Just two months since they shared top billing at the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale at Doncaster when selling for £170,000, Kodiac (Ire) colts Prince Of Lir (Ire) and Ardad (Ire) are both now Royal Ascot stakes winners.
The John Gosden-trained Ardad set the ball rolling with his 3 1/4-length strike in Tuesday's listed Windsor Castle S. in a time of 1.02.56––fractionally faster than the same day's G1 King's Stand S. victory of Profitable (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). On Thursday, Prince Of Lir kept his unbeaten record intact when winning the G2 Norfolk S. for The Cool Silk Partnership and trainer Robert Cowell.
Bred at Mount Eaton Stud in Co Wexford by Philip and Orla Hore, Prince Of Lir went through the Goffs UK ring twice, fetching £40,000 as a yearling when bought by Emerald Bloodstock to be consigned to the breeze-up sales by Con Marnane.
Also unbeaten in two starts for Abdullah Saeed Al Naboodah, Ardad, the first foal of the Red Clubs (Ire) mare Good Clodora (Ire) from the family of top sprinter Maarek (GB), was sent to the breeze-up sale by his breeders Tally-Ho Stud, where Kodiac also stands.
Between these two wins came another boost for the Goffs UK Breeze-up when its 2014 graduate, My Dream Boat (Ire) held off Found (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in a tight finish to become the first Group 1 winner for his sire Lord Shanakill in the Prince Of Wales's S. The Clive Cox-trained colt passed through two Goffs sales in Ireland as a yearling before being bought by Tom Malone and Donald McCain for £40,000 on behalf of Paul and Clare Rooney.
The icing on the cake for Goffs would be a Royal Ascot winner with a graduate from its London Sale, which took place for the third time on Monday. G1 Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas Jet Setting (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) stole the show at £1.3 million and she is favourite for today's G1 Coronation S., in which she runs for her new owner, the China Horse Club.
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