KAYHAN Ozcan’s Turkish-based Turquoise Bloodstock paid €41,000 at last year’s Goffs November Sale for the winning Lope De Vega (Shamardal) mare Wondrous Words from the Ballylinch Stud draft. She was in foal to Make Believe (Makfi), carrying a colt who was born on May 3rd.

If you looked at the pedigree page in November, you would see an eight-year-old whose first foal won at two, the second was unraced, her yearling colt had lost money when resold just weeks earlier, and a colt on the ground who was not in any of the foal sales. A May 31st covering was okay as long as the mare didn’t go over her time. Potential buyers might have questioned why Ballylinch Stud was selling her.