Galileo Filly For Godolphin At €1.2 Million

It only took an hour from the start of play for the Goffs Orby Sale to burst into life as a Ballylinch Stud-bred daughter of Galileo took to the ring and sparked an old-fashioned bidding war between Coolmore and Godolphin.

An offer of €1.2 million from the Godolphin team was enough to secure the first foal of the Group 2 winner L'Amour De Ma Vie (lot 35), whose first appearance in a sales ring had been in utero when her dam was sold for €600,000 at Arqana's December Sale two years ago. MV Magnier, standing in company with the Mayfair Speculators' buying team of Peter Doyle and Derek Brugman, made much of the early running, but John and Thady Gosden, Anthony Stroud and David Loder had positioned themselves on the balcony right above them as the filly had entered the ring and it was apparent that it was only a matter of time before Gosden senior signalled his intent to become involved in the chase. Magnier was the first to bid seven figures but had no answer as Gosden stretched to €1.2 million.

“The choke was out, we wouldn't have gone much further,” said Anthony Stroud after signing the docket for the filly. “David, John and I all thought that she was a very athletic filly. Of course she's out of a very good racemare and comes from an excellent farm. She's the sort of filly who is a lovely addition to what we already have at Godolphin.”

Plenty has been made of the fact that Godolphin's policy of overlooking Coolmore-sired young stock is no more–a change in strategy which became apparent in Lexington a few weeks ago and will doubtless be welcomed by breeders and consignors.

“It can only be good for the business,” agreed Ballylinch Stud manager John O'Connor, who had bought L'Amour De Ma Vie for John and Leslie Malone's operation back in 2015 and was delighted with such a decent return on their investment.

He said, “She was such a nice filly that we expected her to sell well. She's really light on her feet and a proper athlete. All the good judges with the appropriate budget were interested in her and we saw the type of duel that we haven't seen in a while. Our ethos has always been one of independence so we are able to deal with everybody.”

The Godolphin team later added a colt by Showcasing (GB) to the day's purchases at €460,000. Sold by Lady O'Reilly's Hollyhill Stud, lot 165 is the second foal of the Group 3-placed Roseraie (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), herself a daughter of G3 International S. winner and G1 Moyglare Stud S. runner-up Red Feather (Ire) (Marju {Ire}).

Also on the list was lot 179, Mountain View Stud's Dark Angel (Ire) filly out of a winning half-sister to G1 Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Nightime (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). The first foal of Seagull (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) brought the hammer down at €375,000.

The sale of a seven-figure filly along with 65 six-figure yearlings on the day led to a 2% rise in turnover from the equivalent session last year to €21,140,000. The average remained pretty much on a par at €108,410, while the median dropped 4% to €67,000. Despite a feeling early on that the market was patchy, the clearance rate for the first session was a respectable 85%, with 195 of the 228 yearlings offered finding a buyer.

Kilcarn's Prima Donna
Two years ago, Emmaus (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) made €580,000 at the Orby Sale when bought by China Horse Club and his full-sister (lot 138) brought the exact same amount this time around, passing from one noted nursery to another.

The Kilcarn Stud-bred filly will eventually join the broodmare band at David and Patricia Thompson's Cheveley Park Stud after being tested on the track, but even before she adds form to the book she has plenty to recommend her. Her dam Prima Luce (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) won the G3 Athasi S. for Jim Bolger and John Connaughton, and Prima Luce's half-sister Bloomfield (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) has enhanced the appeal of the immediate family this season by winning on debut and twice finishing runner-up at stakes level, most recently in the G3 Give Thanks S. Their dam Ramona (Desert King {Ire}) is in turn a half-sister to the late Verglas (Ire) and top-flight spriner Cassandra Go (Ire), whose burgeoning dynasty includes the three-time Group 1 winner Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}).

“She's a gorgeous filly with great bone, depth and balance,” said Cheveley Park Stud manager Chris Richardson, who outbid Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum. “The fact that Halfway To Heaven is in the family and is by Pivotal is of obvious appeal to us.”

