Starspangledbanner and No Nay Never take centre stage at Autumn Yearling Sale

A trio of fillies by Coolmore’s 2019 headline-making sires led the way on the second day of the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale, which continued the trend set on the opening day of much improved returns on the corresponding sale last year.

Despite a smaller catalogue which returned a lower aggregate than in 2018, vendors were rewarded for sending their yearlings to the Autumn Sale as the average and median both increased from last year, in the median’s case by a whopping 85 per cent to €4,800 from
€2,600 last year.

The gain in the average was a more modest ten per cent from €5,239 in 2018 to €5,765 on Tuesday, while the clearance rate jumped to 73 per cent.

View Goffs sale results here

The two highest-priced yearlings of the day followed each other into the ring on Tuesday morning, with lot 318, a chestnut daughter of Starspangledbanner, grabbing the top spot.

Consigned by Rathasker Stud, the granddaughter of Group 3 Noblesse Stakes winner Nick’s Nikita was very popular with bidders and it was Johnny Collins, bidding on behalf of Tom Whitehead, who won out at €35,000.

"She is a lovely filly and will be one for the breeze-ups," remarked Collins. "Tom is over in France but he saw her before he left and was on the phone all the way through the bidding."

She is the third foal out of La Femme, an unraced Cape Cross daughter of Nick’s Nikita who has produced four winners from six runners. It is a pedigree full of high-class American and French performers with Group 3 Prix du Calvados winner Savannah’s Honor, who was Grade 1-placed, and the Grade 2 Clark Handicap winner and Group 1 Dubai World Cup third Magna Graduate amongst her relations.

The exploits of Starspangledbanner’s juveniles have put Coolmore’s dual hemisphere Group 1 winner firmly back in the spotlight and last month he added a second Group 1 winner, Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Millisle, to an impressive stallion resume.

No Nay Never has made an electrifying start to his stallion career and is currently leading second-crop sire in Europe with four Group winners from his juveniles to add to a first crop that includes Group 1 July Cup hero Ten Sovereigns.

Therefore it was unsurprising that the only yearling in the catalogue by the son of Scat Daddy would catch buyers’ eyes and so it was with Rockton Stud’s Lot 319 bringing a winning bid of €34,000 from Richie Fitzsimons of BBA Ireland.

He said: "She has been bought to stay in Ireland and will probably go into training here. The full-sister is a winner in England and she is by an exciting sire."

Bred by Summerseat Stables, she is bred on the same cross as Andrew Balding’s recent Group 2 Criterium de Maisons Laffite winner Shadn by No Nay Never out of a Sadler’s Wells mare.

Lot 319 is a daughter of the unraced Lace, who has already produced a winner, the two-year-old Mitty’s Smile trained by Archie Watson, from her first liaison with No Nay Never.

The only No Nay Never in the catalogue was predictably popular after his sire's fine seasonCredit: Goffs

She is one of four winners so far produced by Lace, who is a daughter of Phoenix Park Stakes winner Emmaline and a half-sister to the dam of Easy To Imagine, who has produced the Group 1-winning sprinters Tangerine Trees and Alpha Delphini and this year’s Group 3 Sandown Sprint Stakes winner Kurious.

Another half-sister, the Danehill mare Dancing Shoes, is the dam of Grade 2 La Canada Stakes winner Striking Dancer and Raymond Tusk, who won last year’s Group 2 Derby Italiano.

Emmaline is a half-sister to the Grade 1 winners and sires Bates Motel and Hatim and the Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes winner and sire Super Asset.

Footstepsinthesand was the sire of the only other yearling to make €20,000 or more on Tuesday and his daughter from Old Carhue Stud made €20,000 to Michelle Lebard.

Lot 431 is a half-sister to Shining Forth by Dragon Pulse who was second on her debut at Naas earlier in the season. They are the first two foals out of the Equiano mare Rapid Eye, a half-sister to Listed Tipperary Stakes winner Mirasol.

The second dam Hidden Meaning is a half-sister to Falmouth and Lowther Stakes winner and Irish 1,000 Guineas second Niche. The
champion older sprinter and Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner and sire Sheikh Albadou is also on the page.

The two days of the sale were highly satisfactory for this market, with all the key figures showing an improvement from the 2018 renewal.

Most encouraging was the overall 33 point increase in the median over the two days, which grew from €3,000 last year to €4,000, while the average increased by seven per cent to €5,860 from €5,458.

A more condensed catalogue still managed to record a higher aggregate than last year’s larger sale with marginal growth of three per cent to €1,693,600 and a much improved clearance rate of 75 per cent.

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