'He's beautiful and sharp with a pedigree to go with it' - Nicholls and Malone win battle for €160,000 sale-topper Zamek

The name may have changed but that was the only difference from previous years as the Goffs Arkle Sale continued its growth with an opening day of trade that produced record average and median figures.

Beaumec De Houelle, the Grade 1 Prix Cambaceres winner by Martaline, was given enormous shoes to fill when he was recruited for his stallion career at Haras de Montaigu in 2019, where his brilliant sire had developed his outstanding career.

Resembling his sire in colour and stature, but as a proven jumper, rather than a Group winner on the Flat like Martaline, Beaumec De Houelle was destined to be popular with breeders when he initially retired to stud and the five-time winner has jumped every hurdle he has faced so far.

The latest test for him arrived at Goffs on Tuesday with his first crop making their debut at a premier Irish store sale - rebranded from the Land Rover - and, on the evidence presented by his results, it's another gold star for the young sire who provided the session-topper.

Mark Dwyer made the bold move to buy the grey gelding, named Zamek, last June and the Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning jockey and leading consignor was brave and won, with Tom Malone and Paul Nicholls going to €160,000 to secure him.

Malone said: "He is a beautiful horse, really good and sharp with a pedigree to go with it. They gave €70,000 for him and they were well-rewarded but they deserved to be. He will go to the Ditcheat academy and has been bought on behalf of an owner in the yard."

A half-brother to the Listed Prix Prince d'Ecouen winner and Grade 3 Grand Course de Haies de Printemps third Zarisk, by No Risk At All, and to the Siyouni colt Zyzzya, who was third in the Group 3 Prix de Chenes as a two-year-old, Zamek possesses that blend of speed and stamina.

Zamek was the most expensive of the trio by Beaumec De Houelle offered at Goffs on Tuesday and the next best result was also achieved by another Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning rider. Davy Russell consigned the gelding who is a half-brother to Predators Gold and that four-year-old son of Masked Marvel made a winning debut in the Goffs Defender Bumper at Punchestown for Willie Mullins and Gigginstown House Stud.

Matt Coleman, on behalf of Jonjo O'Neill, didn't quite have to stretch to the €100,000 that Predators Gold made at last year's sale but got close enough at €92,000.

Richard O'Brien bought the least expensive of the triumvirate, possibly picking up a bargain in Altenbach Bloodstock's Beaumec De Houelle gelding who is the first foal of Back To Bresil, a full-sister to Blue Bresil. Already named Do Brazil, he cost €23,000.

There are three fillies from the first crop of Haras de Montaigu's great hope catalogued on day two of the Goffs Arkle Sale.

New pupils for leading academy

Malone and Nicholls were some of the busiest buyers on the day, adding geldings by Walk In The Park and Doyen to the Ditcheat academy for six-figure sums.

Tom Malone and Paul Nicholls were active buyersCredit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

The Frisby family were the beneficiaries of the pair's €130,000 spend on the Walk In The Park gelding who is the first foal of Listed Lady Protectress Mares' Chase winner Antartica De Thaix.

Nicholls trained the daughter of Dom Alco, who is a half-sister to Duca De Thaix, successful in the Dan Moore Memorial Handicap Chase and the Ballyhack Handicap Chase. 

The Glenwood stables team were also brave in their outlay for the gelding as a foal, paying €64,000 for him.

Malone and Nicholls are also familiar with relations to the Doyen gelding consigned by Norman Williamson's Oak Tree Farm. His Kayf Tara brother Tango Tara won over hurdles last year for the Ditcheat team.

"We like Tango Tara, he's had a few training setbacks but he's nice. The Scorpion half-brother won the handicap chase at Cheltenham on New Year's Day and had a rating in the 140s. It's a good pedigree and he's a fine animal," Malone added of the gelding who carried a €120,000 price tag.

The duo also purchased a No Risk At All gelding, named Onyx d'Ainay, from Lakefield Farm for €90,000.

Happy returns from France

The Vaughan family's forays to France for foals have unearthed the likes of reigning champion chaser Energumene and while Peter has perfected the art of finding future stars, his son Paddy has learned a thing or two from his father.

As part of their impressive Moanmore Stables draft, they consigned a son of No Risk At All that Paddy purchased as a foal in France.

Paddy Vaughan and David Furlong with the No Risk At All gelding who made €125,000 to Monbeg

He said: "I went to France with Dad looking at foals and I really liked this horse when I saw him, he was a very good size and moved really well so I bought him from his breeder. He is a very straightforward horse and continued to develop as a lovely individual."

It's not the first pinhook that Vaughan has successfully turned round, but it is the best result he has achieved in the sales ring.