Towards the end of the session, Richardson had his bidding boots back on when going to €390,000 for lot 238, Yeomanstown Stud's homebred filly by Dark Angel (Ire) out of the Listed Hilary Needler Trophy runner-up The Hermitage (Ire) (Kheleyf). The mare has been mated exclusively with Yeomanstown's prized stallion, producing G2 Mill Reef S. runner-up Perfect Angel (Ire) among her two winners to date.

Kilcarn Stud and Pat O'Kelly's most celebrated family was later represented via lot 213, an Invincible Spirit son of the blue hen Spirit Of Tara (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), who will make his way to America after being bought by Justin Casse and Justin Zayat for Zayat Stables.

His price of €120,000 will represent terrific value if he has inherited any of the abundant talent of a vast range of family members, which include half-brother Echo Of Light (GB) (Dubai Millennium) and grandam, the former champion race filly Flame Of Tara (GB) (Artaius), whose offspring include Irish Derby and Oaks winner Salsabil (GB) (Sadler's Wells) and G1 St James's Palace S. winner Marju (Ire) (Last Tycoon {GB}).

“When you're buying fillies in Europe you can think outside the box a little but with colts you have to stay within quite strict rules,” said Casse. “This colt has a real stallion's pedigree which is really important for us – it speaks for itself. It's hard to buy into a yearling with that type of pedigree, by such a good stallion at that price. This is good value for us.”

Mayfair Make A Splash
Markus Jooste and Derek Brugman of Mayfair Speculators are making their first visit to Goffs this week and they made their presence felt on Tuesday when once again partnering the Coolmore team to buy a colt and a filly through Peter Doyle.

The agent was pushed to €380,000 in pursuit of lot 144, a daughter of Camelot (GB) who had also caught the eye of Shawn Dugan. With her first-season sire starting to fire in winners with increasing regularity, the filly proved to be a good pinhooking result for Eddie O'Leary of Lynn Lodge Stud, who paid 115,000gns through Mags O'Toole to buy her as a foal. The daughter of the Listed Bosra Sham S. runner-up Question Times (GB) (Shamardal) received a good update early this season when her half-sister Diamond Fields (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) beat Alice Springs (Ire) to win the G3 Gladness S. for Fozzy Stack.

The Mayfair-Coolmore partnership also went to €300,000 for a first-crop son of No Nay Never (lot 39). Bred by RJB Bloodstock and offered through Glenvale Stud, the colt of out of Law Of The Jungle (Ire), a Catcher In The Rye half-sister to dual Group 3 winner Eastern Appeal (Ire) (Shinko Forest {Ire}).

There are 21 yearlings by the son of Scat Daddy in the Orby catalaogue and eight sold through the first session for an average of €159,000. These included lot 71, a Camas Park Stud-consigned son of G3 Princess Margaret S. winner Mixed Blessing (GB) (Lujain) who was bought by Stephen Hillen for €280,000.

Dugan Digs In For Le Havre Relative
Having been outdone earlier for a Camelot filly, American-based agent Shawn Dugan was successful in her quest for Mount Coote Stud's Sea The Stars (Ire) colt out of Scarlet And Gold (Ire), a winning Peintre Celebre half-sister to G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner and leading French sire Le Havre (Ire). Lot 177, bred by the Tsui family's Sunderland Holdings, was bought for €380,000 on behalf of an unnamed client.

“He'll most likely be trained in France,” said Dugan. “He's an absolutely stunning colt who had a lovely way about him. He was very calm and collected.”

The agent also struck for lot 45, Camas Park Stud's colt by Kodiac (GB), who fetched €270,000. The first foal of a winning daughter of the multiple Listed scorer Sweet Lilly (GB) (Tobougg) was bought as a foal for 130,000gns from breeder Tibthorpe Stud.

Elusive Wave's Half-Sister To Japan
Agent John McCormack was full of praise for Ballylinch Stud sire Lope De Vega (Ire) after signing for one of his daughters (lot 84) for the sum of €350,000. The filly is already a half-sister to the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches heroine Elusive Wave (Ire) (Elusive City) and is set to follow her celebrated sibling to Japan.

“She's a half-sister to a Classic winner by a really up-and-coming sire,” he said. “I don't mean Lope De Vega hasn't already done it but I think he's just going to get better and better. The offspring of the better mares are coming through now and I feel Ballylinch could be sitting on a goldmine with him.”

Elusive Wave was sold privately to Northern Farm after being bought for 800,000gns by MV Magnier at Tattersalls in 2010. Whatever her price was in the private transaction looks to have been pretty good business for Katsumi Yoshida as her last two foals have both topped the JRHA Sale in Hokkaido, with this year's offering bringing a world record price for a colt foal at public auction when selling for ¥580 million (approximately €4.4 million).

McCormack continued, “This filly was really good physically and with Elusive Wave having already worked so well with Deep Impact there was obviously plenty of interest in this filly in Japan. My feeling is that she will race there but that has not yet been confirmed.”

The filly was offered by her breeder Pier House Stud and the Morrin family is likely to agree with McCormack's views on Lope De Vega as they also bred his recent GI Natalma S. winner Capla Temptress (Ire), who was sold at last year's Orby Sale for €26,000. The Rainbow Quest mare Multicolour Wave (Ire) has also been kind to them, having produced six other winners besides Elusive Wave, including the stakes-placed Million Waves (Ire) (Mull Of Kintyre). The 19-year-old mare was purchased from her breeder Stavros Niarchos for 11,500gns back in 2001.

Brace Of Galileos For Gerrardstown
Eamonn Reilly of BBA Ireland has been charged with the task of helping Frank Fahy assemble a broodmare band at his recently purchased Gerradstown House Stud and the County Meath farm will eventually welcome two daughters of Galileo (Ire) bought from the first session of the Orby Sale.

First on the list was lot 75, the first foal Irish National Stud's G3 Pinnacle S. winner Moment In Time (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a grand-daughter of the Gerald Leigh homebred Ahead (GB) (Shirley Heights {GB}), who sold for €320,000. She was later joined by lot 156, the half-sister to G3 St Simon S. winner Hazel Lavery (Ire) (Excellent Art {GB}), who was sold through the Castlebridge Consignment for €380,000.

The Croom House Stud draft provided an early market-leader when selling lot 25 to Shadwell for €350,000. The Invincible Spirit (Ire) colt is out of a dual-winning half-sister to G1 Ascot Gold Cup and dual G1 Irish St Leger winner Order Of St George (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

Tidy Profit For Farrier-Turned-Pinhooker
Liam McAteer is a man of many talents. The former trainer is also a practising farrier and he can also add successful pinhooker to his list of achievements after selling lot 130 for €310,000 to Alastair Donald.

Bloodstock agent Anthea Gibson Fleming assisted McAteer is his purchase of the colt for 85,000gns at Tattersalls last December and, with on behalf of his business partner, Turkish owner-breeder Kemal Kurt, McAteer prepared the son of the Listed-placed Pop Art (Ire) (Excellent Art {Ire}) with daughter Pamela at their Woodtown House Stud in Navan.

“He was a small foal but we always through he was going to grow and he's done very well through the year,” said McAteer, who also sold subsequent G1 Nunthorpe S. winner Margot Did (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) as a yearling.

“It's been a great team effort and we have a nice Garswood colt to sell in Newmarket,” he added, before dashing off to shoe a yearling for a friend.

Sun Out Again In Kildare
Australian-based Sun Bloodstock has a son of Frankel (GB) (lot 188) to race for them after going to 300,000gns for Camas Park Stud's half-brother to the black-type-earning duo of Disegno (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and Psychometry (Fr) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). The son of Lingfield Oaks Trial runner-up Seven Magicians (Silver Hawk) hails from the dynasty of the Niarchos family's Myth To Reality (Fr) (Sadler's Wells).

Other Australian interests active at the sale included Lloyd Williams, a regular buyer of European horses in training as potential Melbourne Cup prospects, who bought two middle-distance yearlings. Lot 31 is a first-crop son of dual Derby winner Australia (GB), bought for €65,000 from Flash Conroy's Glenvale Stud, while lot 41 is the Camelot colt out of Lesson In Life (GB) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}), bought for €85,000 from Camas Park Stud.