Another Diamond sparkles at €55,000 as Arkle Sale continues gains

A sweltering Kildare Paddocks was the stage for a sizzling renewal of Part Two of the Goffs Arkle Sale, with records falling in the ring as the temperatures soared outside.

Part Two is obviously a different animal from the preceding auction but the demand for store horses was such that four were sold for at least €50,000, which was an increase on the number sold in 2022.

Diamond Boy has sparkled for Kilbarry Lodge Stud, with electric Ballymore Novices' Hurdle winner Impaire Et Passe one of the breakout stars of last season. The dual Grade 1 winner provided his sire with a top-level winner at a second successive Cheltenham Festival and adding lustre to his sales stock, with a gelding from the second crop he sired after transferring to Con O'Keeffe's Waterford farm catching the eye of agents and trainers at Goffs on Thursday.

Kevin Ross was determined to capture the striking brown gelding consigned by The Glebe Farm and it took a bid of €55,000 to secure the half-brother to a pair of winners. Ross revealed he had his eye on the gelding for a long time.

"I saw him when I was doing the Goffs inspections for the store sales and I liked him," said the successful agent. "He has done really well since then. He is a great mover and the sire is doing well, while being out of a Presenting mare is another positive. He has been bought for Harry Fry."

That Presenting mare, Presentbreeze, has produced two winners from just three runners and is a half-sister to Ballycassidy, who won the Listed Bristol Novices' Hurdle and the Grade 2 Worcester Novices' Chase. Trained by Peter Bowen, he was also second in the Feltham. The family also includes Cogent, who won the Hennessy for Andy Turnell.

It was a second spin around the Goffs ring for the May-born gelding, and it was a much more profitable trip than his first, when he sold for €9,500 to Sean McElroy as a foal from Knockacool Stables.

Telescopic view for buyers

Shade Oak Stud's young sire Telescope impressed purchasers at Goffs, with a quartet of stores by the Great Voltigeur and Hardwicke Stakes winner selling for an average of €31,750, headed by the session's most expensive filly.

In common with the day's most expensive gelding, she also boasts Presenting as her broodmare sire, with her dam, Centasia, who was fourth in a Listed mares' bumper for Neil Mullholland and Roger Brookhouse, a full-sister to Everglow, third in the Listed bumper at Cheltenham's November meeting for Philip Hobbs.

John Murray of Cloughmoyle Stud went to €50,000, which, as he remarked, was a little more than he had in mind before joining battle for the bay, who is just the second foal out of her dam and was offered by Ballincurrig House Stud.

Murray said: "We had to go a bit further than we anticipated, but she is a lovely filly out of a mare that was rated in the 130s over hurdles and fences. She comes from a great hotel and of the fillies on offer today she stood out for me."

Ian Ferguson was among the buyers of top lots at Goffs on ThursdayCredit: Sophie Webber Photography

"She will go to Liam Cusack to be broken and we will make a plan after that."

Michael Moore's renowned nursery also sold the session's most expensive Telescope gelding, who made €42,000 to Aidan Fitzgerald of Cobajay Stables.

He is a son of Down Ace, a Listed winner over hurdles for Fergal O'Brien, and she is off the mark with her first runner, Brandy McQueen by Yeats, so far successful four times over hurdles.

Down Ace is a half-sister to the Grade 2 Future Champions Novices' Chase winner Do Your Job, Highland Charge, who was successful in the Grade 3 Kingsfurze Novice Hurdle of 2022, and last season's Listed-winning hurdler Hunters Yarn.

Glittering start for Stars

Storm The Stars, the Great Voltigeur Stakes winner and Irish Derby runner-up with a stallion's pedigree, has been represented by only a handful of runners from his first crop, but they have achieved more than enough to make the son of champion Sea The Stars a most exciting prospect.

A single gelding from his second crop was offered at the Goffs Arkle Sale, consigned by John Bleahen's Lakefield Farm. Already named Saint Polo, he caught the eye of Ian Ferguson, and he was enthusiastic in his praise of the February-born gelding, who is the second foal out of Une Royal, a dual winner on the Flat in France.

Lakefield Farm's son of Storm The Stars made €46,000 at the Goffs Arkle SaleCredit: Sophie Webber Photography

Ferguson said: "He is one of the best horses here today and he was good enough to be in Part One, only he lacked a bit of pedigree. He is a great mover and a gorgeous horse; he will go to Caroline [McCaldin] to be trained."

His broodmare sire, Royal Dragon, who was twice successful over a mile in Group 2 contests in Germany, is a lesser-known son of Danehill, but in Storm The Stars, his sire has a pedigree that is one of the most successful of the past two decades.

Storm The Stars is out of Love Me Only, an unraced Galileo full-sister to Pearling, dam of Decorated Knight. That makes her a half-sister to Giant's Causeway and to You'resothrilling, who is the dam of four Group 1 winners, all by Galileo.

