Coolmore and Godolphin spend big - Goffs November Foal Sale as it happened

Winter at GoffsCredit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

Good morning from a gloriously wintry Kildare Paddocks where day three of the Goffs November Foal Sale starts at 10am. My fingers have defrosted enough to type and we're ready for an action-packed session of trading.

Yesterday was robust, following on from the high-end yearling sales as pinhookers and end-users alike were in competition for the best foals and today trade should jump to another level as the choicest foals from Ireland's best breeders come under the hammer.

Stay tuned for updates throughout the day on this blog with photos from the brilliant Sarah Farnsworth and Sophie Webber.

It's cold outside but the sales ring action is hot with the first €200,000 foal of the session coming just five lots in to the sale.

Alice Fitzgerald's Kingman half-sister to Basil Martini sells to Roger O'Callaghan for €200,000 at GoffsCredit: Sophie Webber Photography

Alice Fitzgerald, who runs Summit Bloodstock with Michael Doyle, has a stellar reputation as a breeder and consignor with the Group 3 Park Stakes winner Basil Martini one of the flagbearers for the young breeder.

The daughter of Starspangledbanner was a six-figure yearling herself and went on to be a high-class juvenile for Joseph O'Brien, making the offspring of her dam highly coveted.

This morning, Fitzgerald presented a Kingman half-sister to Basil Martini and she sparked a bidding battle in the ring which ended with her becoming the first foal to make €200,000 this week. She was knocked down to Roger O'Callaghan with the purchaser listed as Tiger Bloodstock.

A Summit Bloodstock-homebred, she is the only foal that Fitzgerald has catalogued to sell today.

Elvstroem: champion racehorse has died aged 24Credit: Edward Whitaker

Sad news reaching us from France of the death of dual hemisphere Group 1 winner Elvstroem who has died at the age of 24 at Haras du Petit Tellier.

The Caulfield Cup hero was a half-brother to Haradasun, a Group 1 winner in Australia who moved to the care of Aidan O'Brien and won the Queen Anne Stakes, in an early precursor to Coolmore's transfer of Storm Boy from Australia to Ballydoyle which happened last week.

Elvstroem was a Danehill full-brother to the Group 1 Australian Oaks third Hveger, dam of globe-trotting Group 1 winner Highland Reel and his full-brothers, the young Coolmore National Hunt sire Idaho, and Australian Group 1 winner Cape Of Good Hope. Their full-sister Cercle De La Vie is the dam of Prix Jean Luc-Lagardere winner Angel Bleu, a son of Dark Angel who stands at Sumbe.

It's also the family of Starspangledbanner whose foals are proving extremely popular here at Goffs.

My colleagues in ANZ have the full story

https://www.racingpost.com/bloodstock/news/international/death-of-champion-racehorse-and-group-1-winning-sire-elvstroem-aged-24-a2cnX2b4QTrr/

Ambivalent at Goffs last year, where her son sells this morningCredit: Sophie Webber Photography

Our first potential sale topper is about the enter the ring.

Lot 566 from Baroda Stud is a Sea The Stars full-brother to the Group 1 Prix Vermeille winner Teona and out of Ambivalent, the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes winner who sold for €925,000 at the 2023 Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale to Avondale Bloodstock carrying this foal.

He makes €1,000,000 to Anthony Stroud.

Updates to come.

Teona: Prix Vermeille heroine's full-brother made €1m at GoffsCredit: Scoop Dyga/France Galop

A Sea The Stars full-brother to Prix Vermeille winner Teona sparked a sales ring bidding battle between bloodstock behemoths Godolphin and Juddmonte that culminated in the first seven-figure foal sold in Ireland since 2019.

Offered by Baroda Stud on behalf of breeder Yulong Investments, the colt is also the son of a Group 1 performer in the Pretty Polly Stakes winner Ambivalent and Anthony Stroud, who signed for the foal at €1,000,000 on behalf of Godolphin is dreaming of Derby glory with the striking bay colt.

"We are very, very pleased to have him. He moved very well and is an extremely nice foal. We had his Dubawi half-brother, the Group 2 winner Al Hilalee. We like staying horses so we are very happy to have him."

In response to questions about whether Derby or Cup targets would be on the distant horizon for the colt, Stroud nodded and replied: "You would hope so anyway, that's what the dream is."

It was the second seven-figure sale of the autumn for David and Tamso Cox's Baroda Stud on behalf Yuesheng Zhang's Yulong Investments and David Cox revealed he had an inkling on Tuesday that something spectacular in the sales ring was afoot.

The Sea The Stars brother to Group 1 winner Teona awaits his turn in the sales ring at GoffsCredit: Sophie Webber Photography

"When I saw who was vetting [the foal] I thought we could get there. One team in particular were very keen on him yesterday and I saw them looking up what the top-priced foals at Goffs were so I thought we could get into that bracket," Cox revealed.

"A mare like that who is a Group 1 winner, has bred a Group 1 winner and turns up a foal like that who x-rays clean and has a brilliant mind as well, you have to hope that he can do that.