Out of the winning Layman mare Voulay, he is a half-brother to Olivia D'Or, who has been successful in her native France. Orion D'Oryvil has a different career path mapped out for him as the Monbeg team purchased him for €125,000.

"I'm very grateful to Donnchadh Doyle and I hope he has good luck with him," added the delighted seller.

Moanmore also consigned the only horse in the sale by Gemix, with Arthurian making €88,000 to Aidan O'Ryan and Gordon Elliott. He is the second foal out of Amulet, an unraced Lauro half-sister to the Grade 1 Prix Ferdinand Dufaure runner-up Anglican.

A filly from the final French-bred crop of Authorized was another star of the Moanmore consignment and she had the pedigree to match her billing as a half-sister to Flash Davier, an Auteuil Listed winner in April for Carlos and Yann Lerner.

Henry de Bromhead went to €80,000 for the filly whose dam is Qingdao, a Dansili half-sister to the Prix du Cadran winner Mille Et Mille by Muhtathir.

With results like those on the track and in the sales ring, Paddy and his father Peter will be returning to France later in the summer to seek out more future stars. 

Jury returns positive verdict on Burgage sire

Paul Holden's name was another of those to appear frequently on the buyers' sheets of the top lots, with his €150,000 purchase of the Jukebox Jury half-brother to Willie Mullins' triple Grade 1-winning novice hurdler Appreciate It leading the way for much of the day.

Offered by Ballincurrig House Stud on behalf of Fiona Magee, it was another ballsy pinhook as the grey, who is also a half-brother to the Graded-placed Danny Kirwan, was sourced by Richard Rohan for €70,000 as a foal.

Paul Holden signs for the Jukebox Jury half-brother to Appreciate ItCredit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

"He has the conformation and the pedigree to go with it, he ticks all the right boxes," said Holden. "I have another by Jukebox Jury and I think a lot of the sire. He will go pointing as will the Blue Bresil (lot 38), he's another who had everything I was looking for."

Appreciate It's half-brother was the first of two geldings by Burgage Stud's exciting son of Montjeu bought on the day by Holden as 15 lots later he purchased a half-brother to Jimmy Two Times, a Grade 2-winning novice hurdler by Burgage's former stalwart Shantou. Offered by Mount Brown Farm, and out of a half-sister to Bobbyjo Chase winner and Thyestes runner-up The Midnight Club, he cost €65,000.

Along with the sales of half-brothers to Grade 1 winner Wounded Warrior and Grade 1-placed American Mike, those results helped Jukebox Jury record an impressive opening-day average of €59,714, with the median exceeding that figure at €62,000. The stores are just the second crop conceived at Burgage by the Irish St Leger winner, whose breakout star last season was the Willie Mullins-trained Grade 1 Brave Inca Novice Hurdle winner Il Etait Temps. There are seven further members of that crop due to sell on day two of the Goffs Arkle Sale.

Sluggara Farm's No Risk At All full brother to ShekidameCredit: Goffs

Walter Connors' Sluggara Farm was the only consignor to achieve more than one six-figure sale during the opening session and, like so many of the day's leading vendors, his most expensive lots were also sourced in France.

Peter and Ross Doyle signed for the Authorized gelding out of Sainte Des Bordes, a Saint Des Saints daughter of the Listed-winning hurdler Quenta Des Bordes. She in turn is a half-sister to Grade 1 Prix Maurice Gillois winner Utopie Des Bordes and to Victoire Des Bordes, successful in the Grade 2 Prix Jean Stern. The second foal out of his unraced dam, he was knocked down for €110,000.

Sluggara's No Risk At All full-brother to the Listed Prix Guillaume de Pracomtal winner Shekidame was bought by TJ Bloodstock for €100,000. Also a half-brother to the Listed-placed Nuryadame, he is out of Source Limpide, a winning half-sister to the Grade 1 Prix Reynaud du Vivier winner Shekira, who is the dam of Caspian Cup winner Warthog.

They were two of the 11 horses to sell for at least €100,000 during the opening day of trading at Goffs, a result which helped the sale post its best first-session figures.

A total of 204 of the 224 horses offered were sold, which represents a clearance rate of 92 per cent, matching that recorded on the same day last year. Those sales generated turnover of €10,862,500, which was a marginal gain of one point on the 2022 figure, while the average grew by the same percentage, up to €53,248. 

The most significant increase came in the median which, at €50,000, was up by nine per cent year-on-year. The closeness of the average and median amounts indicated the strength and depth in the market across the board.

Part One of the Goffs Arkle Sale concludes on Wednesday, with the first lot through the ring at 10am.

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