From left: Richie Middenton, Hugh Bleahen, Niall Molloy and Dav Geraghty with lot 603, a Harzand gelding sold to Sam Curling for €50,000Credit: Goffs

Bred by Summer Wind Farm, Storm The Stars was trained by William Haggas to be placed in both the Derby and Irish Derby before a stint in Australia with Chris Waller. The very well-travelled stallion began his stud career in France before moving to Ireland and Coolagown Stud ahead of this breeding season.

It was a good sale for stallion sons of Sea The Stars as the other gelding to make €50,000 was a son of his dual Derby winner Harzand, who now stands alongside Diamond Boy at Kilbarry Lodge Stud.

He was sold by another Bleahen brother, this time Hugh, through Clifton Farm and bought by Sam Curling. The second foal out of unraced Yeats mare Clontigora Lady, he is from the family of Murchu, Mahler Mission and Haute Estime.

Dedication pays off for McMahon

A sleepless night spent icing the hoof of her Kingston Hill gelding demonstrated the care and attention that Emily MacMahon of Lambertstown Stud lavishes upon her horses, and the hours spent in Barn S Box 26 were worth all the effort and worry as she sold her roan gelding for €30,000 to Tom Keating and Milestone Bloodstock.

It was a pinhooking success for MacMahon, who bought half-brother to recent winner Way Out for just €5,000 as a foal.

"He bruised his frog yesterday from the grit, and walking on it was aggravating it," said MacMahon. "He was such a beautiful mover and I really had to try and do something to help him so I spent hours icing it during the night.

"I got a big bag of ice from the guys at the bar in Goffs and I was like Santa Claus walking out to the stable with the bag."

Emily MacMahon's son of Kingston Hill thrived on TLCCredit: Emily MacMahon

That dedication is typical of MacMahon's approach and that pinhooking success, allied with turning a €3,000 foal into a £24,000 store at last month's Goffs UK Spring Store Sale, will allow her to reinvest in the facilities at her farm outside Navan, County Meath.

"I can redo something on the farm now," she smiled. "I try to put something back into it and to reinvest. I sold a Lauro last year for €58,000 that I bought for €10,000 as a foal, so I got brave and reinvested that in more pinhooks."

With updates coming on the page and Kingston Hill's four-year-olds taking off on the point-to-point fields this year, the boldness of a pinhook turned into success for MacMahon.

Her Kingston Hill had one winning half-sibling when she purchased him, now he has two, and a pair of half-brothers by Doyen who were both placed in point-to-points this year, making him an attractive prospect to buyers from that realm.

He is out of Send To War, an unraced Sendawar half-sister to Group 3 Prix du Lys winner Sharbayan and the Listed Prix Finot Fillies' Hurdle winner Sharbasia.

Birthday Boys

Goffs marked a special occasion for a member of their team at the close of business on Thursday evening as Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning trainer Tom Taaffe, who is international relations consultant for the company, celebrated a special birthday.

Kicking King's trainer, who won the Irish Grand National as a jockey on Brittany Boy in 1987 for Arthur Moore, turned 60.

It was a day of birthdays for the Goffs team as Nick Nugent began the sale by informing the crowds assembled that it was the birthday of his colleague Conor Wixted, who was standing to his right on the rostrum.

Sale Statistics

From five fewer horses sold during Part Two of the Goffs Arkle Sale than in 2022, record figures were achieved, with turnover, average and median all exceeding last year's marks.

Lot 483 sold by The Glebe Farm to Kevin Ross for €55,000 at GoffsCredit: Alex Cairns

Part Two grossed €3,333,500, which was an increase of seven per cent on last year's total of €3,109,500, although Thursday's clearance rate dropped to 79 per cent from 82 per cent in 2022. That was the only decrease as the average and median recorded comfortable gains, with the average improving by ten points to €19,725 from €17,871, while the median of €17,000 was up by six per cent from last year's previous high of €16,000.

End-of-sale statement

"Our record-breaking Part One of the Arkle Sale could have been a hard act to follow but today’s Part Two has very much kept up the momentum with another strong set of results - this is especially pleasing when last year recorded a 59 per cent rise, so to build on that is quite something," remarked Goffs' Henry Beeby as he reflected on three days of hot trade.

"As with Part One, we are indebted to our vendors who chose Goffs for another fine bunch of potential National Hunt stars and it is gratifying that Arkle Part Two is also very much a first-choice sale for increasing numbers. Indeed, the three days have clearly demonstrated that Kildare Paddocks has been the focus of the National Hunt world, with a huge influx of buyers from home, the UK and further afield as they now recognise that Goffs Arkle provides a significant portion of the best bred and best looking three-year-olds to be offered each year."

He continued: "In fact, last year the Arkle Sale [as the Land Rover] sold the biggest share of select store horses, which is quite some evolution and testament to the work of our superb National Hunt team, who have liaised closely and diligently with National Hunt breeders to make this sale unmissable for buyers of National Hunt quality.

"It is also very pleasing that so many of our sale graduates perform at the highest level on the racecourse and at the season’s biggest meetings year after year. Once again, the closeness of the average and median prices has pointed to a sale of consistency, strength and depth and we salute our vendors for reading the market so well and extend sincere thanks to every buyer for their patronage."