Another Goliath succeeds as €70,000 gelding tops Arqana Lumet Show

A well-bred son of in-demand young sire Goliath Du Berlais topped proceedings on a session of quite challenging trade at Saturday's Arqana Lumet Show in western France.

Lot 64 was a half-brother to Listed winner Shawingan from a family of plenty of Group or Graded winners including Gran Premio Merano scorer Present Bleu and smart British hurdler Far West. A three-year-old gelding already named St Henri Detaillon, he was knocked down to Florent Fonteyne of Trotting Bloodstock for €70,000 and will stay in training in France.

He was by some way the most expensive of the young horses, who were put through their three paces in front of buyers on Saturday morning before an auction in the afternoon. Among the National Hunt professionals active included Nicolas Bertran de Balanda, Yannick Fouin, Joffret Huet, JD Moore and Toby Jones.

Of the 56 colts, geldings and fillies offered, however, only 58 per cent of them sold, which was the lowest clearance rate for some years. The average also dipped to €14,000 from a buoyant €20,200 last year, down 31 per cent, and the median dropped at the same extend to €11,000 from €16,000. The aggregate from the 32 horses sold was €448,000 down from €733,500 in 2023.

Read next:

Goliath takes down the giants in remarkable King George triumph for German breeding