'I'm overwhelmed' - £230,000 Night Of Thunder colt tops day one in Doncaster

All the signs were there that Goffs UK was set for a fruitful renewal of the Premier Yearling Sale, but what transpired in Doncaster on Tuesday will have almost certainly surpassed even the most optimistic forecasts.

A broad cross-section of bidders played with real intensity throughout a breathless session of selling, and by the close of play the clearance rate stood at 91 per cent as 199 lots had found a buyer.

Those transactions generated turnover of £8,954,500, which was up 28 per cent year on year, an average of £44,997, which was up 15 per cent, and a median of £38,000, a 27 per cent gain against the corresponding session in 2021.

Heading the market was Mountarmstrong Stud’s Night Of Thunder colt out of the well-related Pious Alexander who fetched £230,000 after a protracted duel between Mark McStay of Avenue Bloodstock and Ed Sackville of Sackville Donald.

There appeared to be no reply to McStay’s bid of £150,000, but, just as the gavel was about to succumb to gravity, Sackville belatedly returned fire with a £5,000 increase that drew some frantic shouts from the bid spotters on the rostrum. The six-figure arm wrestle continued until McStay pushed the price to £230,000 and his opponent tapped out with a clear shake of the head.

The colt is from the fifth crop of Night Of Thunder, meaning he was conceived at a fee of €25,000, while the auctioneer’s claim that he possesses a stallion’s pedigree looks well founded as the dam is a winning Acclamation sibling to Queen Mary Stakes heroine Anthem Alexander and Ballyhane Stud’s potent sire Dandy Man.

The session-topping exploits of this colt continued a fine time of things for Night Of Thunder, whose daughter Highfield Princess won the Nunthorpe Stakes during last week’s Ebor meeting.

“He’s a lovely colt by a sire who’s very much proven by this stage of his career,” said McStay. “This colt actually looked like a Dubawi to me. He’s been well produced and comes from a very good nursery. Noel O’Callaghan breeds and sells good horses and Rob [Tierney] produces them very well. I thought this was the standout colt here today.”

Mark McStay: 'He’s a top-class sire and I’m very happy to get the horse.'Credit: Sarah Farnsworth

Reflecting on the bidding battle, McStay added: “We had to stretch to buy him. I actually thought we’d got him for less and my client had to be brave, but he encouraged me to keep going and secure the horse.

"But when you see what Night Of Thunder does on the track I don’t think they’re going to start getting any cheaper. He’s a top-class sire and I’m very happy to get the horse. He’s been bought for an existing client and training plans are fluid.”

McStay also went to £120,000 to secure the very next lot into the Doncaster ring, the Kuroshio colt out of Pivotal Era from WH Bloodstock, who pinhooked the youngster for just €38,000 at the Goffs February Sale.

“He’s a very nice horse by an underrated sire,” said McStay. “He’ll probably go into training in Ireland. He’s a nice horse who was well produced by Violet [Hesketh] and Mimi [Wadham].

"He’s probably as good an individual as you’ll see on any sales ground this year and Kuroshio’s stats are quite remarkable from small numbers. He’s the type of horse who, if he won a maiden well, he’d be very tradable to places like Hong Kong.

"To break the hundred grand barrier for a horse like that isn’t ideal, but it’s like at every sale you go to, the nice horses are in demand.”

Doyles get stuck in

As is typically the case in Doncaster, Peter and Ross Doyle occupied the top spot on the buyers’ charts with a nine-strong haul headed by the New Bay colt out of the Listed-winning Rubira at £200,000. The Baroda Stud-consigned youngster was bred by The Applecross Syndicate and hails from the same family as global talents such as Noordhoek Flyer, Cherokee Rose and Mastery.

“We thought he was the best mover in the sale today and he’s obviously by a sire who’s doing extremely well,” said Ross Doyle. “He covers so much ground and it’s all so natural with him. New Bay seems to upgrade everything a good bit and this colt is out of a black type mare. I think he’ll be a lovely horse for the middle of the season and he’s been bought for an existing client of Richard Hannon’s.”

Reflecting on a busy session of selling in which he signed for £642,000 worth of yearlings, Doyle said: “It’s been very competitive, it’s very strong trade, which is great to see. I’ve never seen so many people here, which is a testament to Goffs and all the team and horses that are here.

"Although you only need to look around the pictures on the walls here to see that very good horses have been coming out of this sale for a very long time, so they deserve to have people turning up and getting stuck in.”

Kinane kicks on

The Hong Kong Jockey Club have been big supporters of past Premier Sales and the group ended a two-year barren spell in Doncaster when chief talent scout Mick Kinane went to £200,000 for the Acclamation colt out of Listed scorer Isole Canarie from Trinity Park Stud.

Bred by Peter Gleeson, the colt is out of a Rip Van Winkle mare who won three times in Italy, where her victories included two Listed contests at Capannelle.

“Acclamation has a champion in Hong Kong this year [Romantic Warrior] and this colt is a similar type,” said Kinane. “He’s a nice horse. I didn’t find [the types that suit Hong Kong] here the last two years but there’s a couple of nicer horses here and I’m happy to have found him.

“He’ll get broken in and we’ll pre-train him for a while and we’ll see what he can do. Hopefully he’ll make the sale in Hong Kong.”

Mick Kinane signing the docket for Trinity Park Stud's Acclamation coltCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

Trinity Park Stud’s Becky Marsh was understandably elated with the sale and said: “I thought we had a very nice horse but I wasn’t expecting that. I said to Henry Beeby this morning when he came to look at the horse before he auctioned him that I would be delighted if he made £100,000. Obviously I’m overwhelmed.

