Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale as it happened: Goliath's dam a buyback at €5 million
Summary
- Springfort Park Stud's Her Honour, initially a vendor buyback, has now sold privately to Alex Elliott for €725,000
- Six-figure lots from Moyglare, Derrinstown and Godolphin's drafts, including the €650,000 Oaks heroine Qualify and €230,000 Firebird Song
- King George hero Goliath's dam, Gouache, went unsold at €5 million
- Jm Jackson, the dam of 2024 Molecomb Stakes winner Big Mojo, sold to Conor Quirke and RP Racing for €480,000
CopySummary
- Springfort Park Stud's Her Honour, initially a vendor buyback, has now sold privately to Alex Elliott for €725,000
- Six-figure lots from Moyglare, Derrinstown and Godolphin's drafts, including the €650,000 Oaks heroine Qualify and €230,000 Firebird Song
- King George hero Goliath's dam, Gouache, went unsold at €5 million
- Jm Jackson, the dam of 2024 Molecomb Stakes winner Big Mojo, sold to Conor Quirke and RP Racing for €480,000
Hello and welcome!
Hello and welcome to the live blog for the opening day of the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale.
You can catch up on the final day of the Foal Sale with my colleague James Thomas's report here.
Lots to watch out for in the ring today include Gouache (1184), the dam of impressive King George hero and Japan Cup runner Goliath. Consigned by Millennium Stud, she is in foal to Shadwell's world champion turf performer and six-time Group 1 winner Baaeed.
Jm Jackson
Ringfort Stud offers another pre-sale standout in the form of Jm Jackson (1199), a stakes-placed No Nay Never mare and the dam of Molecomb winner Big Mojo.
The son of leading first-season sire Mohaather has continued to run well in defeat this term, placing in the Flying Childers Stakes and taking fourth spot in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar this month.
With the promise of more to come at three for the Mick Appleby-trained youngster, this could be a fine opportunity for someone. The seven-year-old is carrying to Showcasing too.
Stallions with first mares in foal
This is an important time for stallions who covered their first mares this year with several newcomers well represented with their first mares in foal.
Among their number is Juddmonte's 2,000 Guineas and Dewhurst winner Chaldean, while the Aga Khan's pair of European champion three-year-old Vadeni and the blue-blooded Erevann also have representation.
You can also add into the mix Coolmore's brilliant four-time Group 1 winner Paddington, Battaash's high-class brother The Antarctic, plus Darley's unbeaten champion two-year-old and Classic winner Native Trail and dual Breeders' Cup winner and French 2,000 Guineas scorer Modern Games.
Breeding stock supplement plug
You'll have to excuse the blatant plug for the Racing Post's Breeding Stock supplement - but hopefully it can provide a handy guide to the mare and foal sales.
The 24-page pullout features the sales at Goffs, Tattersalls and Arqana, highlighting the lots to watch from all three events.
Godolphin see Stars for Teona's brother
There were fireworks at Kildare Paddocks this week as Godolphin snapped up Baroda Stud's Sea The Stars brother to Prix Vermeille heroine Teona for €1 million.
Anthony Stroud, who signed the docket for Godolphin, told James Thomas: "He’s by Sea The Stars, who speaks for himself, and he’s a full-brother to a Group 1 winner. Obviously we thought he was very nice; he moves very well, has a good body. He’s just an extremely nice horse and we’re very pleased to have him. Juddmonte were very strong opposition, as they always are."
You can read more about the seven-figure foal here.
Speaking of Godolphin. . .
'We've brought him here to win the Japan Cup'
It could be a big couple of days for the Japan Cup-bound Goliath as his dam Gouache, a Shamardal mare in foal to Baaeed, will go under the hammer later today.
Another colleague, James Stevens, is out in Japan ahead of the Grade 1 contest on Sunday and caught up with Goliath's owner, John Stewart of Resolute Racing.
The big spending American said of the King George-winning gelding: "I'm real excited for this weekend, I think he's going to have a dominant performance. We've brought him here to win the Japan Cup."
You can read more here with Members' Club Ultimate.
Derrinstown delights
The Derrinstown draft is coming up and includes some blue-blooded mares, headed by Taghrooda's Kingman daughter Jahafil (1113).
A half-sister to Princess of Wales's and Wolferton Stakes winner Israr, the mare is sold in foal to Ghaiyyath. Darley's first-season sire and world champion has been in a rich vein of form with his first juveniles recently and has plenty to look forward to as they turn three.
Another well-bred mare to note among their number is Alghabrah (1112), a Group-placed Tamayuz half-sister to Irish 2,000 Guineas hero and proven top-level sire Awtaad. She is in foal to Shadwell's exciting young sire Mostahdaf, a son of Frankel whose career highlights included the Juddmonte International and Prince of Wales's Stakes.
Autumnal feel at Goffs
Aga Khan draft upcoming
First six-figure lot of the day
The Moyglare draft has got off to a fine start as the Group-placed Kodiac mare A Ma Chere sells to Millenium Stables for €210,000.
A winner at two and third in the Silver Flash Stakes to Shale, the six-year-old is out of Gladness Stakes scorer and Irish 1,000 Guineas runner-up Mad About You, making her a half-sister to 2024 Grade 1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen winner Mad Cool.
It is the typically excellent Moyglare family of 1,000 Guineas heroine Homeless Songs, Ribblesdale Stakes scorer Irresistible Jewel and Irish St Leger victor Royal Diamond.
A Ma Chere has a yearling filly by Mehmas, a colt foal by Dark Angel and is in foal to Gleneagles.
