A fine renewal of the Goffs November Foal Sale ended this evening with the four-day auction producing returns that outstripped those from last year and ones which were among the strongest in the sale’s history.

After beginning with two very solid sessions the sale reached its zenith with a superb day’s trade on Wednesday before Thursday’s more lowkey but still quite solid conclusion.

This, coupled with a strong run of yearling sales throughout the autumn, translated into four days that Goffs chief executive Henry Beeby described as "sensational" and one couldn’t argue with such an assessment.

At the close of the sale the turnover came in at €29,561,000 which was 16% ahead of 2021. The average of €40,110 finished 15% up on 2022 while the median progressed from €22,000 to €24,000.

The clearance rate did drop but only marginally as it went from 82% to 80%.

Havana Grey filly

The final day of the sale was headed by a daughter of this season’s first crop sire sensation Havana Grey for whom leading pinhooker Paul McCartan forked out €68,000.

“She’s a very nice filly and Havana Grey has excelled himself this year,” commented McCartan. “She’s out of a Showcasing mare who won at two which you would like and there’s lot of two-year-old winners on the page and the family goes back to a couple of top class two-year-olds in Blue Duster and Zieten.”

Another popular filly was a daughter of Soldier’s Call who numbers Jessica Harrington’s stakes-winning juvenile Dickiedooda amongst her siblings. It did look as though this filly was heading to Joe Foley but at €65,000 it was Bitzen Bloodstock who struck the winning bid.

Much earlier in the day Fort Middle Stud forked out €60,000 for a daughter of the eminent young French sire Zarak who will stand for €60,000 next year. This filly is a granddaughter of the South African Group 1 winner Rumya.

Bought to race

As ever most of the foals on offer were bought to resell but one who was picked up for racing was a €48,000 colt from the first crop of the very talented sprinter Far Above. Richard Brown signed for the colt who is out of a half-sister to the dam of the multiple Group 1 winner Perfect Power.

“I’ve bought him for Sheikh Rashid who owned both Far Above and Perfect Power,” commented Brown. “Sheikh Rashid is very keen to support both Far Above and Perfect Power and this all added up as this colt is closely related to Perfect Power and he is a very good-looking colt. He’s been bought to race and we are delighted to have gotten him.”

Another of the day’s leading lights was a €47,000 son of Invincible Army related to the stakes-winning juvenile Kings Quay and he was bought by Yeomanstown Stud where the stallion resides. Invincible Army is among those sires who will be represented by his first runners in 2023.

Meanwhile the only Saxon Warrior foal on offer today was a filly out of the remarkable A Step Too Far who embarked on a remarkable winning sequence during the summer of 2020 when she won six sprint handicaps in two months.

COMPARATIVE FIGURES FOR DAY FOUR

YEAR CAT OFF SOLD AGGREGATE AVERAGE MEDIAN

2022 260 235 176 €2,430,250 €13,808 €10,000

2021 250 216 172 €2,649,300 €15,403 €12,000

COMPARATIVE FGURES FOR ENTIRE FOAL SALE

YEAR CAT OFF SOLD AGGREGATE AVERAGE MEDIAN

2021 1035 917 737 €29,561,000 €40,110 €24,000

2021 1015 893 731 €25,560,300 €34,966 €22,000

2020 761 637 476 €17,489,600 €36,743 €20,000

2019 975 802 629 €26,402,300 €41,975 €22,000

2018 1094 917 635 €21,354,800 €33,630 €20,000

2017 1119 952 730 €27,137,000 €37,174 €20,000