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New Foal Record Set On Day 2 Of Goffs December NH Sale
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A new record for a National Hunt colt foal was achieved on a day of lively trade in the second session of Goffs December National Hunt Sale.
That top price of €160,000 contributed to an average price of €17,600 and median of €12,000, with turnover standing at €2,816,000 and clearance rate of 65%.
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There was high drama as renowned French bloodstock agent Nicky Bertran de Balanda, standing on the extreme right of the auctioneer, and Gerry Aherne, positioned opposite the rostrum, fought out a tense bidding battle for the Walk In The Park colt out of Holy Virgin, a winning Saint Des Saints half-sister to Grade 1-winning chaser Top Notch ( Lot 378). Aherne twice splayed his fingers to signify bids of €145,000 and €155,000, but Bertran De Balanda quickly trumped him each time, and had the final say at €160,000 – a new record price for a National Hunt colt foal at auction. “He’s very nice, the one I liked most in the sale,” said Bertran de Balanda. “He’s by a good sire and out of a good mare. She was a winner in Auteuil, she’s by a great sire in Saint Des Saints and she came from a very good French breeder in Benoit Gabeur. “He’s just a very good individual, really athletic with a lovely walk. I’m not surprised I had to battle against some very good judges to get him. Let’s hope he’s fast now. “He’s been bought for Sofiane Benaroussi, so will race in France. I bought a very nice Nirvana Du Berlais filly for Sofiane here last year, and she’s had some wonderful pedigree updates since, with her half-brothers Kalif Du Berlais and Kivala Du Berlais winning big races. She’s doing well at home; she’s a nice big filly and will take a bit of time. Sofiane is building a great team of young National Hunt horses, I hope it works out well. “Trade here at Goffs is generally realistic, but very strong for the right ones.” The record-breaking colt was consigned on behalf of successful breeder Louis Vambeck, who said: “This is a special moment for me. When you breed a good foal it’s nice to be rewarded. I seem to be lucky with Walk In The Park. They call me Laid-back Lou but when it comes down to business, it’s business. “For me, anyone can breed a foal, but it’s attention to detail before the mare foals, when she’s in foal, straight after she foals, and the attention to the foal all the way along that’s important. You don’t get lucky at this game, you work hard, and the harder you work the luckier you get. “I have four or five mares due to foal in January, so when everyone else is celebrating Christmas and New Year I’ll be focussed on them. The last time I brought a foal here I topped the sale with a Walk In The Park about five or six years ago. In recent years I wasn’t going to any sales and was selling privately to nice people in Britain, but coming to the sales has worked out well.” |
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Tally-Ho Stud have been busy restocking for the store sales this week, and they added the No Risk At All colt out of the Grade 3-placed Kapgarde mare Gardiala from a deep French family ( Lot 335) to their haul for €92,000. The gorgeous chesnut was offered by Clonbonny Stud on behalf of Seamus McKeogh of Ballycorrigan Stud, who has bred such talented jumpers as Blacklough, Gold Present and Invitation Only. A delighted McKeogh said: “I’m over the moon. He was always a smasher, I loved him from the moment he hit the ground. Denise [O’Brien] prepped him for me, and did a great job. It’s been a good sale for me as I had an Order Of St George colt ( Lot 227) I sold for €35,000 yesterday. He was a cracking foal too. “I’ve got five or six mares at home I keep as a hobby. I got the dam of the No Risk At All colt from France. She’s a lovely individual with black type, and she’s by a great sire in Kapgarde; Cécile Adonias purchased her for me. The mare is back in foal to Authorized, so hopefully there will be more good days to come.” |
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Charles Shanahan struck the winning bid of €70,000 for the Blue Bresil half-brother to Grade 2-placed bumper performer Good And Clever, out of a Gamut half-sister to classy pair Grangeclare Lark and Scarthy Lad ( Lot 362). “We’re very excited to get this fella,” remarked the buyer. “He was kind of the main horse on our agenda for today. I bought him on behalf of Mark Dwyer in England. Mark couldn’t get here for the sale. We do a few bits and pieces together and he’s for a partnership with Mark. He’ll be reoffered as a store. “Blue Bresil seems to be doing all the right things and he’s a sire that we have plenty of at home. We hold him in high regard.” The colt was the only lot brought to Goffs December National Hunt Sale by vendor Longrove Stud this year. He was bred by the operation’s John and Caroline Bourke with John’s nephew Jack Fogarty, an accountant by trade. “We’re absolutely delighted with the price,” said Fogarty. “The colt hasn’t turned a hair since the day he got here, he’s a superb advocate for the sire Blue Bresil and his dam Grangeclare Rosa. His constitution is unparalleled, he’s a mighty foal. It’s a strong pedigree too. Warren Greatrex apparently thinks an awful lot of Good And Clever, and it’s a great Sunnyhill Stud family of Michael Hickey’s going back, too. “John and Caroline and my other uncle Thomas Bourke did all the work at home to be fair, they got him looking great in the last couple of weeks. This sale has come on leaps and bounds in recent years too. It’s a great place to sell a horse and all the right buyers are here. I have to thank the underbidders as well as the guys who got him in the end.” Asked what on earth a sensible young accountant was doing getting into owning National Hunt mares, he replied with a chuckle: “It shouldn’t go together but to be fair this mare has always paid us well. She always throws lovely, big stock as she’s a big mare herself. She’s the only mare I have a half-share in at the moment, and she’s back in foal to Affinisea.” |
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Tom Howley, signing as BLF Farm, sealed the deal for Parkdota Stud’s attractive Jukebox Jury colt out of a Presenting full-sister to classy chaser Gold Present ( Lot 371) with a bid of €58,000.
