A LOW-KEY Goffs UK October Sale on Wednesday contained a small selection of horses with form and yearlings, but there were a couple of highlights.

The session of horses-in-training was topped by Have Secret who sold to Richard Fahey for £100,000.

The two-year-old son of Havana Gold won a nursery at Haydock in August, and then claimed a second victory following the publication of the catalogue, carrying top weight to win at Nottingham a fortnight before the sale.

Offered from Fahey’s Musley Bank Stables on behalf of the executors of Lady Manton, he was bought for new owners in the yard. The colt was purchased as a yearling at the Goffs Orby Sale for €60,000.

The horses-in-training session also saw the Roger Varian-trained Open Champion, winner of his maiden over 12 furlongs at Lingfield in August, sell to Highflyer Bloodstock and Thurloe Thoroughbreds for £70,000.

Bred and raced by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, the three-year-old gelded son of Postponed is one of three winners from the Group 3 winner Nargys, a daughter of Lawman.

Highflyer Bloodstock and Thurloe Thoroughbreds have enjoyed success from this sale in the past, having secured Buzz who has won five of his 10 starts since his sale in 2019.

His victories include the Grade 2 Coral Hurdle at Ascot on his most recent start, as well as finishing second in the Grade 1 Aintree Hurdle at the Grand National Festival and winning the Cesarewitch at Newmarket.

Yet to win a race, the French-trained Cuzco Du Mathan, a four-year-old son of Martaline, sold to trainer James Moffatt for £45,000. The half-brother to Grade 2 Pendil Novices’’ Chase winner Tamaroc Du Mathan was consigned from Juliet Minton’s Mill House Stud.

Purchased by Mag Mullins for €26,000 at the Derby Sale as a three-year-old, the Mahler gelding Song Of Earth won a bumper at Wexford in 2020, a maiden hurdle at Gowran Park last year, while in April he added a chase victory at Fairyhouse.

On his most recent start he was beaten less than a length at Listowel last month. Having won more than £34,500, he sold to Julian Smith for £30,000

Yearlings

Four yearlings traded on the day for £20,000, two of them consigned by Mickley Stud.

First to that mark was a daughter of Massaat, the first foal of a daughter of Slade Power from the family of triple Group 1 winner Gordon Lord Byron. Ne-Chance Racing signed for the March 1st filly.

Her price was then matched by a daughter of leading first-season sire Havana Grey, a daughter of the dual juvenile winner Silhuette, by Canford Cliffs.

Battlefield Stud also sold a daughter of Havana Grey for £20,000, and she too is out of a Canford Cliffs mare, Emerald Cliffs. She was bought by JS Bloodstock.

Jason Kelly Bloodstock gave the same amount for a Ten Sovereigns filly, the first foal of a two-time winning full-sister to multiple Group 3 winner Ladies Are Forever.

Goffs UK managing director Tim Kent said: “This sale has a long track record of producing smart performers, Buzz being one of the most recent, and it’s great to see his owners, Thurloe Thoroughbreds, return here to secure another promising type in Open Champion, and hopefully he will prove every bit as successful.

“With that in mind, we also wish Richard Fahey, along with all those who bought horses at today’s sale, the very best with their purchases.

“We now turn our attention to our new boutique point-to-point sale, the Tingle Creek Sale at Sandown Park, which will see us offer a select catalogue after racing in the winners’ enclosure on Saturday, December 3rd.”

Just 66% of the lots offered sold, while the turnover, average and median all declined from last year’s figures, where the top price was £90,000.