"I am delighted for Mr Zhang and all the team at home, especially Kitty Conry who foaled him and Brian Delahunt, our stud groom."

It is the highest price for a foal at Goffs since the record-breaking sale of the Dubawi full-brother to Ghaiyyath for €1.2m. That foal, named Al Nafir, makes his debut on for new trainer Bhupat Seemar at Meydan on Friday.

Ghaiyyath himself made €1.1m in this ring as a foal and both Dubawi colts were purchased for Godolphin, as was this son of Sea The Stars.

Night Of Thunder: sire of prospective pinhooking sensation at GoffsCredit: Patrick McCann

Goffs Scandinavia representative Filip Zwicky and his clients John Christensen and Alice Weiste of the JC Organisation must have veins as cold as the ice that still lingers around Kildare Paddocks despite it being past midday.

The trio has purchased the second-most expensive foal of the morning – a Night Of Thunder colt out of a full-sister to Group 1 winner Gear Up – for €550,000 and their initial plan is to bring the foal back to Goffs for next year's Orby Yearling Sale.

"We had our eyes on the Kingman [half-sister] in Japan and we are looking forward to bringing him back to Goffs next year," remarked Zwicky.

"We will see what happens and how he develops. He will board here in Ireland and we will see how he goes. Obviously a few years back we took a chance on a €300,000 pinhook and now we have upped the game!" he added.

Fortune very much favoured the brave last time round. They went to €300,000 at the 2020 Goffs November Foal Sale for a Footstepsinthesand half-brother to Lucky Vega, who was consigned by Baroda Stud, and returning to Goffs the following autumn they more than doubled their initial investment when Yulong went to €630,000 for the colt, sold through Anna Sundstrom's Coulonces Sales.

We wish them all the very best in their punch endeavour with the colt who was sold by The Castlebridge Consignment out of a mare who was bred, trained and raced by Jim Bolger.

Hear what Anthony Stroud has to say about his purchase of the €1,000,000 Sea The Stars brother to Prix Vermeille winner Teona.

Living In The Past: Lowther Stakes winner's half-sister made €450,000 at GoffsCredit: Alan Crowhurst

The six-figure sales keep on rolling at Goffs where trade is like a Wall Street bull market at the moment.

PJ Collville, manager of the Regan family's Tipperary stud Newtown Anner, goes to €450,000 for a Lope De Vega half-sister to Lowther Stakes winner Living In The Past and to Jungle Drums, successful in the Listed Rockingham Stakes this year, and Karl Burke has trained both horses.

The Middleham trainer will likely get the chance to add to his outstanding record with the family as Burke trains for Newtown Anner, with his string including this year's German 1,000 Guineas winner Darnation who is a Newtown Anner homebred.

"I thought she was the best filly here today and obviously she has a great pedigree. The dam has produced two runners rated over 100 and we are trying to buy horses like this. She has a great second dam as well," Collville added.

A late March-foal, she is out of Ayr Missile who is a Cadeaux Genereux half-sister to Suelita, the dam of 2,000 Guineas and Dewhurst winner Chaldean who is a young Juddmonte sire, Mill Reef Stakes winner Alkumait and the Listed winners Get Ahead and The Broghie Man.

Second dam Venoge is a Green Desert half-sister to the Group 3 winner and Grade 1 EP Taylor Stakes winner Moment In Time and to Awohaam, dam of Marble Hill Stakes winner Castle Star who stands alongside Alkumait at Capital Stud.

James Doyle with Sea Of ClassCredit: Patrick McCann

It's lunchtime and everyone is thinking of their stomachs but there are a number of foals coming up in the next hour who will have people fleeing the restaurants mid-chew to bid on them.

Some of those potential highlights include:

• Lot 642 a Sea The Stars full-brother to the brilliant but ill-fated Sea Of Class
• Lot 654 a Naval Crown half-brother to Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye and Al Quoz Sprint winner A Case Of You
• Lot 657 a St Mark's Basilica colt out of Kiss For A Jewel from the family of Kyprios
• Lot 662 an Elzaam full-brother to Group 1 winner Champers Elysees

Alice and John Weiste Christensen of the JC Organization with Filip Zwicky. They bought a Night Of Thunder colt out of a Teofilo full-sister to Group 1 winner Gear Up for €550,000 from The Castlebridge Consignment.

The seven-figure Sea The Stars coltCredit: Sophie Webber Photography

My colleague James Thomas has been hammering the laptop keys to bring you a comprehensive report of the early action at Goffs today and you can read it here.

The Baroda Stud team with the Sea The Stars colt at Goffs after his sale to GodolphinCredit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

Blue Point during the ITM Irish Stallion Trail at Kildangan StudCredit: Patrick McCann

At the mid-point on the third day of the Goffs November Foal Sale, Darley sire Blue Point leads the way on aggregate with ten foals from the fourth crop of the Royal Ascot winner selling for a combined €1,861,100 with Carrick Hill Stud's half-brother to the Futurity and Tyros Stakes-placed juvenile Maritime Wings leading the way.

