Orby Starts On A High As Goffs Goes Global

With a list of buyers as diverse as the sires of the best-selling yearlings, the Goffs Orby Sale kicked off in buoyant fashion on Tuesday with an 8% improvement in the average to €109,877 and a leading lady by Galileo (Ire) sold for €900,000.

Though nothing breached the million-euro mark during the opening session, the strength at the top end of the market was highlighted by the fact that 64 yearlings sold for €100,000 or more, while across the board the 84% clearance rate seen for the same session last year was maintained and the median also improved by 8% to €70,000. In total, 187 yearlings sold for turnover of €20,547,000 (+5%).

The day's top offering, lot 74 may have owed plenty to the fact that she is by the champion sire, but her dam Green Room can also take much credit. The unraced 14-year-old daughter of Theatrical (Ire) may not have made her name on the track, but she has been a darling of the sales ring in recent years thanks to the exploits of her offspring. These include Lord Shanakill (Speightstown), a Group 1 winner in France for Karl Burke and the Gittins family who was responsible for his first Group 1 winner as a sire earlier this year when My Dream Boat (Ire) won the G1 Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot. Subsequent progeny include Together Forever (Ire), a sister to the sales-topping yearling and winner of the G1 Dubai Fillies' Mile for Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore team. MV Magnier bought Together Forever for €680,000 in the same ring three years ago, while Amanda Skiffington bought Green Room's as-yet unraced 3-year-old by Sea The Stars (Ire) 12 months later for €1.1 million, with each filly being the second-most expensive of their respective yearling sale. The same two buyers locked horns for the current yearling with Skiffington eventually giving way to Magnier, who issued an ode to the filly's sire after signing the ticket.

“The way Galileo is going he will break every record possible,” he said. “Whether you want a champion 2-year-old, 3-year-old or 4-year-old colt or filly, a seven-furlong horse or a Derby horse, he gets them all. He's even working out really well as a broodmare sire. We bought Together Forever and she was a very good filly out of a really good mare. This filly is very similar to her.”

Bred by Vimal and Gillian Khosla, the filly was offered by Ballylinch Stud where her dam–a daughter of Al Bahathri's full-sister Chain Fern (Blushing Groom {Fr})–is a permanent boarder. She provided the highlight of a memorable day for the County Kilkenny farm, which sold 11 yearlings for a total of €2,041,000 to end the session as leading consignor.

“It's been a very good first day and Green Room has just been an extraordinary mare,” reflected Ballylinch Stud manager John O'Connor. “She has no foal this year but she's back in foal to Galileo. The Khoslas retained her 2-year-old Dansili (GB) filly who is in training with Jessie Harrington so they now have a couple of Green Room's daughters.”

He added, “Green Room actually throws better-looking horses than she is herself. They are generally very athletic, good-moving horses and this filly was no exception. She's a lot like Together Forever. Vimal and Gilliam were here today and I'm delighted for them as they are lovely people to deal with.”

Brothers Get In On The Act…

Camas Park Stud was second in the vendors' table, with the star among the nine yearlings from the draft sold on Tuesday unsurprisingly being lot 168, the Frankel (GB) half-brother to Group 1 winners and stallions Bago (Fr) (Nashwan) and Maxios (GB) (Monsun {Ger}) bred by the Niarchos family's Flaxman Stables Ireland.

BBA Ireland agent Adrian Nicoll lasted longest in the race to secure the colt, with the hammer falling in his favour at €750,000. Though unable to name the buyers, he commented, “He's been bought to race for an international partnership but we haven't decided where he'll go yet. Obviously he's by Frankel with a fantastic pedigree and he's a strong, powerful colt.”

In addition to her Group 1 scorers, the colt's unraced dam Moonlight's Box has also produced the Group 3-placed Listed winner Beta (GB) (Selkirk) among her seven winners and is herself a daughter of former champion French 2-year-old Coup De Genie (Mr. Prospector), a sister to Machiavellian.

Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, who regularly attends the Orby Sale, secured two of the day's top colts, matching the €750,000 paid for the Frankel when securing a brother to dual group winner and G1 Dewhurst S. runner-up Cable Bay (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who sold late in the session as lot 240.

“I thought he was a gorgeous horse,” said Stephen Collins, General Manager of Sheikh Hamdan's Derrinstown Stud. “Obviously he's a full-brother to Cable Bay who was an outstanding racehorse, but he had everything: quality a good demeanour and the pedigree to go with it. Hopefully he can come back to us as a stallion one day.”

The Shadwell team also went to €600,000 for lot 71, another brother to a decent racehorse and young stallion, Harbour Watch (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), who was offered by Riversfield Stud.

“Sheikh Hamdan liked him very much,” said Collins of the late April colt, who is also a half-brother to South African Grade 1 winner Europa Point (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}). “He's a racy-looking colt who ticked all the boxes for us. He's from a family we know well and if he's any good he has a stallion's pedigree.”

A great grandson of star racemare and broodmare Fall Aspen (Pretense), the colt's further family includes recent Group/Grade 1 victors Ribchester (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) and Mondialiste (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

Spirit In Demand Again…

The Richard Hannon-trained juvenile Promising (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) may still be a maiden, but she lived up to her name when finishing runner-up to Kilmah (GB) (Sepoy {Aus}) in the G3 Prestige S. and that performance may well have helped her full-brother (lot 23) as he took his turn in the ring and sold for €500,000 to John Ferguson.