Sale steps up a gear with Kidwah
Derrinstown's Kidwah, another daughter of the great Kodiac, sells to Pier House for €195,000.
In foal to the stud's Sprint Cup and Gimcrack Stakes winner Minzaal - whose first foals have sold for up to €190,000 at Goffs this week - the mare is a half-sister to Prix du Calvados scorer Great Page.
The five-year-old is out of the Refuse To Bend mare Areeda and comes from a family that includes Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Belvoir Bay.
Away from Goffs. . .
The 2023 world champion Equinox is set to retain his opening fee of ¥20,000,000 (£103,500/€124,400) alongside and at the same level as his sire Kitasan Black and Kizuna at Shadai Stallion Station in Japan for 2025.
You can find out more here.
'We are fans of Minzaal'
Brendan Morrin of Pier House went to €195,000 for Derrinstown Stud's Kidwah, a Kodiac half-sister to Group winner Great Page in foal to Minzaal.
He spoke to James Thomas after his purchase: "We liked her from the start. We had that family before - we had a half-sister to Great Page and she was a very good-looking filly - and we have another half-sister at home. I love Kodiac as a broodmare sire and going forward I think he’ll be good. He’s starting to prove himself as a broodmare sire. I thought she was one of the picks of the day.
"I was talking to the team in Derrinstown and they told me that the foal is very good. We are fans of Minzaal and have used him three times ourselves and we have a few nice foals by him. I expected to get her a little bit cheaper."
Godolphin to the fore
The Godolphin draft is going through the ring as I type this and winning Dubawi mare Pietrafiore sells to Ballylinch Stud for €170,000.
The dam of three winners, including Teofilo's Listed Churchill Stakes winner Blue Trail, the 11-year-old is back in foal to the Kildangan Stud sire. The chestnut has a two-year-old filly by Belardo called Rebecca Rose, a yearling filly by Camelot and was barren this term.
She is a half-sister to Dubai World Cup winner Monterosso.
Repole gets in on the action
Firebird Song, another from Godolphin's draft, also reaches six figures when selling to Jacob West on behalf of Mike Repole for €230,000.
The German Listed winner is the dam of a winner in Sir Bolton, a gelding by the red-hot Blue Point. A half-sister to the dam of this year's Sirenia Stakes winner Symbol Of Love, she is again in foal to Blue Point after producing a colt foal by the Kildangan resident this year.
Looking down the eight-year-old's page and there are some familiar names, headed by Prix Jean Prat winner and Group 1 sire Territories.
Another Godolphin-consigned mare, the stakes-placed Gravity Flow, made €115,000 to BBA Ireland just five lots later.
The Exceed And Excel 11-year-old is a granddaughter of Imbabala, the second dam of British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes winner Kalpana. Gravity Flow was sold in foal to Blue Point.
€650,000 for Oaks heroine Qualify
The action at Kildare Paddocks is really lifting and Godolphin's Qualify, a winner of the Oaks during her racing pomp for Aidan O'Brien, is hammered down to Ballylinch for €650,000.
A daughter of renowned broodmare sire Fastnet Rock and the dam of Group winner Swing Vote, by Shamardal, the 12-year-old is in foal to champion sire Dark Angel.
Qualify won the Weld Park Stakes at two during a busy juvenile campaign for Ballydoyle and sprung a 50-1 surprise on her third start at three in the Oaks. At the Tattersalls December Mare Sale later that year she made 1.6 million guineas to John Ferguson and Godolphin.
Her two winners are headed by Swing Vote, a winner of the Jebel Ali Mile in February for Simon and Ed Crisford, while she has a two-year-old Lope De Vega colt and yearling filly by Pinatubo.
Something special
All eyes will be on Gouache when she enters the ring at Goffs shortly.
The daughter of Shamardal, in foal to Baaeed, has long been the talk of the sale given the exploits of her brilliant son Goliath.
At 12-years-old, she is still a young mare and there is prospect of plenty more to come from Goliath. The Adlerflug gelding lines up in Sunday's Japan Cup having won his prep race in the Prix du Conseil de Paris last time out. He showed a gritty attitude to beat the high-class Hamish, who has since gone on and franked the form at the Curragh.
Gouache is a half-sister to two black-type winners and out of the Listed-winning Dynaformer mare Guantana, a half-sister to Group 1 winners Guiliani and Guignol.
Amo loading up
Marine Wave captured a first Listed success this term at Pontefract and that undoubtedly added to the appeal of her dam, Ambiguous, who sold to Amo Racing for €230,000.
The Kheleyf mare is a half-sister to two Group 1 winners in Nunthorpe hero Alpha Delphini and Abbaye scorer Tangerine Trees, while she has the added bonus of being in foal to the record-breaking Mehmas.
It will be a particularly busy period for the Amo Racing team as they seek to buy mares for their newcomer stallions in King Of Steel, Bucanero Fuerte and Go Bears Go. The first two take up stallion duties at Tally-Ho Stud, while Go Bears Go will begin his second career at Oak Lodge Stud.
'These kinds of mares are scarce'
Oaks heroine Qualify was snapped up by Ballylinch's managing director John O'Connor for €650,000 from Godolphin's draft earlier in the session.
After signing the docket, he told James Thomas: "Obviously we’re dealing with an Oaks winner here, and a very good Oaks winner too.
"We bid for her when she came up for sale before because these kinds of mares are scarce. She’s already bred a good horse to Shamardal and we have a horse from that sireline that might well suit her. At the moment I’d say she’s most likely to go to Lope De Vega, and she’ll have future dalliances with the same sire too. Her two-year-old looks promising and is with the right man to progress in Andre Fabre."
