Half-siblings to Ballyburn and Slade Steel among Goffs Arkle Sale entries

Half-siblings to Cheltenham Festival winners Ballyburn and Slade Steel feature among 700 lots for the Goffs Arkle Sale next month. 

Part 1 takes place from June 11-12, while Part 2 commences on June 13. The sale, which is held in partnership with Defender, begins at 10am each day. 

Catalogue cover star Dancing City has topped the Arkle Sale roll of honour over the past season with top-level victories at Leopardstown, Aintree and Punchestown, while other recent Grade 1 graduates include Captain Teague, Caldwell Potter, Jasmin De Vaux and Stellar Story.

This year's event features siblings to several of this season's stars including Killeen Glebe's Crystal Ocean half-sister to the brilliant Ballyburn and Mountain View Stud's Order Of St George half-brother to Supreme Novices' Hurdle winner Slade Steel. 

Also among the entries are siblings to high-class performers such as Stage Star, Good Land, Gaillard Du Mesnil, Jade De Grugy, City Island, Slate House, Franco Du Port, Romeo Coolio, Sandor Clegane, Ashdale Bob, Minella Melody, Macdermott, Gold Tweet, Yala Enki, Yorkhill, On The Go and Guard Your Dreams.

Slade Steel and Brian Acheson after winning the Supreme Novices' HurdleCredit: Patrick McCann

Goffs group chief executive Henry Beeby said: "The spectacular rise of the Arkle Sale has seen the majority share of the select store horse market presented to buyers at Goffs each June, and this year is no different. Key to the sale’s success has been the support of our vendors who send such quality to Goffs in ever-increasing numbers, and our inspection team, led by Gerry Hogan, Neil Walsh, Peter Molony, Kevin Ross and Harry Fowler, have worked with those vendors to handpick a catalogue of real athletes for Arkle 2024. 

"The Arkle Sale is the headline act in a vibrant new era for National Hunt at Goffs on both sides of the Irish Sea, which is also evident across the foal, breeding stock and point-to-point categories.  It is a huge point of pride for the entire team, and we are committed to improving all the time and not resting on tradition.  

"A destination sale for so many owners and trainers, the Arkle atmosphere is like nowhere else, and, together with our luxury brand partner Defender, we look forward to welcoming everyone to Kildare Paddocks for this year’s Arkle Sale for unrivalled quality along with some new flourishes to enhance the buyer experience."

All horses catalogued in Parts 1 and 2 are eligible for the €100,000 Goffs Defender Bumper at next year's Punchestown festival where the winning vendor will also win a brand-new Defender. The 2024 race was won by the Gordon Elliott-trained Sermandzarak for owners Robcour, who was sold by Railstown Stables to Mags O’Toole at last year’s sale.

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