Goffs Orby Sale

Two legends of Irish racing will join forces for the first time this season after Jim Bolger revealed that he has a 2-year-old filly by Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) in training with Kevin Prendergast. Bolger gave €31,000 for the recently named Roman Moon (Ire) after Prendergast recommended the filly at the Goffs Orby Sale last September and she is set to break new ground by becoming his first runner with the Friarstown operator. Roman Moon will carry the white and purple colours of Bolger's wife Jackie, once carried to major...

KILDARE, Ireland--A hugely impressive Group 2 winner with Classic pretensions is just the kind of update every breeder dreams of within days of a major yearling sale, and that is exactly what Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) delivered in the Beresford S. at the Curragh on Saturday on only his second start. He had himself been sold by breeder Ben Sangster for 150,000gns but his brother, offered as lot 366 through the Castlebridge Consignment, caused the same buyer MV Magnier to dig deeper into his pockets for the colt to become...

KILDARE, Ireland--There's no denying that bloodstock sales are an important part of the business but it is what happens on the racecourse that truly counts and recent events have put an extra spring in the step of a number of breeders at Kildare Paddocks ahead of the start of the Goffs Orby Sale. Standing outside her draft of six from Staffordstown on Monday morning was Kirsten Rausing, chatting happily with her staff and brand new director of the stud John Oxx. Rausing broke off every now and then to accept...

Goffs and Flexjet have joined forces to cater to leading clients ahead of the upcoming Goffs Orby Sale, the sales company announced on Monday. Flexjet is part of Directional Aviation's OneSky family and has over 160 aircraft worldwide. It provides access to its fleet through tailored, shared aircraft ownership solutions, providing owners with a premium experience and service akin to outright jet ownership, but with more accessibility, cost predictability and flexibility. Each Flexjet flight is carbon offset to 300%. "Flexjet and Goffs share a similar ethos in delivering our clients...

Half-sisters to both of this year's Guineas winners in England have been catalogued for the Goffs Orby Sale, which takes place on Sept. 28 and 29. A total of 444 yearlings-all of which will be eligible for the Goffs Million, Europe's richest 2-year-old race, in 2022--have been assembled for Ireland's Premier Yearling Sale, which returns this year to its usual home at Goffs's Kildare Paddocks. Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire})'s half-sister from the first crop of U S Navy Flag will be consigned as lot 120 by Clare Castle...

The Goffs Million, a €1-million 2-year-old race open exclusively to Goffs Orby yearling graduates, was announced by Goffs on Tuesday. The seven-furlong contest is the richest 2-year-old race in Europe and will be held at The Curragh on Sept. 24, 2022 in advance of the Goffs Orby Sale. Open to 2-year-old colts and fillies that were catalogued in the 2021 Goffs Orby Sale on Sept. 28-29, it carries a prize fund guaranteed by Goffs and will pay out to 10th place. In addition, if the 2022 Goffs Million winner subsequently...

1st-Keeneland, $43,340, Msw, 4-23, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 1:04.17, gd, 1 1/2 lengths. NAPA SPIRIT (IRE) (c, 2, Invincible Spirit {Ire}--Aimhirgin Lass {Ire}, by Pivotal {GB}) validated 2-5 favoritism in the closing-day opener at Keeneland, giving Stonestreet and trainer Wesley Ward a maiden winner on the grass acquired overseas for the second consecutive afternoon. Not the fastest away, the bay raced in and among rivals early on as stablemate Magniloquent (American Pharoah) showed the way through an opening quarter in :21.78. Three wide and traveling well in hand on the turn,...

Mark Richards, who has fulfilled a variety of roles with the Hong Kong Jockey Club for the past 20 years, has been appointed to the newly created role of British Agent for Goffs, the sales company announced on Monday. Richards, most recently HKJC Executive Manager of the International Sale, begins on May 1. Originally a National Hunt jockey, Richards has been in the racing industry for 45 years and has contributed to a number of media outlets including the Racing Post, Daily Telegraph, Racing Channel, Sky and TVN. His primary...

DONCASTER, UK—On a day without the millionaire highlights that we have become accustomed to at the Goffs Orby Sale, trade struggled to keep pace with recent strong renewals of this auction—a factor which had been widely expected in advance and has been seen throughout the 2020 yearling market. Despite the industry being fuelled largely by dreams, only the foolhardy could dream that this year's trade would be unaffected by a global pandemic which is not only restricting international travel but also plunging plenty of businesses into precarious situations. To a...

DONCASTER, UK—It's crunch time for the European yearling market, with both Ireland's and Britain's major auctions being staged in the next fortnight. The major obvious difference is the relocation of the Orby Sale, which takes place over the next two days, to Doncaster. An expected difference, however, is a reduction in trade from some of the boom years the bloodstock market has enjoyed since the recovery from the major recession of 2008. Considering the unprecedented backdrop to the sales calendar of 2020, the breeze-up sector and the early yearling sales...

DONCASTER, UK—Against a backdrop that would have been neither envisaged nor desired, the 2020 Flat may have had a hesitant start with a drastically reduced number of participants, but the wheels have at least kept turning, which in turn has allowed some sort of momentum to be continued in the sales ring. We've had Royal Ascot at York, so why not the Orby Sale at Doncaster? While the transfer from Ireland to Britain of the Tattersalls Ireland September Sale, and the Goffs Sportsman's and Orby Sales will have cost Irish...

A different venue is not the only deviation from the norm as the Goffs Orby Sale takes centre stage in the European yearling sales calendar at Doncaster this week. On the last three occasions she has been represented in this sale Galileo (Ire) has been the sire of the star offering out of stellar producer Green Room (Theatrical), but on this occasion it will be Gilltown Stud's Sea The Stars (Ire) who has the honour of aiming to continue the mare's spectacular sales results. As usual consigned by Ballylinch Stud...