'With that pedigree, anything is possible' - close relation to Facile Vega brings £70,000 at selective British National Hunt Breeders Showcase

A brace of £70,000 foals headed trade at a selective second edition of the Goffs UK British National Hunt Breeders Showcase in Doncaster on Friday. The top two lots are set to head across the Irish Sea having been picked up by powerful operations. 

Coolmore’s Gerry Aherne was the first buyer to strike a bid of £70,000, having proved the most determined to secure Swanbridge Bloodstock’s well-related son of Walk In The Park. 

The May 7 foal descends from National Hunt royalty as his second dam is six-time David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle winner Quevega. This lineage makes the colt foal a close relation to Champion Bumper winner Facile Vega, who is also by Walk In The Park and is a half-brother to the dam, the winning hurdler Princess Vega. 

The mare was offered at the Goffs February Sale, where Gerry Hogan bid €150,000 to bring Princess Vega into the Swanbridge Bloodstock fold. Aherne revealed he had been the underbidder on that occasion, and felt some regret having seen the quality of the mare’s Walk In The Park colt. 

“He’s a beautiful horse with a great pedigree,” said Aherne. “He’s a very slick horse who’ll be kept to race, so let’s hope he’s good. We tried to buy the mare at Goffs in February, and we probably should have bought her while she was carrying this colt, but we ended up underbidding her. 

“He’s a very smart colt though, so I’m delighted to get him now. He’s been bred and sold by some great people and he’ll come back to Ireland. We’ll probably break him in next year as a yearling, then get him through the programme as early as we can as he might just be an earlier type than some of the sire’s offspring. 

"He could even be running as a three-year-old and, with that pedigree, anything is possible. Once I’d seen him I was sorry we didn’t buy the mare, but the breeders have said they’ll send her back to Walk In The Park, so everyone’s a winner.” 

Breeder Liz Lucas was plainly delighted with the sale, not only because of the identity of the buyer but having invested so heavily in Princess Vega only earlier this year. “I’m delighted that Coolmore have bought him and that he’s going to a top-class home,” she said. “He’s a lovely foal and always has been. He’s athletic and looks like a racehorse, even though he’s just a baby as he’s still short of being six months old. He’s an outstanding foal and so far it's a good return on what we paid for the mare, who’ll go back to Walk In The Park in the spring.” 

Lucas added: “I think this sale is a very good concept as we’re trying to promote British breeding by bringing the best of British here. This horse could’ve gone anywhere in Britain or Ireland but we chose to send him here.” 

Marigas back for more

The second lot to fetch £70,000 was knocked down to Cathal Mariga of Coolmara Stables. The youngster heading to the family’s County Cork farm is the Nathaniel filly out of Listed-winning chaser Atlanta Ablaze, who was sold on behalf of breeder Joss Hanbury by Mill House Stud.

Jointly topping the market was this filly’s second notable achievement in two days as she also scooped first place in the Robert Chugg Fillies’ Class during Thursday’s British National Hunt Breeders Showcase foal show. 

The Nathaniel filly out of Atlanta Ablaze sells at Goffs UKCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

“She’s a gorgeous filly,” said Mariga, who was joined in Doncaster by his father Kieran and his sister Katie. “She was the pick of the sale for us, and by the sounds of it she was the pick for a lot of other people as well. 

"She’s by Nathaniel and out of a good Kayf Tara mare, and there’s plenty to happen in the pedigree too. The mare has two sons of Jack Hobbs to run and he’s a sire we like. Hopefully those two can do the business and improve the pedigree even more. 

“We’ll bring her home and she could either come back for resale or we could race her ourselves. We’ll see what the future holds but she looks exciting. When we saw she won the fillies’ class at yesterday’s foal show, we knew that was a sign she was going to be popular. She’s a lovely, athletic filly.” 

Coolmara Stables were among the buyers at the inaugural edition of this event 12 months ago when securing the second top lot, a son of Saint Des Saints for £65,000, and another Nathaniel filly who fetched £44,000. 

Mariga added: “We bought two foals here last year, they’re doing well and they’ve turned into nice yearlings. This is a good sale and seems to attract some really nice stock by the likes of Nathaniel and Golden Horn. It’s select, but I think it’s a good idea.”

The filly’s breeder was among those in attendance, and Hanbury said of the joint session-topping trade: “I’m delighted, you have to be after that. She’s a very nice filly, she’s brought a good price and she’s gone to a good home. When she won her class yesterday, I thought she’d make good money.” 