The colt made €360,000 to Denis Brosnan's Croom House Bloodstock, which is a little shy of the €500,000 that his year-older Sea The Stars half-brother made in this ring during last month's Goffs Orby Book 1 Sale. That colt however was a €310,000 pinhook by Peter and Ross Doyle out of last year's Goffs November Foal Sale so 

You can read up on the story of breeders Aaron Langan and Jer Hickey from last year's sale here although the headline quote of 'It's once in a lifetime stuff' clearly is out of date.

Blue Point, who is the sire of Group 1 winners Rosallion, Big Evs and Kind Of Blue from his first crop, stood at a fee of €35,000 in 2023 when this, his fourth, crop of of foals was conceived so the foals are averaging 5.3 times his covering fee.

The son of Shamardal is a quadruple Group 1 winner and he has sired five individual Group winners and eight Listed winners from his first two crops.

From a 2024 fee of €60,000, his advertised fee has been raised to €100,000 for the 2025 breeding season.

The Camelot half-brother to Mother Earth in the ring at Goffs on WednesdayCredit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

MV Magnier, sporting a new Auguste Rodin-branded jacket, was pushed all the way to €420,000 to secure the Camelot half-brother to 1,000 Guineas and Prix Rothschild winner Mother Earth.

The February-foaled bay is also a half-brother to the Group 2 winners Ocean Jewel and Night Colours and was consigned by Grenane House Stud.

More to follow.

MV Magnier signing for the Camelot half-brother to Mother Earth at GoffsCredit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

Stallions of the future were uppermost in the thoughts of many at Goffs, and MV Magnier was sporting the latest Auguste Rodin branded merchandise when bidding for a colt who could join the Derby winner by Deep Impact on the Coolmore roster in a few years' time, should he live up to his illustrious pedigree.

Accompanied by his entourage that included Paul Shanahan and David Wachman, Magnier saw off all-comers for Grenane House Stud's Camelot half-brother to 1,000 Guineas and Prix Rothschild winner Mother Earth at €420,000.

"He's a very nice horse, Mother Earth was one of those special fillies and Camelot has had the best year he's had since he went to stud," commented Magnier of the colt who was bred by brothers Mark and Adrian Wallace, and Mark's wife Beanie, of the Tipperary farm.

Magnier added of the Wallace family: "They've been great supporters of ours for a very long time and send a lot of their mares to us, so we are delighted to be able to support them and it's a great result for them."

Zoffany mare Mother Earth was purchased as a yearling at Goffs for €150,000 by Magnier while her younger Sioux Nation half-sister, the Group 2 Ridgewood Pearl Stakes winner Ocean Jewel brought €230,000 at the 2021 Goffs Orby Sale.

And as for Camelot, Magnier remarked: "They've been selling well all year, he has had a very good season and he is in that elite stallion status now."

Autumnal sunshine at GoffsCredit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

His rollcall of honour was gilded by Arc heroine Bluestocking and Irish Derby winner Los Angeles, who was third to the Juddmonte mare at Longchamp, and the 2,000 Guineas and Derby hero has now sired a round dozen individual top-level winners.

Magnier was quick to praise Goffs and the new entrants to the pinhooking and breeding sectors.

"It's fantastic the market is so buoyant, all week through from the lesser foals up to the best foals here today, it's shone the whole way through. The best sign is the amount of young people who are here and buying foals, it shows that there are lots of people coming into the business which will strengthen it and, in fairness to Goffs, they have done a great job getting the best foals here."

"It can't be about us old lads anymore," he joked.

Magnier also had an update on Mother Earth's broodmare career: she has a Frankel filly foal and was covered by Justify this year.

A foal emerges from the sales ring at GoffsCredit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

As we enter the final couple of hours of a rip-roaring day at the Goffs November Foal Sale, here are some more foals who might feature in the blog later. Although attempts to predict sales prices earlier, went down like a lead balloon.

We'll give it another go!

• Lot 720 Wootton Bassett colt who is the first foal of the Listed-placed Quickstep Girl by New Bay
• Lot 728 Lope De Vega half-brother to the Group 2 winner Suesa
• Lot 733 Sioux Nation colt out of Sea Of Reality, a full-sister to the dam of Blackbeard
• Lot 742 Havana Grey colt out of the Listed winner Silberpfeil
• Lot 745 Space Blues filly out of a half-sister to Rebel's Romance
• Lot 750 Starspangledbanner full-brother to Listed winner Dickiedooda
• 
  

Related to my earlier post about the strength of the demand for Blue Point foals at Goffs this week, here is a video of the Carrick Hill Stud team talking about their Blue Point colt who made €360,000 to Epona Bloodstock.

The November sun can't hold a candle to the Spanish oneCredit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

Can you tell it's cold out?

If you, like me, are finding the chill then this news about Al Wukair relocating to Spain will make you long for the warmth of the sun on your back.

My colleague Kitty Trice has broken the news of Al Wukair's new home in the Spanish sun and you can read more here.

Hear from Alice and John Weiste Christensen on their €550,000 purchase of a Night Of Thunder colt they hope to sell for a profit as a yearling.