Footstepsinthesand colt tops day one of rehomed Sportsman's Sale at £50,000

After the briefest of breaks, the yearling auction season resumed in Doncaster on Thursday as a £50,000 son of Footstepsinthesand topped day one of the relocated Goffs Sportsman's Sale.

The top lot was consigned by Rockfield Farm and went the way of Kevin Ross, whose purchase was made on behalf of Paul and Clare Rooney. The colt is a brother to the smart two-year-old Star Of Orion, who was last seen finishing a short-head second in the valuable Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sale Stakes.

Ross said: "He's just a lovely type of horse. He's got a great action and the full-brother looks a good horse, he was a bit unlucky at the Curragh, and the dam had a nice rating too. He'll go to Richie McGrath's in Middleham to be broken in before any decisions are made about trainers."

View full Goffs Sportsman's Sale results and stats

On the relocated Sportsman's Sale, the agent said: "It's a bit different because it's in Doncaster, but all the usual people are here and Goffs have done a great job in getting the sales to go ahead. All the sales companies deserve a lot of credit for the work they've put in recently."

It was a day for realism among vendors, with plenty satisfied simply to be able to move stock on, although Mitch Barry from Rockfield Farm was plainly delighted with his consignment's session-topping exploits.

He bred the strapping colt with bloodstock agent Barry Lynch from Harpist, a daughter of Danehill Dancer who won two races and achieved a peak Racing Post Rating of 90 while under the care of David Wachman.

Lot 647: the £50,000 Footstepsinthesand colt takes his turn in the Doncaster ringCredit: Goffs

"Myself and Barry Lynch purchased the mare privately," said Barry. "We sent her to 'Footsteps' for her first cover and she had a colt who we sold at Fairyhouse last year to Alex Elliott for €38,000. He went to Ralph Beckett and looks like a very good horse. We got the update just before the sale, which was a big boost.

"This horse has been very straightforward to prepare, just like the brother was last year."

Asked what prompted the decision to send Harpist, who has a Gustav Klimt foal at foot and is carrying to Ribchester, to Coolmore's Castlehyde Stud stalwart Footstepsinthesand, Barry said: "I actually used to work at Castlehyde and just love the horse.

"I was confident he'd sell well but I wasn't sure he'd go that far, just because of how things are as trade generally has been very sticky."

BBA Ireland man back in action

Michael Donohoe's eye for a yearling has been well advertised of late as the BBA Ireland man was responsible for selecting the likes of Group 1 Phoenix Stakes hero Lucky Vega and Cheveley Park Stakes hopeful Miss Amulet during 2019's sales.

He dipped into the market on Thursday when going to £47,000 for the Mehmas colt out of Crafty Notion bred by Reginald Roberts. The dam, a Viking Ruler half-sister to 2,000 Guineas winner Cockney Rebel, has already produced the Listed-winning Just Sherry.

"The sire has done exceptionally well and I thought this was a particularly nice colt," said Donohoe. "He's got a super action and a great temperament and looks like a nice precocious individual. The mare has bred a stakes winner already and it's a tough, hardy family.

"He's been bought for a client from the Middle East. The horse will come back to Ireland to be broken and then he'll more than likely go into training in Britain. The owner will decide on a trainer later on."

Lot 570: the Mehmas colt sells to BBA Ireland for £47,000Credit: Goffs

The colt was consigned on behalf of his breeder by Kilmoney Cottage Stud. The operation's Michael Carty said: "The sire is very good and he's a good model so everything fell into place. I've had him for about eight weeks and he was a very nice horse to prep."

The Sportsman's Sale would traditionally take place after the flagship Orby Sale at Kildare Paddocks, but Carty said once the sale had been relocated there was no question about this particular lot taking up his entry.

"Expenses have been up but you just have to try to balance these things out and we thought he'd stand out at this sale," he said. "He was scheduled to come to this sale originally so we said we'd follow through with that plan."

Mehmas mania continues

The progeny of Mehmas proved popular with buyers throughout the session, and with good reason with the Tally-Ho Stud stallion having supplied 32 European winners, including Method, Minzaal and Supremacy. That trio head the market for the Group 1 Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday.

Eddie Lynam can look forward to training a daughter of this year's leading first-season sire after his daughter Amy struck a winning bid of £44,000 for the filly out of Faddwa offered by Grange Hill Stud.

"I can't lay much claim to buying her as she's for dad," said Lynam, who has been supplying buyers and sellers with photos and videos to promote their lots through her marketing agency.

"He couldn't be here but I sent him photos and videos. He couldn't get anything at Fairyhouse as the nice individuals made plenty, but this filly is a nice individual too and obviously the stallion has gone above and beyond this year. She's bred on the same cross as Supremacy.

"This industry can be quite fickle and it isn't just the stallion game that's very fashion driven, but hopefully she'll be another fast filly who can showcase what dad can do."

On the subject of using multimedia to attract buyers, Lynam said: "The photos and videos are definitely a help for absent buyers, even if it's just a way of helping buyers form a shortlist they can then give to someone who is able to inspect horses first hand."

The filly, whose dam is an Arcano half-sister to the Listed-winning Heart Of Fire and the Group 3-placed Unsinkable, was offered by Grange Hill Stud, whose Mark Hanly said: "She was one of my stars this year.

"She's very genuine, her temperament is great, she's just a fabulous filly. We sold the mare as a yearling for €30,000 and bought her back after she'd won for Roger Varian for 20,000gns."

On the success Mehmas has enjoyed on the track and in the sales ring Hanly added: "Mehmas is bred along exactly the same lines as Dark Angel and I just loved him from the very beginning."

A sizeable number of withdrawals and the change in currency, with last year's edition trading in euros, mean year-on-year comparisons are not straightforward, but the session concluded with a clearance rate of 69 per cent as 99 of 144 offered lots found a buyer. Those transactions brought turnover of £1,369,000, an average of £13,830 and a median of £10,000.

The Goffs Sportsman's Sale concludes on Friday with the session starting at 10am.

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