“AMAZING, phenomenal, electric, and more.

It’s hard to find the appropriate words to describe trade last week but it can really only be defined in the richest of superlatives.

However strong the foal trade was nothing could have prepared us for the level of bidding at Friday’s premier Breeding Stock session.

Not since the heady days of the historic Paulyn Dispersal have we sold as many mares for €500,000 and over and we witnessed a remarkable day of selling with quality mare after quality mare provoking several truly seismic bidding duels from an international cast of breeders.

Whilst every bidder is important, we must single out our great supporter Mr Zhang of Yulong who was the leading buyer by some margin.

His haul of the best dominated the leader board as he and his advisor Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland saw off the competition time after time with the majority bought to support his stallion Lucky Vega, himself a Goffs graduate.

We are lucky to have his support, and by “we” I refer to the Irish bloodstock industry, not just Goffs.

I confess that we thought it would be hard to better 2021’s superb results but this year’s extraordinary statistics are testament to so many major Irish breeding entities who offered drafts of note that provoked a sale of incredible tempo, enthusiasm and hunger that was just breathtaking.

A huge cast of international buyers, both in person and online, battled for mare after mare to highlight the enduring attraction of the best bloodlines.

Goffs November has long held a significant place in the calendar and last week only underlined its importance to Irish breeders, who sell with us safe in the knowledge that they will always get that little bit more.

Unique welcome

International buyers are attracted to Ireland by the quality on offer, together with the unique welcome they receive from the Goffs team and our colleagues at Irish Thoroughbred Marketing who play such a key role in our buyer attraction every year.

Finally I extend a special Goffs ‘thank you’ to every buyer and each vendor, for we are nothing without their support. Bringing both groups together and ensuring they receive equal focus is our perpetual goal.”