By Emma Berry and Brian Sheerin
KILDARE, Ireland–The victory of Blackbeard (Ire) in Saturday’s G1 Juddmonte Middle Park S. was really just gilding the lily of his sensational juvenile season which has also given a tremendous boost to his yearling sister, who topped the opening day of the Goffs Orby Sale at €2.6 million.
From a start to proceedings at Kildare Paddocks that could be described as relentlessly solid, the auditorium suddenly filled with people around lunchtime on Tuesday as the dark brown daughter of No Nay Never entered the ring to an almost instantaneous bidding frenzy fuelled by interested parties from China, America and Britain. In the end it was Richard Knight who prevailed, adding the smart filly to a swathe of choice individuals for an unnamed individual who, it is believed, is returning to the racing scene after a hiatus.
Even without the stellar start of her brother, whose near-faultless season for Aidan O’Brien has included victories in G1 Prix Morny, G2 Prix Robert Papin and G3 Marble Hill S., the filly was adjudged to be an appealing physical specimen. Add to that the excellent record this season of her sire, the decent page of her young dam–which could yet be enhanced by a potential trip to the Breeders’ Cup for Blackbeard–and a buying bench packed with international visitors, and it was a safe bet that the Glenvale Stud-consigned filly would be the day’s star attraction.
A number of parties made an attempt to secure the filly, including Michael Donohoe, Amanda Skiffington, and eventual underbidder Jacob West, but none had the staying power of Knight.
“I thought she was the absolute standout of the sale, even without her brother on the page,” said the agent, who bought five yearlings at Arqana for €1.98 million and then signed for another six at Keeneland for $4,875,000.
“Just as an individual, she had everything; a lovely size, lovely shape and a very athletic filly. Every time I went to see her, she came out and did exactly what I wanted. She had the brother, the sire and we’re just delighted to get her.”
He added of her lofty price tag, “It was at the top of where we thought she’d be but we really wanted her. We didn’t want to leave here without her. It’s very exciting. She’ll go back to the UK but a trainer hasn’t been decided on.”
The filly [lot 93] is the second foal of the winning Born To Sea (Ire) mare Muirin (Ire), who was fourth in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. on just her second start for Robert Moran when trained by Eddie Lynam. Four years ago she passed through the same ring as a three-year-old and was bought for €210,000 by Laurent Benoit’s Broadhurst Agency for the partners in the Newstead Breeding syndicate. Muirin also has a colt foal by No Nay Never this year.
Her consignor Ciaran ‘Flash’ Conroy of Glenvale Stud said, “You never expect that kind of return on any animal really. We expected her to sell very well, but we were a little more conservative in our expectation than what she made.”
He added, “Blackbeard has been a wonderful horse. He’s improved with every run and Aidan has done a very good job with him. [The filly] is quite similar [to him]; same physique, very strong, good limbs and a good mover.”
Rousing Start to the Orby
With a top price more than €1 million in excess of last year’s sale-topper, the average for the first day of trade shot up by 25% to €129,269, but the market had plenty of depth to it as well, as the median of €100,000 (+33%) demonstrates. Turnover for the 208 yearlings sold from 237 offered (88%) weighed in at €26,888,000, a rise of 37%.
A total of 104 yearlings sold for six- or seven-figure sums on Tuesday compared to 139 across the whole of last year’s Orby Sale.
Well-bred fillies were the order of the day and lot 215, a Galileo (Ire) daughter of Royal Ascot heroine Signora Cabello (Ire) (Camacho {GB}), proved predictably popular with Newtown Anner Stud coming out best at €750,000.
One of 11 Galileo yearlings in the sale, the daughter of the 2016 Queen Mary winner attracted strong interest from Coolmore and Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland, but it was PJ Colville, acting on behalf of Newtwon Anner, who fought hardest.
He said, “She was our pick of the sale, we liked the cross, so let’s hope she’s lucky. Maurice [Regan] is trying to build a broodmare band. I’ll break her in myself and we’ll make a decision about where she’s trained around Christmas time.”
The pedigree of last year’s top lot was on display again in the catalogue and the sister to Starry Eyed (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who was third on debut for Aidan O’Brien last Friday at Dundalk, took high order at Goffs when bought by Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland for €430,000. The agent declined to name his client, whom he described as an owner-breeder who races horses in Ireland.
Bred by Coolmore Stud and Phoenix Thoroughbreds, lot 111 is the second foal of the Grade 1-winning juvenile Nickname (Scat Daddy) and was consigned by Baroda Stud.
Night’s Good Day
Night Of Thunder is currently responsible for the fastest filly in Europe in John Fairley’s treble Group 1 winner Highfield Princess (Fr) and he featured prominently among the leading sires at the Orby. After signing for the Galileo filly, Michael Donohoe added Mountarmstrong’s Night Of Thunder to G1 Matron S. winner No Speak Alexander (Ire) (Shalaa {Ire}) to his list of purchases at €525,000.
