghaiyyath half-brother notched a juvenile win in Japan.

Richard Hughes, who bought the colt with Ted Durcan, added to the market’s endorsement of Derrinstown Stud’s young sire, saying: “Everything we’ve seen by Minzaal we’ve liked. This is a lovely horse with nice balance and plenty of bone, and he comes from a very good farm. He’s probably for Jaber Abdullah, he has a bit of affinity with Tamayuz mares. I told him we’d look for the nicest colt here for him, and we’ve found exactly that, I think.”

All 10 of Minzaal’s yearlings found a buyer, generating an average price of £65,200. The only first crop sire to better his average was Perfect Power, whose trio sold for an average price of £82,000.

Keep it in the family

The Minzaal colt was one of nine yearlings secured by Durcan and Hughes across the two days, spending £746,000 at the source of Hughes’ first Group 1 winner, No Half Measures (£34,000). The pair’s most expensive purchase was a Blue Point filly from Longview Stud, the half-sister to Group 3 winner Al Raya costing them £175,000.

“It’s a great family that I know well,” Hughes explained. “I rode both Fig Roll (dam) and Cake (granddam), and other relations down the years. They’re all very small, and I think this is almost the biggest one in the family I’ve seen.

“She has loads of quality and looks very fast. She should be early. I’d like to think she could be a Queen Mary filly like her dam. Hopefully we’ll be going to Royal Ascot with her.”

ALICE O’Brien and Bradley Wood’s young operation at Ashbrooke Stud enjoyed a day to remember when their €55,000 pinhook resold for £180,000 to Jason Kelly, Bond Thoroughbreds and Bryan Smart.

It marked a career-best price for the couple, who bought their County Durham farm in 2020. A delighted Wood commented: “That’s our first six-figure lot, we’ve gone close a few times but not quite made it, so we’re over the moon. We were surprised she made quite that much, but coming into the sale we knew we’d get well paid to a degree. It’s just with the way of the world at the moment you don’t know what the market will be like.

“She’d been vetted seven times, and she had some powerhouse names on her like Alex Elliott, Billy Jackson-Stops and George Scott. It’s nice when you’ve got the right people on them, it makes the job a lot easier.”

The Havana Grey filly was knocked down to an online bidder and Kelly once again demonstrated the online platform’s advantages when securing Thursday’s session topper while en route to the airport. The object of his affections was a Mehmas half-brother to Queen Mary Stakes runner-up Flowerhead, offered by breeder Tally-Ho Stud.

The name’s Bond

“He’ll be in the Bond Thoroughbred colours with Geoff Oldroyd,” Kelly said of his £150,000 purchase. “Geoff and P.J. McDonald have been on the ground this week and both saw the horse and were keen on him. P.J. has been a big part of the team this year. He’s been in Geoff’s yard riding plenty of work and has been a big part of the success this season.”

On the colt’s appeal, Kelly continued: “He’s a May foal but he’s a very strong, powerful horse. Obviously, the half-sister has looked sharp and precocious this year when running to a very high level, so hopefully he’ll be able to do something similar. This mare looks like she’s producing strong two-year-old types.”

On this week’s trade, Kelly commented: “It’s been a strong sale and buying has been tough throughout. Every horse was pushed to the top end of their valuation, which is a great sign for the market.”

HIGHFLYER Bloodstock’s Anthony Bromley and owner Phil Cunningham were the leading buyers at last year’s sale, with a spend of £1,010,000 across two days, and retained the title with an £830,000 outlay on eight yearlings this week. Four of their purchases featured in the top 10, the most expensive of which was a Showcasing half-brother to Abernant Stakes victor Washington Heights.

The colt hailed from the Bearstone Stud draft, as did Bromley and Cunningham’s £140,000 recruit six lots later, a colt from the first crop of Perfect Power. Out of the listed-winning mare Excelette, the mid-April foal is a half-brother to dual listed winner Well Done Fox.

“That’s a great result, we were expecting about half of what they’ve made,” said Bearstone Stud manager Mark Pennell. “You never really know, but we knew we had some nice horses here. They were precocious types and we chose this sale because it’s early and it’s fresh in the season, so people are keen, they aren’t bored of sales yet!

“We’ve never been busier during inspections. During the first two hours on the first morning, we did 175 shows. The staff are all very tired, but they’ve worked hard and hopefully it’s paid off. We’ll have a few drinks tonight to celebrate.”

Spend big to win big

Speaking after securing Bearstone Stud’s star lots, Bromley concurred on the strength of the sale, saying: “I’ve got these two, but I’ve had to give big money for them. It’s been quite a healthy market with plenty of bidders at all levels.

“It definitely surprised me how much the Showcasing colt made, although I think he deserved it because he’s a very athletic, scopey horse. We loved him and wanted to take him home.

“It was definitely more than I expected to pay for him. This is a sale for smaller horses, but when you get a nice scopey one they really stand out. Billy [Jackson-Stops, underbidder] pushed us very hard but Phil was on the phone and didn’t want to get beat.

“He comes from a great nursery, I love buying from Bearstone. I’ve hardly bought a horse from them that hasn’t won. They’ve been great breeders for many years and Terry Holdcroft and the team there are very straightforward to deal with. I’m pleased that a nice British stud has had a good sale.

Bromley and Cunningham later stretched to £150,000 for Baroda Stud’s own-brother to 2000 Guineas runner-up Tip Two Win.

It continued the fantastic success of bargain broodmare Freddies Girl, who was picked up by Anne Cowley for £9,000 at the Goffs Kempton Sale as a two-year-old.

The daughter of More Than Ready has gone on to produce four winners from five runners, including the aforementioned listed winner and a 93-rated horse.