THE first Coral Gold Cup Sale conducted by Goffs got off to the strongest possible start at Newbury on Saturday, with a select offering of 21 horses bringing in more than £2.1 million, and 13 of these lots realised six-figure sums.

With all the leading owners, trainers and bloodstock agents in attendance, the busy ring at Newbury saw 18 of the 21 lots on offer sell, and the top price of £200,000 shared by two lots. The first to reach the mark was Sam Curling’s four-year-old filly Half Past Tipsy, a daughter of Muhtathir who was a convincing winner of her second start in a point-to-point, this one at Quakerstown, where she carried the colours of her breeder Walter Connors. It was at the same venue that Connors unleased the Grade 1 winner Bacardys.

Gavin Cromwell had the final say for this half-sister to four winners on the track as a pair of others who won between the flags, and she is out of the Bob Back mare Miss Otis Regrets, winner of a bumper on her only outing. Cromwell not takes over the training of a Muhtathir for the first time, for an existing owner, and he hopes to have her racing in the New Year.

Three other fillies brought six-figure sums, and one of these was the filly who finished second to Half Past Tipsy at Quakerstown. Now placed on both her outings, the well-named Geturguccion, a daughter of Getaway, was two and a half lengths adrift of the winner last time out, but the race was run in an exceptionally fast time, some 12 seconds faster than the average on the day. The pair were 40 lengths ahead of the rest.

Immediate family

A £30,000 store purchase, the Donnchadh Doyle-trained Geturguccion is a half-sister to the listed hurdle winner Saylavee, a daughter of the Grade 3-winning hurdler Mae’s Choice by Presenting, while the good chaser Ballynagour and the Christmas Hurdle winner Mighty Mogul are in the immediate family. Highflyer Bloodstock was acting for Alan King in the sale of the filly who realised £100,000.

Sam Curling made a late entry for the sale with the Ludlow bumper winner Metkayina. Placed on her debut at Galway, she made no mistake second time up, and the four-year-old daughter of Diamond Boy is the first foal and winner for Princess Tiara, a bumper and hurdle winner by Kayf Tara, and she was placed in a listed hurdle race at Doncaster.

Sold to JP Bloodstock for £100,000, a sizeable return on her foal price of €12,500 at Goffs, Metkayina is for a new racing syndicate formed by former jockeys Noel Fehily and Dave Crosse. Who will train the filly was not known, though the new owners already have a listed bumper earmarked for her.

Garret Murphy’s Cudgley Stakes hit the mark when the four-year-old daughter of Anngrove Stud stallion Vendangeur, Northern Air, won on her debut at Dromahane, easily accounting for her six rivals by five lengths. The first winner out of an unraced half-sister to the smart Earth Planet, she comes from another branch of the same family as Geturguccion. She was purchased for £105,000 by Fergal O’Brien and Paddy Brennan.

The Bluesman is the best of the boys

THE £200,000 top price was matched later in the sale when Denis Murphy’s four-year-old gelding The Bluesman, placed third on his debut at Dromahane, sold to Tom Malone and Paul Nicholls.

This €140,000 store purchase is a son of Crillon and a half-brother to seven winners, notably the listed Auteuil hurdle winner Fiumicino. The strength of the point-to-point in which he was third is best illustrated by the fact that the fourth that day, Moon Phases, later sold for £150,000, while winner was the Gordon Elliott-trained Patter Merchant.

Nicholls is already thinking of a chasing career for The Bluesman, though he indicated that a run in a bumper before being turned away is on the cards. Tom Malone’s purchase was made on the day that his Goffs Land Rover purchase, Datsalrightgino, won the Coral Gold Cup.

The bloodstock agent made a couple of other purchases in his own name, one of which was the Donnchadh Doyle-trained Maximum Offers. Beaten a head on his debut at Quakerstown, this Getaway half-brother to the US listed-winning hurdler and chaser Two’s Company, was only collared on the line on his sole outing. He cost Malone £105,000.

Though he only had a head to spare over Maximum Offers, Country Park sold for £150,000 to Matt Coleman (Stroud Coleman) and Jonjo O’Neill. The race was run in a time 14 seconds better than the average on the day, and much is expected from the first two past the post. Colin Bowe sold Country Park who is a full-brother to a winner, and they are the first two foals out of a bumper-winning half-sister to Wicklow Brave, winner of the Group 1 Irish St Leger and the Grade 1 Champion Hurdle at Punchestown.

A little earlier, Coleman and O’Neill spent £155,000 on yet another graduate of Colin Bowe’s Milestone Stables, Hawthorn Street. The son of Flemensfirth was pulled-up on his debut, but was most impressive at the second time of asking, winning at Tinahely. The €80,000 store purchase is the first winner out of a daughter of smart racemare Shirley Casper, a Grade 2 bumper winner and Grade 3-winning hurdler. Shirley Casper is a full-sister to the Irish Grand National winner Thunder And Roses.

Fogarty strikes gold with Mulinas

TRAINER Jonathan Fogarty saddled the four-year-old Malinas gelding Mulinas to win on his debut at Boulta, doing so in style by three lengths. Closely related to the listed bumper-placed Malinas Jack, Mulinas comes from the family of Craigsteel. He sold to JP McGrath Bloodstock for Noel Fehily and Dave Crosse.

The first lot in the ring on the evening was First Confession, a son of Affinisea. Bought for only €18,000 as a store, the John Flavin-handled four-year-old won at Moig South on his sole outing, and impressed everyone enough to realise £140,000 to the Peter and Ross Doyle Bloodstock and Joe Tizzard.

The five-year-old Big Stage, a son of Walk In The Park, returns to Gordon Elliott’s Cullentra House after his sale to the trainer for £120,000, and he looks value as he cost €100,000 as a store. Big Stage, who may be well-named, is out of an own-sister to Grade 1 chase winner Defy Logic, and this is the immediate family of the ultra-smart Strong Promise.

Another five-year-old to sell well was Sawdust, a son of Leading Light from the family of the Grand National winner Comply Or Die. Stuart Crawford sold this five-length Lingstown debut winner to Highflyer Bloodstock, working in tandem with trainer Alan King, for £115,000.

Next Noble Yeats?

Could King Califet be the next Noble Yeats? Well, he comes from the same nursery, that of Brian Hassett, and was runner-up on his only start to date, at Turtulla when beaten by the useful Will The Wise. The son of Califet and Rosa Fleet, three-times a winner for Venetia Williams, was purchased by Gerry Hogan Bloodstock for £110,000.

Goffs UK’s managing director Tim Kent commented: “Say no to a one-horse race. It was on these foundations that we decided to launch our new Coral Gold Cup Sale [after Sandown gave their Tingle Creek Sale to Tattersalls] as we firmly believe that competition is vital for the bloodstock market.

“To come to Newbury after a 10-year absence and deliver this sale has been a wonderful result for Goffs, and we would like to thank our loyal vendors who backed this venture with some of their very best horses and were rightly rewarded. As ever, there is always an unknown element to any new venture and we are delighted to have delivered yet another vibrant and lively sale at a top-class race meeting.”