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The six-day Goffs November Sales ended on Saturday afternoon with a very solid session devoted to fillies and mares. The stock on offer may not have been as desirable as on Friday here but the prices were still strong in the main.
Total turnover for the week at Goffs was over €46 million. Foals accounted for three-quarters of total spending and, notably, clearance rates for both mares and foals improved compared with last year’s sale.
Ballylinch Stud sold the top lot on Saturday, the unraced Lope De Vega mare La Renegada, in foal to Make Believe. From the family of Last Tycoon, she sold to Emir Karadag’s Turquoise Bloodstock for €65,000 on behalf of a Turkish client.
Karadag said: “We will make plans for a stallion when she is back in Turkey. She is very correct, and her sire Lope De Vega is one of the top stallions at the moment, so I think she will do well.
“Make Believe has had some stakes winners in Turkey, but it was mainly a purchase for the mare herself. Her new owners will race the progeny. I felt that was the type of money she would make, and I am very happy to get her.”
Ballynure Parl Stud sold the five-year-old Nathaniel mare Qasida for €60,000. A winner in France, she due to give birth to her first foal (by Farhh) but her buyer remains a mystery. She was knocked down to Midfork Bloodstock which is thought to be a fictitious name invented purely to hide the purchaser’s identity. Not the first time this has happened this week and a practice that should be looked into.
Jack Davison trained the four-year-old Scorchio (by Kuroshio) to win four races and she was sold (in foal to Kodi Bear) today for €46,000 to Norwegian trainer Maria Robertz.
Robertz said: “She has been bought for Scandinavia. She will definitely be very commercial back there and is a lovely, good-looking mare with the potential to get many more good-looking colts. She is for a client of mine, Buck Racing, and they are very serious when it comes to buying. They breed to race and breed to sell.
“She might come back to be covered, but it is quite a long trip for mares from Scandinavia. However, we would consider it. We could even foal her here and cover her before bringing her home. That is a discussion we have yet to have.
“Kodi Bear is so commercial. He was an easy pick, and the mare’s price was about what we thought she would make. It’s not too bad. She was a standout today.”
"Positive feedback"
Goffs boss Henry Beeby summed up the week: “So many vendors and consignors of both foals and mares gave positive feedback on the sale, which delights the dedicated Goffs team as we exist to serve those that place their trust in our service.
“In my comments at the conclusion of the Foal Sale I highlighted the frenzied demand from start to finish and would only add that such vibrancy was largely driven by the swathes of pinhookers who flock to Goffs November every year, whether the yearling season has been good, bad or indifferent. They are an amazing group of hard working, committed men and women who are the epitome of accentuating the positives in everything, and we are in their debt. It is our hope that they will choose Goffs when they come to reoffer as the Orby and Premier sales provide a vibrant and strong marketplace at all levels, whilst the Goffs Customer Loyalty Scheme provides a distinctive and significant USP to vendors.
“Our Breeding Stock Sale also delivered positive returns for large numbers, although at a lower level today. Yesterday’s top lot is a clear case in point of exceeding expectations as she realised double several pre-sale valuations, and she was far from alone in that achievement. Once again Kildare Paddocks played host a truly international group of buyers, with the leader board reflecting the global appeal of the Irish thoroughbred at Goffs following the efforts of the Goffs Purchaser Attraction team and our friends at Irish Thoroughbred Marketing. Year after year this sale is the gateway to the world for Irish breeders and we are grateful for their ongoing support as, in common with every category at every sale, we recognise we are nothing without the horses.
“That said, I admit that we will be frustrated to see some high-profile Irish horses selling elsewhere in the coming weeks when we know, without any doubt, we would achieve the best price for them as we have done on so many occasions. It is, of course, for us to make the case and I can only state that we will not rest in our endeavours, as we have supreme confidence that Goffs November is the measure of any sale in the world for both foals and breeding stock, and our track record proves it.
“Finally, our thanks to all who have contributed to another superb week at Goffs. Vendors, purchasers, grooms, suppliers, and the wonderful Goffs team of which I am proud to be a part.”
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