€260,000 Australia colt steals the show at November Sale

A half-brother to the exciting Sarrocchi dominated proceedings during a strong second session of the Goffs November Foal Sale on Tuesday, selling for €260,000 to pinhooker Philip Stauffenberg.

The youngster was offered by Garranlea Stud on behalf of Rockhart Trading and the China Horse Club, who bred the colt out of Listed winner Thai Haku, herself a 650,000gns purchase through Eaton Sales for current connections at Tattersalls in 2012.

"He's been bought for a new client," said Stauffenberg. "He'll probably be kept to race rather than come back for resale. I thought Australia produced some really good-looking stock this year, and it will be interesting to see how they do on the track."

Only last month, this colt's half-sister Sarrocchi was knocked down to Fozzy Stack for a sale-topping €215,000 at the Goffs Horses in Training Sale; then unraced, she reappeared several days later in a Leopardstown maiden under Coolmore ownership and proceeded to justify strong market support for Aidan O'Brien with an authoritative winning debut.

Garranlea Stud also provided the second most expensive foal of the day, a colt from the first crop of Gleneagles who was snapped up by Flash Conroy of Glenvale Stud for €150,000.

Another bred by Rockhart Trading and the China Horse Club, he is out of the winning Convocate, a winning Exchange Rate half-sister to French Group 3 winner Dance Dress.

"The stallion is very exciting," said Conroy after outbidding Gay O'Callaghan. "He's getting good stock - they're well balanced, quality horses and good movers. So I'm very happy to get this foal."

Thai Haku and Convocate are also set to come under the hammer themselves when the mares sale gets underway on Thursday.

View full sale results

€135,000 Exceed colt to Tally-Ho

The sale of the Australia colt marked the highlight of a day which featured seven six-figure foals and a healthy average price of €35,313, 20 per cent ahead of last year's corresponding figure.

Tally-Ho Stud ended day one as leading buyer as the purchaser of close to €300,000 worth of stock and they continued to reinvest in a strong way on Tuesday to bring their expenditure to almost €700,000.

Heading their purchases was an Exceed And Excel colt from Baroda & Colbinstown Studs, who provided a home run for connections when realising €135,000. Mick Flanagan paid €50,000 for the colt's dam Sound The Alarm, a Compton Place sister to Irish 2,000 Guineas runner-up Shifting Power, at the Goffs November Mares’ Sale last year.

"Mick Flanagan bought the dam on behalf of a new client here last year," said David Cox of Baroda & Colbinstown Studs. "He did 143 shows, which just goes to show the popularity of good foals, and there were plenty of vets."

He added: "We've managed to buy a couple ourselves but it's a very strong market."

Mick Flanagan (second left) with Baroda and Colbinstown Studs' David Cox and David Myerscough

Gutaifan the buzz horse

There has been a real buzz surrounding the first crop of Gutaifan since the breeding stock sales season opened at Tattersalls Ireland earlier in the month and that continued into Tuesday's session, with the son of Dark Angel accounting for two of the 12 lots to sell for €90,000 or more.

Leading the way was a colt offered by Ballylinch Stud out of Oh Sedulous, an unraced relation to Shirocco who realised €120,000 to Gutaifan's home of Yeomanstown Stud.

"We thought this colt was the best individual of the day, regardless of the sire, and he’s bred on a good cross," said Yeomanstown's David O'Callaghan, alluding to the fact that the colt represents a variation of the nick responsible for Battaash. "He also has a bit of pedigree behind him.

"Gutaifan has a strong group of foals to represent him here. They're a good stamp - good movers who look like they'll run."

A half-sister to this season's King Charles II Stakes winner Taamol from Skara Stud was another by Gutaifan to catch the eye, selling for €90,000 to Mick Flanagan.

Powerstown syndicate lands a touch

It has been a productive week on the buying front for Tom and Alexandra Whitehead of Powerstown Stud, but the pair also enjoyed a good result of their own in the sale ring as the vendor of a Holy Roman Emperor colt that sold for €120,000.

Peter O'Callaghan, who is at the helm of Woods Edge Farm in Kentucky, signed for the colt who was bred by a syndicate at Powerstown Stud out of Laqataat, an Alhaarth mare bought through the BBA Ireland for €55,000 in 2015.

"I think there will be a lot of happy people - his sale was a positive surprise," said Alexandra Whitehead following the sale. "Unfortunately a lot of them couldn't be here today.

"Tom picked out the mare at the sale. It's a lovely family and I thought she'd done herself well at stud at the time [as the dam of four winners]. She's a big mare who needs a smaller horse so it worked out well. He's always been a nice foal, very straightforward with a lovely temperament."

He is the eighth foal out of the mare, a member of the famous Fall Aspen family whose four winners include the Group 3-placed Nasseem Sea.

On what was a strong morning in the ring for Holy Roman Emperor, the Coolmore stallion was also to the fore as the sire of a colt who sold to Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock for €105,000.
Sold by River Downes Stud, he is a half-brother to this season's dual-winning juvenile Billy Dylan and out of a half-sister to Challenge Stakes winner Kahal.

"He's a smasher of a colt," said Brown. "I loved his yearling half-brother when he came up for sale at Doncaster. He made £95,000 and he's gone to John Gosden, so there's that working for you. And obviously this colt is by a very good stallion with international appeal, particularly in Hong Kong."

The sale continues on Wednesday at 10am.