Bailey and Moffat fancy a brew 

Arguably the most recognisable name in the catalogue was Arkle and Queen Mother Champion Chase heroine Put The Kettle On, who was the dam of a filly by Golden Horn. Tom Malone made a determined play for the youngster but conceded defeat when Ed Bailey pushed the price to £62,000. 

The Golden Horn filly out of Put The Kettle On went the way of Ed BaileyCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

Bailey was joined by OLBG chief executive Richard Moffat, who revealed the blue-blooded youngster had been added to the company’s growing bloodstock portfolio. 

“We’ve bought the filly out of Put The Kettle On for the OLBG Racing Club, which we set up recently to support Harry Derham,” said Moffat. “We have three horses in training with Harry and this filly is something for the members to look forward to. 

"She’ll go back to Ed Bailey’s now and we'll be able to visit her regularly and watch her progress. We wanted to give the club members something to look forward to while supporting British breeding and British racing, and we thought this was a lovely filly to have for the club.” 

The OLBG Racing Club also owns Lario, Nordic Tiger and Viyanni, all of whom are in training with Derham. 

Bailey, who signed for four other lots on the day, said of the April 22 foal: “She’s a very nice individual and is still quite a young foal, which you can slightly see. She’s got plenty of class and moves well though, and the pedigree is second to none. There are a lot of very good fillies in the pedigree so hopefully she can follow in those footsteps.

"The first four dams are all stakes performers themselves and they’ve all produced stakes winners as well, and there’s no reason she can’t do the same. Golden Horn can do no wrong on the Flat or over jumps.”

Crystal colt makes waves

Overbury Stud manager Simon Sweeting was responsible for the £40,000 bid that secured Little Lodge Farm’s Crystal Ocean colt, who had claimed the gold medal in the Richard Aston Colts' Class at the preceding foal show. 

“I thought he was a fabulous mover, he’s very balanced and is by a very exciting young stallion,” said Sweeting. “He comes from a great farm too, and they’ve been very kind with their support over the years, so it’s great to give a little bit back.

Simon Sweeting: 'I thought he was a fabulous mover'Credit: Laura Green

"I hope he’ll go on and grow into a lovely looking three-year-old because the plan is to re-offer him at the store sales.” 

The transaction capped a productive 24 hours for Crystal Ocean as the Beeches Stud resident was also represented by wide-margin bumper winner Watamu at Stratford on Thursday.

Despite the market selectivity on show, Sweeting said he was struck by not only the concept of the British National Hunt Breeders Showcase but how it had integrated with the established sales calendar. 

“I think it’s a great sale and a fabulous idea,” he said. “I think they’ve got a really good collection of foals and I’ve been really pleased with what I’ve seen. It’s a great time to get everyone together, when there’s a bit of a gap in the calendar, and it shows that British breeders can produce some really fabulous foals. 

"What I was surprised by last year is that having this event didn’t detract from the January Sale. I had to withdraw a filly who didn’t make it today, but I have complete confidence in bringing her back to the January Sale, which is something I was worried about last year.”

Kent reflects on market selectivity

Although there was no shortage of competition at the top of the market, the lots who fell outside of that sector encountered more challenging conditions. The clearance rate slipped from 78 per cent last year to 59 per cent as just 47 lots sold from 79 offered.

The average price dipped by three per cent to £19,140, while the median slid by seven points to £14,000, having been £15,000 12 months ago. 

At the close of trade, Goffs UK’s managing director Tim Kent said: “Today’s sale is still in its infancy, with the first edition of the British National Hunt Breeders Showcase held just last year, and we would like to thank the vendors who trusted us with some of their best foals by the leading stallions and many out of some truly outstanding race mares. 

Tim Kent: spoke of the 'increased selectivity within this market'Credit: Sarah Farnsworth

“The feedback has been incredibly positive since the release of the catalogue and there was plenty of hype in advance of the sale, including the excitement of offering the second foal out of the Grade 1-winning mare Put The Kettle On.

“The strength of the catalogue prompted many of the leading buyers to travel to Doncaster and the yards have been busy throughout the day. This resulted in the top of the market remaining incredibly strong with many different purchasers active for the choice lots. Indeed, two foals selling for £70,000 and another for £62,000 are immensely satisfying results, while the average and median for today are on a par with last year, but it wasn’t all plain sailing and today’s clearance rate is a graphic illustration of the increased selectivity within this market.

“It is too early to draw any firm conclusions, and we will watch with interest over the coming months before working with vendors to paint an accurate picture about the events of today and how best to navigate the challenges going forward. 

"Meanwhile, we look forward to returning to Newbury on Saturday, November 30 for the second renewal of the Coral Gold Cup Sale, which promises to be an enthralling end to a fantastic two days of National Hunt racing.”

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