Wordfromhome Commands £320,000 To Top Goffs Aintree Sale

Debut point-to-point winner Wordfromhome (Poet's Word) topped a record Goffs Aintree Sale on Thursday evening.

Offered by Monbeg Stables, lot 9 sold to Highflyer Bloodstock and Paul Nicholls for £320,000. Second dam Howaya Pet (Montelimar) won a Grade 3 chase and is the dam of graded hurdler Johnnywho (Califet).

J P McGrath Bloodstock and Nicky Henderson shelled out £290,000 for Royal Response (Getaway) (lot 23), the highest-priced filly in the sale. Part of the Milestone Stables consignment, the winning daughter of G3 Lombardstown Chase heroine Royal Choice (King's Theatre) is a half-sister to listed-placed hurdler Rioga Choice (Flemensfirth).

Rounding out the top three lots at £280,000 was Max Potential (Maxios) (lot 3). He caught the eye of Tom Malone Bloodstock from the draft of Brian Lawless. His dam is a Leading Light half-sister to jumping great Cue Card (King's Theatre).

Of the 30 horses offered, 26 sold (87%) for a record gross of £3,873,000. The average was £148,962 and the median was £127,500, also both records. A total of 16 horses brought six figures or higher and eight breached the £200,000 barrier.

Goffs UK managing director Tim Kent said, “What a way to finish a fantastic day's racing at Aintree. A strong selection of horses generated a vibrant parade ring atmosphere and returned records across the board for turnover, average and median.

“We felt coming into the sale that we had a strong bunch of horses, and we were hopeful of decent returns, but today has exceeded our expectations. We were inundated with inspections yesterday and this continued earlier today which was a positive sign and to see that translate into the trade received tonight is very pleasing.

“We would like to extend our thanks to the vendors who supported this sale and we are delighted to have delivered world-class prices for their horses – we can't do it without them. To our buyers, we extend the very best of luck and we hope to see you in the winners' enclosure here at Aintree in the coming years. As ever, we would also like to extend our gratitude to the Aintree executives who are so supportive of this fantastic event.”