Lucky Vega gave €700,000 for the great mare’s 13th foal, an attractive chestnut colt by Dubawi sent up by the Welds’ Springbank Way Stud.

That follows €1.2 million given for the dual winner Al Nafir in 2019 and €1.1m paid for world champion Ghaiyyath four years earlier. Both were also by Dubawi.

In total, the dam has produced seven winners, also including Man O’War Stakes heroine Zhukova and Listed-placed Sleeping Beauty. She is the granddam of four further black-type horses, while Ghaiyyath is considered one of the most exciting first-crop yearling sires in Europe.

“He was a cracking foal, a lovely individual and a great walker,” said Dermot Weld. “I’m so proud of everyone on the farm, including my son Mark and our stud groom Mark Murphy, who put a lot into it.

“Nightime is in foal to Wootton Bassett, she’s in great form and very healthy. Her own dam Caumshinaun is also at home on the farm at the age of 26, retired, naturally, but being well looked after and treated as a matron.

“It’s a wonderful family, and growing all the time. I bought Caumshinaun from the Irish National Stud at the Goffs Orby Sale a quarter of a decade ago. She was a very good filly, and then she gave us a Classic winner in Nightime, so it’s been very special.”

Asked whether he had any Ghaiyyath yearlings to train next year, he said with a glint in his eye: “I have a couple of very nice colts by him to race, and a couple of very nice filly foals.”

The operation’s Aaron Langan and Jer Hickey returned to their boxes with the widely admired colt to tearful embraces and handshakes with family and friends, and no end of congratulations from well wishers.

The pair met working at Derrinstown Stud and put their knowledge and love of pedigrees to good use by purchasing the colt’s dam Celeste De La Mer, a Zoffany half-sister to Listed winners Cape Magic and Portage and Derby runner-up Mojo Star, for just €19,000 at the Goffs February Sale of 2017.

They have since bred from the mare not only the classy Maritime Wings but also the winner Tio Mio and big-priced yearling Teowings.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Langan as he fought back tears. “Jer and I bought the mare together here and she’s already got one good horse and other winners. She produces crackers, always throwing to the sire. She’s given us some great days, we couldn’t have asked for more.

“We’ve got so many people to thank. We were lucky to have Pat Downes help us with the sire, and Mark Lawless assists us in looking after the horses and has been very good to us with sharing his facilities. Then there was Christy Swords, who passed away this year: he was the one who first gave us a stable in a field while we got ourselves sorted out.”

Expanding on why the pair bought Celeste De La Mer, Hickey – also moved by the occasion – said: “We bought her on spec as she had a great pedigree and a lovely walk. She was just small, and didn’t have great hind legs, which meant we were able to afford her. It was the pedigree that got us into the good stallions. People have been very good with foal shares.”

Celeste De La Mer, one of four mares owned in partnership by the friends, is currently in foal to first-season sire sensation Blue Point. So watch this space next year.

They also paid tribute to their families, who got together with each other and friends for a long photo session with the unflappable Sea The Stars colt.

“We both work full time and have young families, with mortgages to pay, and we spend a lot of our time enjoying our hobby at the expense of them, so my wife Gemma and Jer’s wife Aoife sacrifice a hell of a lot for us,” said Langan.

Hickey added: “The first thing my daughter says every morning when she wakes up is ‘daddy gone horses’ so she knows the drill by this stage!”

The tears of joy will melt into cheers of celebration later this evening, as the friends promised they would be seriously toasting their sales-ring success.

The Irish National Stud Mare Syndicate, a recent innovation that offers everyone the chance to take a share in top-class breeding-stock on a limited budget, and have some fun along the way, hit the jackpot for the second year in a row.

At the 2022 Goffs November Foal Sale the club sold its Night Of Thunder colt out of the Listed-winning Sir Percy mare Persona Grata for €280,000 and 12 months later it sold another son of the sire, this one out of the winning Golden Horn mare Sagrada Familia (Lot 574), to Pattern Bloodstock for €210,000.

“We’re thrilled, it’s a fantastic result,” said Irish National Stud CEO Cathal Beale. “It’s only the fourth iteration of our Mares Syndicate, and we had a great result with the colt out of Persona Grata last year, so to hit the bullseye again so soon afterwards is amazing.

“Everyone knows how difficult it is to get a foal at that level of the market who ticks all the boxes – they’ve got to look the part, vet clean and jump through all the hoops during inspections – so getting two top-end results early in the syndicates is no mean feat.”

Beale reported that the syndicate members had enjoyed cheering on the Night Of Thunder colt at Goffs today.

“There’s ten of 12 members here and they’re over the moon,” he said. “They’ve been extremely well looked after by Goffs and ITM, who do a fantastic job. They’re at all levels, from breeders who have been involved all their lives to people just entering, and everyone in between.

