NICHOLAS Jones’ Coln Valley Stud had a single lot to sell in Book 1, and the breeder hit the target. The February-born son of Kingman he brought to sell is the second produce of the four-year-old winning Montjeu mare Grace And Favour, and she is a full-sister to the five-time Group 1 winner Fame And Glory. The Godolphin team outlasted Phoenix Thoroughbreds for the colt, securing him with their bid of 2,300,000gns. Paying tribute to his farm manager Ian Emes, Jones said: “Our previous best [price] came last year when we sold a Showcasing colt out of Grace And Glory [another own-sister to Fame And Glory] for 600,000gns. Lots of people told us he was a lovely horse, but you can’t really expect a sale like that. We have six flat mares and one National Hunt mare – we like to keep the numbers to this size and maintain the quality. We sell the colts and keep the fillies.”

Gryada, the grandam of the Kingman colt, was purchased by Jones’s friend Amanda Skiffington 13 years ago for 180,000gns and is from a family cultivated by Lord Howard de Walden at Plantation Stud. This year Grace And Favour had a filly by Pivotal and is in foal to the German Derby winner and successful young sire Sea The Moon.