Ross Doyle

In the age of stride length and cadence, stopwatches and sectionals, top speeds, biometrics and all of the other measurement tools out there to judge a racehorse on, one could be forgiven for thinking that all bases are covered at the breeze-up sales.  However, handler Willie Browne, bloodstock agent Ross Doyle and trainer Joseph O'Brien, three titans of the bloodstock industry, say they don't care if you utilise data until your eyes bleed--there will always be good horses that will escape through the net. That is good news for the...

Recent Curragh maiden winner Dupont Law (Ire) (Le Havre {Ire}) is the latest high-class prospect to have been sold to continue his career abroad, with his handler Ciaran Murphy explaining that such a windfall is now needed every year in order to survive in the training ranks in Ireland.  Dupont Law was split three ways between Murphy, bloodstock agent Ross Doyle and owner William Drew, whose red and white silks were carried by the three-year-old to victory in that 1m Curragh maiden last month.  While Murphy says he derived just...

A filly by young sire Starman (GB) (lot 325) topped the second session of the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale at €50,000 on Wednesday. Secured by Peter and Ross Doyle Bloodstock from The Castlebridge Consignment, the chestnut is out of the placed Frankel (GB) mare Beloved (Ire), who is a half-sister to G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) winner and sire Deep Brillante (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). Ross Doyle said of his purchase, "She's a very nice racy filly--we've bought three or four Starmans already and we like what we see physically....

Part II of the October Yearling Sale kicked off on Wednesday with another 124 lots going through the Arqana sales ring, headed by a Showcasing (GB) colt from the Haras du Mont Dit Mont consignment who went the way of Ross Doyle and Meridian International for €170,000. It was another notable result for the Mont Dit Mont team after they sold the Night Of Thunder (Ire) colt who shared top billing on Tuesday when bought by trainer Yann Barberot for €500,000. Lot 235 is out of the Dream Ahead mare...

The opening day of the Tattersalls Ireland 50th Derby Sale saw 10 lots sell for six-figure sums, with a top price of €175,000 given for the already-named Boedic (Fr) (lot 86). Tom Malone struck the opening bid for the No Risk At All (Fr) gelding at €100,000, but it was Harold Kirk, buying for Willie Mullins, who proved to be successful. "That was a bit of a shock!" said Kirk when referencing Malone's starting bid. "This horse was my number one for today. He is by one of my favourite sires...

Second-crop sire Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal) was without a 'TDN Rising Star' representative prior to Saturday, but James Fanshawe trainee Kind Of Blue (GB) rectified matters for the Kildangan Stud resident at Doncaster and €170,000 Arqana October graduate Tiego The First (Fr) doubled the tally with a sparkling last-to-first triumph in Monday's Prix Hunyade at Saint-Cloud. Tiego The First dwelt badly at the break and forfeited several lengths to his rivals, but recovered to latch on to the tail of the field and raced with just one behind passing through...

A man knows he is in clover when there's a bloodstock agent outside his door waiting to see his horse before he's even had time to chuck his breakfast into the feed pot on the morning of the sale. But that's exactly the scenario Danny O'Donovan faced into with his Zelzal colt on Friday and it proved a good omen with the €35,000 yearling purchase going on to top the sale at €270,000 to Peter and Ross Doyle.  This was a result that rubber-stamped an exceptionally good year for O'Donovan,...

Leading trainer Richard Hannon has nominated the juveniles who have been impressing him the most at home on the gallops and described himself as a massive fan of first-season sire Blue Point (Ire).  So impressed is Hannon by Godolphin's freshman sire, whose first runner--Action Point (Ire)--was a winner, he has predicted that he will struggle to get near the progeny of Blue Point at the sales in the coming years.  Alongside the leading bloodstock agents Peter and Ross Doyle, Hannon has amassed a team of over 100 two-year-olds to go...

The insatiable demand for foals was evident in the figures recorded at Goffs last week with turnover rising 16% to €29,561,000 and the average climbing 16% to €40,110. At the top end of the market, Kingman (GB) dominated with three foals by the Juddmonte-based stallion selling for a combined €1,540,000 and one of Europe's leading pinhookers Philipp Stauffenberg signing for the €550,000 top lot by the sire.  Tally-Ho Stud may be best known for being sellers but they pipped Stauffenberg for the biggest spenders title by signing for 19 foals...

Helped in no small part by the success of Victoria Road (Ire) at the Breeders' Cup and Auguste Rodin's (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) emergence as a leading Classic contender from the same sire line, the progeny of Saxon Warrior (Jpn) played a starring role on day one of the November Foal Sale at Goffs. Not only did Saxon Warrior top the session when Ballyhimikin Stud signed for a colt [lot 231] drafted by Kildallan Farm for €88,000, but he was also responsible for three of the top four foals on...

The first major yearling sale of the autumn in Britain or Ireland, the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale provided entertainment from the beginning to the end, but most importantly, boasted impressive figures. Brian Sheerin was in attendance and discusses the major talking points from the sale. Figures on the up The team at Goffs UK could hardly have wished for a better start to the Premier Yearling Sale. The day one figures were off the charts. Of the 218 lots offered on Tuesday, 199 were sold, representing a clearance rate...

NEWMARKET, UK—We know that these breeze-up consignors have nerves of steel: otherwise they simply couldn't do the job. As such, the bloodstock industry could not have appointed a better echelon to test the stormy waters of the last couple of years, when they were first to be broadsided by the pandemic and then tried to put things back on an even keel last year. The opening session of the opening sale of the European circuit, then, gave them a chance to put their world back on its axis—even as they...