“He's a very athletic individual. I've spoken to Sheikh Mohammed and he's delighted to have him,” offered Ferguson. “Invincible Spirit has been good to us with the likes of Profitable (Ire) and Territories (Ire) and it's great to see a good one. In my view he was the best individual today.”

Invincible Spirit has also been good to his home team at the Irish National Stud which bred the colt from the treble American winner Lethal Quality (Elusive Quality), a grand-daughter of G1 Prix Morny runner-up Shy Princess (Irish River {Fr}) and also the brother to Cable Bay, who later became the joint-top colt of the sale and is out of the Diktat (GB) mare Rose De France (Ire).

Mary Slack of South Africa's Wilgerbosdrift Stud is another international visitor to Goff this week and, in company with her agent Jehan Melherbe of Form Bloodstock and trainer Mike de Kock, saw off a strong American challenge for the only yearling by the late Scat Daddy in the sale (lot 33). The brother to dual winner Little Voice was bred by Summerhill Stud from the listed-placed Excelente (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) and sold for €480,000.

Tinnakill House Strikes With Shamardal Filly…

Dermot Cantillon and Meta Osborne's Tinnakill House Stud sold five yearlings for an average of €167,600 during the first session, with their draft standout being lot 94, a Shamardal half-sister to G3 Ballyroan S. winner and Irish Derby place-getter Stellar Mass (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) who brought a final bid of €470,000.

Acting on behalf of one of his major patrons, Dubawi's owner-breeder Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, trainer Roger Varian conducted the bidding and said of his new signing, “She's from a good stakes-winning family and by a great stallion in Shamardal. Hopefully she can also be good on the racecourse and who knows, maybe in a few years she'll be covered by Dubawi.”

Cantillon, who bred the filly in partnership with Racing Post Chief Executive Alan Byrne, bought her 20-year-old dam Juno Marlowe (Ire) (Danehill) from the dispersal of Peter Harris's Pendley Farm for 31,000gns back in 2010. A grand-daughter of Lancashire Oaks winner and Pendley foundation mare Sing Softly (GB) (Luthier {FR}), Juno Marlowe, a dual winner herself, is a sister to three black-type winners in Leporello (Ire), Poppy Carew (Ire) and Calypso Grant (Ire).

Also knocked down at €470,000 was lot 143, another from the Ballylinch draft by its resident stallion Lawman (FR) and the second foal of the G2 Blandford S. winner Manieree (Ire) (Medicean {GB}). Max and Lynn Morris bred the February-born colt, who caught the attention of Richard Brown.

The Blandford Bloodstock agent could not name his client, but offered, “He's an outstanding colt from a very good racemare and a very good farm.”

Hong Kong Connection…

Born in Australia but based in Hong Kong, Justin Bahen was making his second visit to Goffs and ensured it wasn't a wasted trip when signing for two colts–lot 30 and lot 83–for his client Little Kwok Hing Hung.

After signing for lot 83, a Sea The Stars (Ire) colt out of a half-sister to G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Falco (Pivotal {GB}), Bahen commented, “He was great physically with a really good attitude. I'm a big fan of Sea The Stars and I thought he looked a lot like him.”

He added, “My client is an assistant trainer in Hong Kong who hopes to be granted a licence to train in due course. He's been active in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and now here in Ireland. These two colts will both go to England to be trained by Ralph Beckett. We'll see how they perform, but basically all the horses are being bought with a view to racing in Hong Kong eventually.”

Zayat Stables On A High…

Continuing the truly international flavour of the first day, Zayat Stables, whose team of Justin Zayat, Justin Casse and David Ingordo had been outbid of a number of high-priced yearlings earlier in the session, including the Scat Daddy colt, successfully bought a well-bred filly from the final crop of High Chaparral (Ire) (lot 188) at €340,000.

“The plan is to bring her back to America. We've been coming to Europe to try to expand a little. We feel there's a lack of good European pedigrees in America so we're trying to buy some well-bred horses to race and then expand the broodmare band,” explained Zayat of the daughter of G1 Gran Criterium winner Noble Pearl (Ger) (Dashing Blade {GB}), whose offspring include the multiple black type-winning duo of Noble Stella (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) and Noble Prince (Ger) (Montjeu {Ire}).

He continued, “We loved this filly and were counting down for about two hours until she went though. I looked at the top 10 and I think we've bid on five of them and been direct underbidder on four which is frustrating, but at least it shows we're on the right horses. We're going to Tattersalls next week and we'll keep looking and keep trying.”

While High Chaparral is no longer with us, another Coolmore stallion who is very much in vogue with his first yearlings is Camelot (GB). The most expensive of 10 sold on the day–with four reaching six-figure sums–was lot 76, a half-brother to Derby winner-up At First Sight (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who was sold by the Castlebridge Consignment to Hugo Merry on behalf of Jim and Fitri Hay for €360,000.

The final session of the Orby Sale, which is followed by the first part of the Wildenstein Stables Dispersal featuring yearlings and horses in training, gets underway today at 10 a.m. local time. For complete results, visit www.goffs.com.