Mohaather filly the star attraction as six-figure offering sparks Goffs ring alight

It was bonfire night across Great Britain but Barry Lynch and Jack Davison will hope to have good reason to remember November 5 in the future, having purchased the most expensive yearling by a considerable margin during the opening session of the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale.

Three years ago the sale was a roaring success as the array of sparklers on offer from Derrinstown Stud and Shadwell dazzled buyers during the operation's stock reduction. With numbers now at their optimum only two yearlings from Derrinstown were offered up for buyers' delectation on Tuesday evening and it was a filly by Shadwell's own young stallion Mohaather that set the purchasers' ablaze.

It was like Sydney Harbour on New Years' Eve as the gorgeous deep brown filly provoked an explosion of bids, reigning down on the rostrum from all directions.

Trainer Jack Davison and agent Barry Lynch were the dynamic duo who secured the half-sister to Listed Agnes Keyser Fillies' Stakes winner Al Asifah at €110,000, making her the only six-figure yearling of the session.

Davison said: "She is for an American-based client of mine. I wanted to buy a really nice filly and she's lovely, the nicest filly in the sale and a real standout for me so I am delighted to get her."

A late April foal, she is the fourth produce of her dam, Aneen, who ended her career by finishing second in the Listed Cooley Stakes at Dundalk for Kevin Prendergast and Chris Hayes.

The ten-year-old is a Lawman half-sister to Awtaad, victorious in the Irish 2,000 Guineas for Prendergast and Hayes, and Aneen is also a half-sister to Listed Cairn Rouge Stakes winner Mehnah and Alghabrah, who was third in the Group 3 Derrinstown Stud 1,000 Guineas Trial. They too were trained by the legendary Prendergast and ridden by the top-class Hayes.

Prendergast's Group 2 Golden Fleece Stakes winner Madhmoon, runner-up to Anthony Van Dyck in the Derby, is also on the page.

"She is a lovely filly, really well-bred and by an exciting young sire. Jack has a good Mohaather gelding called Glenderry. He  won on just second start and was runner-up on debut at the Curragh to Aftermath, who was third in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes, so he looks a nice horse," commented Lynch.

Glenderry is one of 19 individual winners from the first crop of Sussex Stakes winner Mohaather and that figure includes Group 3 Molecomb Stakes winner Big Mo and the Listed winners Yah Mo Be There and Merveilleux Lapin as well as Serving With Style, who was runner-up in the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes.

Barry Lynch (left) and Jack Davison sign for the Mohaather fillyCredit: Sophie Webber Photography

Derrinstown also offered a colt by Derby winner Masar and it was Prendergast himself who signed for the bay at €29,000. He is the first foal out of Almareekh, a War Front full-sister to European Free Handicap winner and Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere third Whitecliffsofdover.

The venerable trainer did not have charge of Almareekh, who was a triple winner at three for another giant of the sport in Sir Michael Stoute.

This cohort of yearlings by Sioux Nation are the last of his more inexpensively-bred progeny to come on the market as his fee has risen steeply in the past two seasons from €10,000 in 2022 to €27,500 this year. Coolmore added a more modest €2,500 to his 2025 fee when releasing their prices for next season on Tuesday evening so the €42,000 that Johnny Collins of Brown Island Stables gave for Old Carhue Stud's colt at Goffs may well prove a bargain when that story comes to be written.

The second foal out of Ubume, a daughter of Ruler Of The World, he will join the Brown Island breeze-up brigade.

“I nearly have my quota now for next year, though I might buy one more," Collins said.

Eoin Sullivan signed for the session's highest-priced Sioux Nation filly by giving €35,000 for Alice Fitzgerald's daughter of the Listed-winning sprinter Aine, who won the Belgrave Stakes for Tommy Stack and was placed in four further Listed contests.

"I've bought her for a Saudi Arabian owner and plans are fluid; she could be exported or she could stay in Ireland and be trained here for her two-year-old season. I've bought a few horses for this client in the last few weeks and he is thinking of having a few runners in Ireland," Sullivan commented.

The first crop Starman filly who made €38,000 during the opening session of the Goffs Autumn Yearling SaleCredit: Sophie Webber Photography

"We have wanted to get a Sioux Nation filly but it has been difficult to buy one; it still is! She is out of a black-type mare who is by Danehill Dancer, which is never a bad thing. She comes from a really good hotel and is a nice athletic and active type of filly."

Aine is out of the Listed Cecil Frail Stakes winner Antinnaz by Thatching who was third in the Flying Five Stakes and is a half-sister to the Queen Mary third Firefly.

Stock from the first crop of Tally Ho Stud's July Cup winner Starman have shone during the yearling sales and it was more of the same here where a colt and a filly by the son of Dutch Art each made €38,000.

First to hit that figure was a half-sister to Grade 2 Del Mar Mile Stakes and Seabiscuit Handicap winner Hong Kong Harry who was also third in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile. Another of her half-siblings in the Listed Prix des Jouvenceaux et des Jouvencelles second Body Sculpt, by Kendargent.

Joe Quinn, who signed as Breeze-Up 2025 Syndicate, was the buyer of the chestnut who is a half-sister to a total of six winners. It wasn't a shock to discover what his plans were.

"She is a nice filly and has a nice page behind her as well," he said. "It was very difficult to buy horses at the earlier sales, but this is a lovely model and I am happy to get her. I have 10 already for the breeze-ups, and might get one or two more.”

Ger Lyons, who can now add Breeders' Cup-winning trainer to his lengthy list of accomplishments, bought Boherguy Stud's Starman colt along with long time partner Gaelic Bloodstock. 

It's hard work at the sales: a yearling takes a nap at the Goffs Autumn SaleCredit: Sophie Webber Photography

The first foal of the unraced Aretha, who shares her sire Mehmas with Lyons' Breeders' Cup winner Magnum Force, he has a pedigree that is all speed and precocity.

Aretha is a three-parts sister to Power Under Me whose six wins for Lyons and Vincent Gaul include the Group 3 Amethyst Stakes and three Listed contests. She is also a half-sister to dual Listed City Plate winner Majestic Style and to Kassandra, dam of this season's Queen Mary winner Leovanni who was third in the Lowther.

There were 121 yearlings catalogued in the session which followed on from the Autumn Horses-In-Training Sale with 110 offered and 81 selling which gives a clearance rate of 74 per cent and generated turnover of €771,200.

The session average came in at €9,521 with the median at €4,000. Selling continues at 10am on Wednesday.

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