Galileo sister to Alice Springs makes €2.2m during Orby Sale opener

A Galileo full-sister to Alice Springs lit up the opening session of the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale when bought by a big new investor in the bloodstock market on Tuesday.

The sales ring filled up midway through the session as Glenvale Stud's star attraction was led into the ring, with Jamie McCalmont and Westerberg Limited's Georg von Opel emerging on top at €2.2 million, making her the first seven-figure lot of the day.

"She has a wonderful pedigree; her bloodlines are the most important thing as we are looking towards breeding for the stud," said Von Opel, who is in the process of establishing a high-class broodmare band. "She'll be kept in Ireland and hopefully does well on the track."

Bred by Lynch Bages and Longfield Stud, the May-foaled filly shares both her parents with five stakes performers, led by the three-time Group 1-winning miler Alice Springs.

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Another of their siblings is the Group 3 Snow Fairy Stakes third Hence, who at 2,100,000gns was the most expensive filly sold at the 2016 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Their dam, the Listed-placed Danehill Dancer mare Aleagueoftheirown, has been mated exclusively with Galileo since retiring to stud, and has eight registered offspring by Coolmore's perennial champion sire.

Von Opel was attending his second Orby Sale having also attended last year's renewal, when the filly's Galileo full-sister was acquired by Phoenix Thoroughbreds for €2m. She has since been named Luck On Sunday and is in training with Martyn Meade.

Westerberg Limited has an exciting racing prospect on its hands, with the John Gosden-trained juvenile filly Miss Yoda - a daughter of Sea The Stars - having won on both her starts to date.

Phoenix swoops late

Three yearlings passed the million-euro mark on the opening day of trade, with Phoenix Thoroughbreds and Aquis Farm teaming up to secure a Galileo full-sister to this year's surprise Irish Derby winner Sovereign for €1.1m.

The Phoenix team - led by chief executive Amer Abdulaziz and adviser Tom Ludt - explained that the May-born filly would likely remain in Europe for the foreseeable future.

"You don't get the chance to acquire potential broodmare prospects like these on the market very often," said Abdulaziz. "The team did a lot of research and both sides liked her."

Ludt added: "She's a beautiful filly with a very good page. The idea is to try and upgrade the broodmare band. We'll keep her here to race."

Timely update

The other millionaire to go through the ring on Tuesday was Baroda Stud's Dark Angel sister to champion three-year-old sprinter and young sire Harry Angel.

The highly regarded filly become the first of her sire's offspring to fetch seven figures at public auction when finding favour with Anthony Stroud, whose winning bid of €1m determined the filly race for Godolphin.

"This is a lovely, smooth, athletic filly," said Stroud, who was standing on the upper level. "We'll go through the yearling sales and once they're over, Sheikh Mohammed will decide where she'll be trained."

Bred by China Horse Club, the filly is out of the Cadeaux Genereux mare Beatrix Potter, who visited the US Triple Crown hero Justify for her latest cover.

The April-born filly benefited from a significant catalogue update after her two-year-old half-brother Pierre Lapin, by Cappella Sansevero, won the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes last month, his second win in as many starts, leading auctioneer Hugh Bleahen to describe her as "a collector's item".

Among the underbidders on the filly were Dermot Farrington and David Redvers.

Presidential offering

The standout lot in the Irish National Stud draft on day one was a May-foaled colt by its stalwart stallion Invincible Spirit out of Aimhirgin Lass, a Pivotal mare who scored twice at the Killarney July festival in the colours of Irish president Michael D Higgins.

The colt was another to catch the eye of Stroud, who snapped up the youngster for €460,000.

"He's our first purchase of the day," said Stroud. "He's a very nice colt from the Irish National Stud. It's nice to get an Invincible Spirit and he has a very good pedigree."

Aimhirgin Lass is a sister to the stakes scorer Seeharn and half-sister to the dual Group 3 winner Yellow Rosebud, and returned to her birthplace at the Irish National Stud at the conclusion of her racing career.

Stroud also managed to acquire one of the more attractive pedigrees in the catalogue, going to €400,000 for Owenstown Stud's Dubawi half-brother to the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes scorer Persuasive.

Early action

Shadwell helped drive trade in the earlier part of the session, with Sheikh Hamdan's buying team going to €500,000 to secure a February-foaled Frankel filly from Croom House Stud.

Bred by the Brosnan family's Epona Bloodstock, the early top lot is a closely related half-sister to the Classic trial winner and Derby fourth Broome, with Stephen Collins signing on the dotted line.

Alastair Donald of SackvilleDonald also got in on the action early on, stretching to €440,000 for Yeomanstown Stud's April-born Dark Angel sister to Angel's Hideaway and Perfect Angel.

Angel's Hideaway achieved her highest Racing Post Rating of 109 for finishing fourth to Hermosa in this year's 1,000 Guineas, having landed the Group 3 Princess Margaret Keeneland Stakes at Ascot as a juvenile, while Perfect Angel placed in both the Mill Reef and Hackwood Stakes at Newbury.

Australian buyers also made their presence felt on Tuesday, with Aquis Bloodstock purchasing an Exceed And Excel colt from Croom House Stud for €430,000.

The March-foaled hails from the further family of the outstanding racemare and producer Al Bahathri, while her Galileo dam Symposia is a sibling to the Pattern winners Aviate and Early March.

Final figures

Buyers were allowed an extra hour to inspect yearlings due to the inclement weather conditions on Monday, and trade held up well when compared with last year's record-breaking renewal.

There were 219 lots offered, 29 more than last year, with 186 of those changing hands for total receipts of €23,019,500, at an average spend of €123,761 and median price of €75,000.

Those key market metrics decreased slightly year-on-year, with the aggregate dipping by five per cent, the average down 14 per cent, and the median falling by 12 per cent.

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