“It’s nice for them to have a little network among themselves to follow all the foals and the mares’ other progeny, and to keep track of the sires. They come to the farm at their leisure and we also put on a couple of shows for them throughout the year. It gets people interested in the sport and a lot of the members have gone on to form their own syndicates and groups, so it serves as an entry point into the industry.”

He bought the dam, a half-sister to Poule d’Essai des Poulains and Prix du Jockey Club runner-up The Summit, for around just £33,500 with the intention of sending her to that colt’s sire Wootton Bassett.

And when he realised the resultant foal would be the only colt by the popular sire on offer this week, it made his mind up to sell.

“The dam was bought handily, and she was bought for one reason alone: to go to Wootton Bassett,” reported Fleming. “She’s back in foal to Wootton Bassett now. He’s had a great year and is bound for stardom.

“We kept an eye on the catalogue here and when we saw he was the only colt we thought it might be wise to keep him close to home, and we’re very glad we did.

“Eddie bought a No Nay Never colt from us last year and he was very lucky for him in the ring, and he’s come back again, so hopefully he can do it twice.”

Crowley and her and her much-missed husband Pat Smullen’s children Hannah, Paddy and Sarah were all smiles as they returned to the boxes of Ringfort Stud, their neighbour in Rhode who consigned the foal on their behalf, to say their farewells to the foal.

“I was hopeful of a good price but nothing like that, he completely exceeded expectations,” said a delighted Crowley. “We certainly landed on the right sire. It was Ted Durcan who told me to go to Blue Point, so I’m very grateful for that bit of advice.

“Derek and Gay Veitch at Ringfort are close by so they’re always there to help too. Eoghan O’Donoghue works with me on the farm and Paddy, Hannah and Sarah all help out when they’re home from school.”

The big-priced Blue Point colt had a remarkably current pedigree. Not only is he by the first-season sire sensation who already has two Group 1 winners in Big Evs and Rosallion on his roll of honour, he also shares his damsire with stars of 2023 Mawj, Modern Games and Live In The Dream.

What’s more, his dam is a half-sister to one Group 1 scorer of 2023 in Just Fine, and his granddam is half-sister to another in Master Of The Seas.

“Credit to Ted again,” said Crowley. “He bought the mare for me a couple of years ago in foal to Sea The Moon. She’s a beautiful big mare and always produces lovely, big, correct foals. The Blue Point colt was typical of that.

“La Rosetta is back in foal to Space Blues. We keep six mares at Brickfield. We’re keeping it small and just trying to up the quality the whole time.”

The operation’s William Kennedy said of the more expensive lot: “I bought the dam Paraphernalia ten years ago and she’s served us well, getting Max Vega as well as a few Listed horses. I’m actually still involved with Max Vega, and it’s been a joy: he’s such a solid horse who keeps coming out and giving his all every time.

“This lad is a bigger model with more size, but if he’s anything like Max he’ll do very well, and I really wish the Hydes all the best with him next year.”

Asked about breeding One Look, who bolted up by six lengths in the Goffs Million at the Curragh in September, he said: “Ah, the rocket! She’s unbelievably talented. A couple of her siblings were actually very good too, but they were a bit unlucky.

“We were pleased to see her half-brother sell well, and we’ve had a good sale in general. The team here and at home have done a great job.”

The highlights were the Lope De Vega filly out of the Listed-winning Reliable Man mare Quiet Times (Lot 563) who sold to Aughamore Stud for €200,000, and the Havana Grey colt out of the smart Pivotal mare Ginseng (Lot 694) who made €190,000 to a bid from Melchior Bloodstock.

“This was my biggest draft so far and when you’ve got the better horses it comes with expectations, so there’s definitely more pressure,” said Kavanagh. “If you want to improve you’ve got to deal with that though.

“My clients are very happy and I was delighted with the action we had on the foals. They’ve been busy all week, behaved well and showed well so I was very pleased with the results.

“It’s great to have clients like that, people who are breeding good horses, buying good mares and sending them to good stallions. It instils a bit of confidence in me that they want to sell their foals with me. Hopefully I can improve year on year and it’ll happen from there.” 

The result continues Kelly’s eventful association with the dam, who he bought for peanuts.

Her first foal Caught U Looking, a Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale graduate, is raced by his wife Sabina in partnership with Tally-Ho Stud’s Tony O’Callaghan and was sent out by Noel Meade to win the Weld Park Stakes at the Curragh in September in good fashion.

“A great result, my thanks go to Paul Winters, who helps me at home, and The Castlebridge Consignment, who brought her here,” said Kelly.

“Caught U Looking has been a great story, she won her Group 3 well and Noel thinks a lot of her for next year. She’s on her holidays now, but he’s thinking of big races for her at three and has her in the Guineas.

“We received a lot of offers for her, even after she had won her maiden, but we and Tony are enjoying owning her so she probably won’t go back to the sales until the end of next year. The dam is back in foal to Cotai Glory, so we’ve got a lot to look forward to in 2024, touch wood.”

November Foal Sale Day 3 Comparative Figures: