More Sharks In The Sea At Goresbridge

Lining up for a Classic exactly 12 months after topping a sale is the kind of endorsement that is quite satisfying not only for current connections but also for the auction house that sold the horse, the vendor and no doubt the breeder. When the Jessica Harrington-trained Landshark (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) was knocked down to Eamonn Reilly of BBA Ireland on behalf of Bob Edwards's e5 Racing for €210,000 at Goresbridge last year it wasn't the highest price given for a breezer at the Kilkenny venue since it began selling 2-year-olds just over 10 years ago, but it did contribute to a record breaking sale in 2017 that saw aggregate, average and median each eclipse figures attained previously. The clearance rate also held firm last year at 86%, but given the scenario at other European breeze-up sales this year coupled with a slightly larger catalogue of 246 lots, the upward momentum of this sale will certainly be tested on Friday. That said, it seems every year while previewing this sale it is mentioned that the previous year's edition will be a hard act to follow, and so far that has proven not to be the case.

It could be that the rise in quality of horse offered each year offsets any negative market conditions, and looking at the pedigrees on offer this year it certainly appears that quality has taken another leap forward.

With the above-mentioned Landshark slated to take his chance in tomorrow's G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas, his vendor Mark Flannery of Egmont Stud is hoping lightning can strike twice as he offers the colt's half-brother as lot 81. He famously pinhooked Landshark for only 5,000 gns before hitting the jackpot last May, and this year's offering by Foxwedge (Aus) doesn't seem to have been overly expensive either when picked up by Flannery for 7,000gns at Tattersalls Book 3 last October. Comparing the two colts, Flannery said, “He's quite like Landshark in a lot of ways. He has a super action and is a very well-balanced type, though he's probably a better physical than his older brother.”

The Egmont Stud draft also features lot 214, one of two juveniles in the sale by Sea The Stars (Ire), and this filly boasts a very recognizable Moyglare Stud pedigree that features a host of stakes winners including Profound Beauty (Ire) (Danehill) and Carla Bianca (Ire) (Dansili {GB}).

It surely won't harm the Foxwedge colt's chances that Bob Edwards of e5 Racing is planning to pay his first visit to Goresbridge in advance of attending The Curragh to cheer on his Classic contender on Saturday. An international cast of buyers were in attendance for the breeze at Gowran Park on Thursday as 2-year-olds enjoyed perfect summer ground to show themselves off, something that has been absent at many breeze-ups held in Britain this year. Goresbridge boss Martin Donohoe appears to hold the key to the weather at this time of year and it seems whatever weather god he prays to delivers the goods each year.

“Conditions are perfect and I think we have a quality bunch of horses in action here today,” he said. “There seems to be plenty of the right faces here today and feedback has been good so far so let's hope that translates into a good sale on Friday.”

This year's recurring auctioneer's refrain of 'one of your last chances to buy a Scat Daddy' will never be truer as lot 125 steps into the ring. This last and final 2-year-old to be offered at public auction by the great and much lamented sire will be offered by Willie Browne, a man who certainly knows how to prepare the progeny of the sire, having topped the Arqana Breeze-Up with a Scat Daddy colt that sold for €825,000. This offering, a filly out of Akris Queen (Arch), went through the ring at Keeneland last year for $150,000.

Another in-demand sire represented by a single lot is Frankel (GB), and Katie Walsh of Greenhills Farm has been entrusted with consigning lot 177, a chestnut filly by the sire of Cracksman (GB) out of the stakes winner Vital Statistics (GB) (Indian Ridge). The Greenhills draft also includes lot 19, a filly by Bated Breath who is a half-sister to Grade I winner and sire Bellamy Road. Of the first season sires, No Nay Never (Scat Daddy) has impressed with both his number of winners and the quality therein, and his solitary representative, offered by Ambrose O'Mullane and Mary Reynolds's Ardglas Stables as lot 72, will surely be on many people's shortlists. The Ardglas team picked him up outside the ring at Arqana last year for €20,000, and his dam Laber Ildut (Ire) (Whipper) is a half-sister to Italian champion Hero Look (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}). A recent Group 1-winning update for a pedigree is always nice heading into a sale but lot 63 from Baroda & Colbinstown has the kind of pedigree that requires little updating. The filly by Iffraaj (GB) is out of Best Regards (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), a stakes-winning granddaughter of the blue hen Cassandra Go (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), herself the granddam of last weekend's G1 Al Shaqab Lockinge S. winner Rhododendron (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

Early in the sale lot 11 from Mayfield Stables could cause a stir. The filly's sire Charm Spirit (Ire) has impressed with his first runners this year, while her stakes-winning dam Elusive Pearl (Medaglia d'Oro) has already produced an interesting type in On The Warpath (Declaration Of War), who was snapped up by Godolphin after winning twice on the all-weather in England last winter for Sir Mark Prescott.

Two vendors who won't have to travel too far for the sale are Tom Whitehead's Powerstown Stud and also Ballylinch Stud. Whitehead has seven lots catalogued including lot 139, a Kodiac (GB) full-sister to a stakes performer in Bear Behind (Ire) who cost the vendor 65,000gns at Tattersalls as a yearling. The famous Ballylinch Stud, a rare enough breeze-up consignor, offers a Holy Roman Emperor filly as lot 17. The bay is a half-sister to the stakes-placed Cailin Mor (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) from the family of Wizz Kid (Ire) (Whipper), who carried the Ballylinch colours to victory in the G1 Pix de l'Abbaye in 2012.