“He’s a beautiful colt and my pick of the sale,” was Howley’s verdict. “I had luck with the sire this year and I’ve been trying to find one like him since. It’s been difficult but hopefully this one can do it.
“He will come back for resale as a three-year-old, all being well. He was well advanced for a June foal and I like the Presenting dam as well. He ticked a lot of boxes for me.”
Parkdota Stud consigned the colt on behalf of his breeder Paddy Condon, a near neighbour of the farm in Tallow. It really was a happy day for him, not least because the foal’s stable name is Happy.
“Sure, you’d have to be delighted,” said a delighted Condon. “My wife Bree is retired and I’m still farming, but she does all the messy work, cleaning out the stables and what-have-you. We have great neighbours and family around us who help us when we can’t manage things.
“Eudora O’Connor assists us a lot; without her she’d be lost. She’s some woman for one woman! We also have two great vets, Aine and Amy. Without them we wouldn’t operate. John Roche, a super farrier, deserves mention too. Everyone has played their part in producing this horse.
“The dam Heritage Quay is a big, beautiful Presenting mare. She’s kind and easy to manage but eats an awful lot. She breeds a very nice foal, and we’re lucky to have those sorts of mares, as it’s important as a breeder to have something decent to show buyers. Some mares do it and others don’t.
“Heritage Quay was covered just once this year, as this fella was born late, and she didn’t go in foal, but it was no-one’s fault, just the timing. We’ll have to talk nicely to Victor Connolly to see if he’ll accommodate us in Jukebox Jury’s book again next year.” |
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Elsewhere on the day, Jess Westwood of Molland Ridge Stud signed at €57,000 on behalf of Ed Bailey Bloodstock for the Nathaniel filly out of Grade 2-placed hurdler Lilly Pedlar ( Lot 461), who was consigned by Ballincurrig House Stud for breeder John Lightfoot. The filly will go back to Devon to Sandra Steer Fowler, who has horses in training and a few broodmares who foal down at Molland Ridge Stud. She has been bought to race and will eventually become a broodmare. Westwood said: “Ed [Bailey] looked at her and chose her. I know Sandra’s type: she likes a big, strong filly. The funny thing is, I also look after John Lightfoot’s mares, so I’m very familiar with the family.” Rathbarry Stud’s Paul Cashman brought the hammer down for the Garryrichard Stud-consigned Blue Bresil colt out of Listed-placed hurdler Hitherjacques Lady ( Lot 376) at €55,000. The widely admired foal was offered on behalf of Michael Murphy, who is undergoing treatment for cancer. He said: “I’m delighted with how everything has gone here and I’ve sold two foals well. The medics say I’m doing well, and this is a great tonic.” Cashman, who stands Blue Bresil at Glenview Stud, remarked: “This was a lovely colt who comes from a good farm in Garryrichard Stud. They’re a great team who do their horses well. “He’s out of a black-type mare, and he’s a good size, with scope and a great temperament. He looks to be a good horse to bring back here in a couple of years’ time. Michael [Murphy] is a lovely man and breeds a good horse, and credit to him with this colt.” The Affinisea colt out of brilliant hurdling mare Glens Melody, from owner Fiona McStay’s Moygannon Stud, had plenty of potential suitors and it was Charles Shanahan, signing as Oaks Farm again, who won the day for him with a bid of €50,000. “The pedigree stood out to us hugely, especially being out of a King’s Theatre mare,” reported Shanahan. “I was quite taken by the form of Gavin Cromwell’s Affinisea mare on Sunday [Only By Night, who won a Grade 2 novice chase at Cork]. “Affinsea is a son of Sea The Stars and I saw a lot of Sea The Stars himself in this horse. He’s a great mover and he seems to have all the credentials and the pedigree to fit our criteria for bringing him back here as a store.”
Goffs December National Hunt Sale continues tomorrow at 10am with the final foal session followed by a top class breeding stock section. |
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