Lot 164 is also entitled to be pretty fast when she hits the racetrack as she is a daughter of the Listed Prix La Flèche winner Rapacity Alexander (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), herself a full-sister to the G1 Hong Kong Sprint winner Peniaphobia (Ire).
Two years ago, Shadwell bought Zanbaq (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}) from the Orby Sale for £450,000 and a timely update from that filly in Friday’s Listed Rosemary S at Newmarket will have done no harm to her yearling half-sister by Night Of Thunder (Ire) who was bought by Mark McStay for €350,000 from her breeder Roundhill Stud.
For Roundhill’s Bobby Donworth and Honora Corridan this is a family that just keeps giving. The filly’s dam Princess De Lune (Ire) (Shamardal) is a winning full-sister to Group 2 winners Puissance De Lune (Ire) and Queen Power (Ire), as well as being a three-quarter-sibling to G1 Prix d’Ispahan winner Zabeel Prince (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}). Another sister, Serena’s Storm (Ire) (Statue Of Liberty), is the dam of dual Group 1 victrix Rizeena (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) and multiple group winner and Group 1 runner-up Summer Romance (Ire) (Kingman {GB}).
“You’re talking to a very happy man. I thought she was gorgeous,” said McStay after signing for lot 147. “She’s from an outstanding family and by a top-class sire. Hopefully she’ll be a good racing prospect for her new owner, who is an international owner and races horses in England, and if that person wants to breed she’s a foundation mare.”
McStay had earlier bought lot 75, the Sea The Stars (Ire) three-parts-brother to Mekhtaal (GB), who was a Group 1 winner by the same stallion, for Bon Ho. The colt’s dam Miss Aiglonne (GB) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) is also a half-sister to the group winners Democrate (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}) and Normandy Bridge (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}).
The agent added, “Bon Ho loves Sea The Stars and he’s had a great season with Deauville Legend and James Ferguson. Hopefully that will continue with Deauville Legend, who is by the same sire, heading to Australia next month for the Melbourne Cup.”
A Night Of Thunder filly was also on the shopping list of Rabbah Bloodstock, which bought lot 220, Lodge Park Stud’s first foal of the Listed-placed Skill Set (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) for €340,000. The ten Night Of Thunder yearlings sold during the first session returned an average price of €209,500.
Amo ‘Branching Out’ With Frankel Colt
Ross Doyle and Kia Joorabchian of Amo Racing joined forces on the balcony to bid for lot 77, a colt by Frankel (GB) out of the G1 EP Taylor S winner Miss Keller (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), to €360,000. Bred by Paul Fudge’s Waratah Thoroughbreds, the colt is a full-brother to New Horizons (Jpn), a four-time winner in Australia.
“His sire has done very well, the pedigree looks good, the mare is a bit older but she has produced some good horses in the past and we just liked the way he moved,” said Joorabchian. “He looked like he was gliding.”
Amo Racing bought the G2 July S winner and multiple Group 1-placed Persian Force (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) at last year’s Orby Sale for €225,000 through Peter and Ross Doyle.
Joorabchian continued, “We want to have all kinds [of horses]. We’ve had a lot of fast two-year-olds but now we are branching out into the longer-term horses.
“We turned down a very big offer for Persian Force and he is a horse I think we will keep as a stallion. That’s what we are trying to do, create our own stallions, and I think he will be one of the first. This sale has been very good for us.”
American Takeover at Goffs
The effort Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM) puts in alongside Goffs to attract the American buyers looks to be paying off in spades with Jason Taylor, Mike Fowler and more contributing to the strong trade.
American agent Bo Bromagen, who described the Orby Sale on Monday as one of the highlights of his year, signed for a Churchill (Ire) filly [lot 22] for €110,000 while Ben McElroy, famed for finding Love Reigns (Ire) and Twilight Gleaming (Ire) at this sale, picked up a Gregorian (Ire) filly [lot 126] for €130,000.
ITM chief Charles O’Neill described the American buying bench to have taken over at Goffs on Tuesday and shared hopes that 60 yearlings would make their way back across the Atlantic Ocean when trade finished.
He said, “It’s going really well so far. They have bought about 25 and I’m hoping that, by close of play tomorrow, they will have bought 60. That’s the aim.”
O’Neill added, “Some of them got a shock today–there’s a typhoon due to hit Florida so a lot of them are trying to get back or else they won’t be able to get home for a while. Apart from that, it’s been very promising and all the signs are good. They are after taking over.”
The Americans may have taken over but there was still room for other international players to get involved. Notable Australian-based trainer Ciaron Maher picked up one of the quirkiest entries in the sale, a Mastercraftsman (Ire) half-brother to dual Champion Chase winner Altior (Ire) [lot 86].
Consigned by Mark Dreeling’s Coole House Farm, the late June-foaled colt was sold to Hamish Macauley and Maher for €150,000.