“We foaled and raised this yearling – he’s been with us since day one and he’s always shown a lot of class. Since he came here he’s not put a foot wrong. He’s walked out perfectly every day and he had the right people on him.

“Isole Canarie was bought by Peter Gleeson, who raced her in Italy and then France, then brought her back here to breed. He’s been lucky with Italian mares before and it’s worked really well for him. The mare has an Oasis Dream colt at foot, but was not bred back this year."

Royal Ascot dreams for Manor House

Ed Sackville was busy throughout the session and capped a productive afternoon with the £160,000 acquisition of the Kodiac colt out of Night Queen consigned by Alice Fitzgerald. Sackville struck the decisive bid only after he received the phone relaying instructions from Maria Ryan, racing manager to John and Jess Dance, and the agent duly signed the ticket in the name Manor House Farm.

Night Queen, another by Rip Van Winkle, did not race herself but she is a sibling to Princess Margaret Stakes winner Princess Noor, while the likes of Dream Ahead and Fairyland appear beneath this colt’s third dam.

“I thought he was a really good strong colt by a brilliant two-year-old sire,” said Sackville, who was joined by the Dances’ trainer James Horton. “He’s from a good farm who prepped the horse incredibly well. If you want a Royal Ascot runner, Kodiac is a very safe place to start. This goes back to a lovely page; Fairyland was by Kodiac and the family crosses well with Danehill with Princess Noor."

The Dances have horses with a variety of trainers, but when plans were discussed for this colt Sackville said: “I think after James Horton’s brilliant York last week he deserves to get this horse.”

Alice Fitzgerald's Kodiac colt sells to Ed Sackville for £160,000Credit: Sarah Farnsworth

A short while later Sackville secured another eyecatcher on behalf of Manor House Farm when going to £150,000 for the Ten Sovereigns filly out of Rainbow Moonstone from Manister House Stud.

The filly was the most expensive offering by a first-season sire sold on the day and helped Coolmore’s Ten Sovereigns end the session with an average of £91,250 for four sold. The son of No Nay Never covered his debut book at a fee of €25,000.

Sackville and Manor House's spree also took in the Ulysees half-brother to Coventry Stakes winner Bradsell, who brought £150,000 when offered by breeder Deborah O'Brien through Bearstone Stud.

Palmer hoping for more Mehmas magic

Hugo Palmer is among the trainers to have enjoyed some big results with the offspring of Mehmas having trained Hierarchy to win two races and finish runner-up to Wings Of War in last year’s Mill Reef Stakes.

The trainer now has another son of Mehmas to go to war with after he secured the colt out of Ishimagic from Tally-Ho Stud on a bid of £130,000.

“He reminds me very much of Hierarchy, who very nearly won the Mill Reef for us last year, so hopefully he can be as good,” said Palmer, who signed under the SackvilleDonald banner. “He looks very strong and athletic and that’s what most of the Mehmases seem to be.

The Mehmas colt out of Ishimagic in the Doncaster sales ringCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

“The dam has had plenty of winners but she needs a good one, so let’s hope it’s this one. He was bought for a new collection of existing clients who want to buy three or four.”

The colt is a sibling to five winners, including the smart pair Honor Oak and Wobwobwob, who are by Zebedee and Prince Of Lir respectively. The six-figure youngster becomes the dam’s most expensive offspring and rewarded a strong bit of pinhooking by Tally-Ho, who gave €70,000 for the youngster at Goffs last year.

Aguiar and Amo on the mark

Tally-Ho also consigned the Inns Of Court colt out of Key To Power who was subject to some major pre-sale whispers, and the first crop offering duly brought a winning bid of £125,000 from Amo Racing’s talent spotter Robson Aguiar.

“He’s a nice horse by a promising first-season sire from Tally-Ho,” said Aguiar. “He looks nice and precocious and I bought him for Amo Racing. He’ll come back to me for pre-training and we’ll see how he goes after that.

"I haven’t seen that many by Inns Of Court but I paid attention to this one as I think he’s the best physical in the sale today. Hopefully he’ll do well for us.”

Robson Aguiar: 'I think he’s the best physical in the sale today.'Credit: Sarah Farnsworth

Inns Of Court won four Pattern races for Godolphin and Andre Fabre, headed by the Group 2 Prix du Gros-Chene. The son of Invincible Spirit should have plenty of troops on the ground as he covered 218 mares at a fee of €7,500 during his first season on stallion duty.

His 11 day-one lots in Doncaster sold for an average of £40,455.

Ten Sovereigns filly supplies pinhooking profit

The first six-figure transaction of the session came in the form of the Ten Sovereigns filly out of Grand Zafeen, whose five winners include Listed scorers Band Practice and Nice Name, as well as the Grade 3-placed Zaffinah. After a bit of a tussle it was Richard Hughes, seated near the ringside, who won out at £110,000.

Hughes said her potential as a future broodmare was the main appeal, but, despite such an eye-catching page, consignor Jamie Railton managed to secure the well-related youngster for just €26,000 at last year’s Goffs November Foal Sale when she was offered by Ballybin Stud.

“Her ovaries are probably worth that alone,” said Hughes. “I’m very pleased to buy her for an existing client who likes to breed. If she wins a race it’s a bonus but she’s a very high-quality filly with a nice presence about her. She looks like a runner and Ten Sovereigns was a very good horse himself. She ticked all the boxes for me.”

Reflecting on the successful pinhook, Railton said: “She deserved every penny of that. She’s a lovely filly and a great advert for the sire. If she’s typical of what he’s producing then he’ll be very exciting. I bought her in partnership with Peter Molony of Rathmore Stud, which is where she was raised. Peter and his team did all the work, they prepped her and they did a great job.”

The Premier Sale continues on Wednesday at 10am.

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