‘Stars Align’ for Lavery to Secure Half to Lady Kaya
As far as Sheila Lavery is concerned, there will never be another Lady Kaya (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), but her New Bay (GB) half-brother bore a striking resemblance to the 1000 Guineas runner-up, which is why the trainer went to €80,000 to secure the colt from Ballylinch Stud.
Lavery has had a productive sale season, picking up the highly sought after Footstepsinthesand (GB) half-brother to Erosandpsyche (Ire) (Sepoy {Aus}) at Tattersalls Ireland last week, and admitted at Goffs on Tuesday that she’d have bought more yearlings this autumn had it not been for the staffing crisis.
But lot 13 was never going to be left behind. The colt may not have been the best-looking horse at the Orby Sale, according to Lavery, but it was that striking resemblance to Lady Kaya that convinced the trainer that he was worth fighting for.
She said, “All the stars aligned. He didn’t fall into everyone’s category because he is narrow and maybe a little bit weak but, for me, he is very much like Lady Kaya. The physical is quite similar and Lady Kaya’s racing weight was only ever 415kg. The full-sister who sold here last year [the unraced Lady Primrose (Ire)] was an out-and-out Dandy Man. This horse is more like Lady Kaya-even the walk is similar.”
Lavery added, “I didn’t think I’d be able to get him but he wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea. I didn’t mind the fact that he was a bit small and narrow because I knew what Lady Kaya was.”
Lavery’s New Energy (Ire), another son of Ballylinch’s hugely popular stallion New Bay, has put the stable in lights this season by finishing second in the Irish 2,000 Guineas.
Despite this, the trainer stated that she is not coloured by sires and puts much more emphasis on broodmare sires when it comes to stocking up at the yearling sales.
She said, “I have a certain criteria. I wouldn’t follow a stallion. There are a few that I am partial to, say for example Dandy Man has been very lucky for me, but when I am looking at stallions, the broodmare sire means more to me. I’d put more importance on that. There are a few sires that I would knock off, but not many.”
New Energy, last seen finishing second in a Group 2 at Doncaster, is on course to tackle the Prix de la Foret and is not for sale at any price.
On future plans for her stable star and sharing how the sale circuit has gone to date, Lavery said, “Trade has been strong. I bought one at Doncaster, an Acclamation (GB) filly who I saw as a foal and really liked so I went back in and bought her there. We got a Footstepsinthesand at Fairyhouse and a very nice Dandy Man filly from Ringfort Stud.
“There is a great appetite for horses out there, which is great to see, and I’d buy more if I could get staff. That’s the big problem for us and it’s not getting any better. It’s not just our industry, either. We’re not alone in that and, given my staff work extremely hard, I’m not going to make them work any harder. I try to keep my number of horses to about 36.”
She added, “John [Lavery, the trainer’s brother] could have sold New Energy multiple times but he is in it for the racing and has no interest in selling. He’s seen the downside of this game with Lady Kaya, he was there the day she broke her leg, so he knows the risk he’s taking. But he just loves racing and loves being at the top table.
“He’ll run in the Foret and, I don’t know if many people will rate him for that as maybe they see him as a miler but, after his performance at Doncaster, I think he deserves to take his chance. He’s improving with every start-mentally and physically-so the best may yet be to come.”
Hugh Hyland Remembered at Goffs
Amid a buoyant day of trade, there was a note of sadness at Goffs at the news of the passing of Hugh Hyland of nearby Oghill House Stud.
An immensely popular man, Hyland died on Monday. With his late brother Pat, who died in February 2021, and his son John, he ran the successful Kildare-based family farm. Hyland’s brothers David and Paul are also involved in the business and are the breeders, respectively, of G1 Racing Post Trophy winner Marcel (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}) and Washington DC (Ire), both of whom are now at stud. Washington DC was bred in partnership with friends and clients Chris and James McHale.
Other notable Oghill House Stud graduates include the Cambridgeshire winner Third Time Lucky (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}) and the multiple Group 3 winner Rose Of Kildare (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}), whose Fastnet Rock (Aus) half-sister sells on Wednesday as lot 411. John Hyland is overseeing the Oghill House draft for the Orby and Sportsman’s Sales.
Paying tribute to Hugh Hyland on Tuesday, Goffs group chief executive Henry Beeby said, “Oghill House Stud, Hugh and Pat, have been stalwart supporters of the Goffs sales, particularly of the foal sales, and both of them were a joy to deal with. Hugh was a lovely man with a great sense of humour. He was very patient and kind, and we enjoyed our business, which was mutually beneficial. With Hugh and Pat gone it is the end of an era but John is carrying on the mantle and doing a great job.”
Hyland is survived by his wife Miriam, daughter Barbara Ann and son John, grandchildren Hugh, Honor, Flora and Nicholas, and siblings Stephanie, James, Phil, Vonie, David and Paul. A Requiem Mass will be held at 11am on Thursday in St Peter & Paul’s Church, Monasterevin.
