Full Brother to Ghaiyyath Tops Goffs November Day 3

Ghaiyyath's full brother had been billed as the headline act of the Goffs November Foal Sale, and the sizable crowd that gathered around the ring on the evening of Nov. 20 was not disappointed when the son of Dubawi was knocked down to Godolphin for an auction-topping €1.2 million (US$1,329,400).

Anthony Stroud was entrusted with bidding duties and saw off a bold play by David Redvers to land the regally bred youngster from the top tier of the packed auditorium high to the right of Henry Beeby's rostrum.

"He's a very attractive foal," Stroud said. "Dubawi is the most wonderful stallion, and, obviously, we have this colt's full brother Ghaiyyath by him. He'll be a good addition to Godolphin's homebred program. That was our last bid. We weren't going to go any further, but we're very happy to get him."

The colt is out of Nightime, who became the first offspring of Galileo to win at the highest level when she claimed the Boylesports Irish One Thousand Guineas (G1) in 2006.

The seven-figure youngster is not the first member of her brood to join the Godolphin fold. Sheikh Mohammed's operation also owns Longines Grosser Preis von Baden (G1) winner Ghaiyyath, who topped the 2015 November Sale at €1.1 million ($1,180,850); Man O' War Stakes (G1T) heroine Zhukova, a 3,700,000 guineas ($5,236,203) purchase as a broodmare prospect; the 450,000 guineas ($723,776) Midnight Fair; and Nightime's yearling colt by Dubawi who fetched 700,000 guineas ($939,918) last year.

The colt was offered as Lot 745 by The Castlebridge Consignment on behalf of Dermot Weld's Springbank Way Stud, and the delighted breeder was among the assembled onlookers who saw the colt top the sale.

"She's been a wonderful mare," Weld said of Nightime, whom he trained on behalf of his late mother, Marguerite. "Most important of all to me was the enjoyment and pleasure she gave my mother when we won the Irish One Thousand Guineas with her."

The master trainer went on to explain that it had been his mother's idea to send Caumshinaun to Galileo for the mating that resulted in Nightime. He said: "It was my mother who decided to breed Caumshinaun to Galileo during his first year at stud—she really believed in Galileo.

"We raced Caumshinaun together, too. She was a champion at 4 and is from such a great family. Nightime has been a wonderful producer for us."

There could be plenty more to come from the family, too. Weld said Nightime's 2-year-old Golden Horn half sister Syke has been pleasing him in her work and that the blue hen herself is in foal to Kingman.

"She's in wonderful condition, and she's got a place of honor at Springbank Way," he said of Nightime. "We just keep five mares at the stud nowadays, but they're all group or listed performers, so it's a very select band."

Weld also sold a Dark Angel colt (Lot 558) out of Nightime's daughter Sleeping Beauty to McMahon and Hill Bloodstock for €130,000 ($144,019).

Weld also turned buyer on two occasions during the November Sale. He secured a Profitable filly out of Kasanka for €55,000 and a Free Eagle filly purchased on behalf of his grandchildren at €10,000.

Shadwell Spree

The excitement wasn't confined to the sales topper as sizable sums were traded throughout the session. The second-highest lot went the way of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum's Shadwell operation, with Stephen Collins, manager of Derrinstown Stud, going to €575,000 ($637,004) to secure the Dark Angel half sister (Lot 658) to Just The Judge offered by Ballylinch Stud.

"I'm delighted to get her, as Sheikh Hamdan was very keen on her pedigree," Collins said. "She's a very well-bred filly, and he has had a huge amount of success with Dark Angel. To me, she was arguably the nicest filly in the entire sale. She's very athletic-looking and obviously has enormous residual value as a broodmare for further on in time."

The regally bred filly is out of Faraday Light and was bred by Joan Keaney Dempsey, who purchased the dam from Ballylinch Stud for just €26,000 in 2007.

Shadwell went to €360,000 for the Lope de Vega half sister (Lot 687) to Venus de Milo offered by Stanley Lodge on behalf of Tullpark Limited. In total, Shadwell made three purchases for a total of €1.030 million ($1,140,700).

Kingman Reigns

Breeders who used sire sensation Kingman during his early years at Juddmonte's Banstead Manor Stud received some significant returns during Wednesday's session, with the two offerings by the son of Invincible Spirit fetching sizable sums.

Both lots were signed for by Cormac McCormack Bloodstock. The pricier of the pair was the colt out of the listed-winning Holy Roman Emperor mare Flying Fairies who was offered as Lot 665 by The Castlebridge Consignment and knocked down at €310,000 ($343,429).

The other was the colt (Lot 615) out of Archangel Gabriel who was knocked down at €270,000 ($299,115). Both colts were conceived during Kingman's fourth season on covering duty when his fee was £55,000. He is due to stand the 2020 season at £150,000.

The colt out of Archangel Gabriel was offered by Eimear Mulhern's Abbeville Stud on behalf of breeders Steven Smith of Hunscote Stud and Chris Humber.

"We're extremely pleased. He was a wonderful specimen, and the mare has done us extremely well," Humber said. "We chose Goffs, as we thought he'd stand out here and he has, so we're very happy."

Having signed for the colt out of Archangel Gabriel, a sibling to the top-level winners Kingsfort and Prince Arch, McCormack said: "He's been bought for an established client to be resold. He comes from a very good nursery, and we have all seen what the sire can do."

Caravaggio Colt Catches Holland's eye

Caravaggio's debut crop of foals continued to find favor with buyers, including leading pinhooker Brendan Holland, who went to €240,000 ($265,880) for a colt (Lot 553) out of Show Me The Music during the opening exchanges Wednesday.

Offered through The Castlebridge Consignment and bred by Ennistown Stud, the colt is out of a daughter of Dubawi and the Etihad Airways Falmouth Stakes (G1) heroine Music Show, who was purchased with her first foal in utero for 110,000 guineas ($147,286) by BBA Ireland at last year's Tattersalls December Sale.

"The Caravaggios have plenty of substance and length to them," Holland said. "They're good walkers with good minds. He's had some good foals here this week, and I'm sure there'll be some good ones (at Tattersalls) next week, too. This foal was one of the best colts here today."

Caravaggio's first foals were in the headlines this week when a colt out of Cape Joy topped the opening session of the November Sale when purchased by Peter and Ross Doyle for €100,000.

Final Figures 

The seven-figure Dubawi colt's price tag contributed to Goffs November Sale (part one) turnover of €25,751,800, which was up by a chunky 26% year-on-year. The average and median prices also rose, with the former up 16% to €49,050, and the latter up seven points to €30,000.

The clearance rate was 81%, with 525 of 645 offered foals finding a buyer.

Trade during Wednesday's session proved particularly intense, evidenced by the aggregate rising by 35% to €16,211,000. Wednesday's average was also up 32% to €98,245, and the median rose 31% to €68,000. The clearance rate was an impressive 91%, with 165 of the 181 offered foals changing hands.

At the close of trade Wednesday, Goffs group chief executive Henry Beeby said: "'We're nothing without the horses' is a phrase we use regularly, and it was never truer than today as we witnessed a trade of intensity and strength which was driven by a superb selection of the cream of the 2019 foal crop.

"We are indebted to so many leading breeders from Ireland and the U.K. who have entrusted us with their best foals and are simply delighted to have repaid that trust with some amazing prices.

"Heading the day was, unsurprisingly, the beautiful own brother to Ghaiyyath, who had held the distinction of being the highest-priced colt foal ever in Ireland, as well as Europe's highest-priced foal of his year.

"For the 2019 colt to eclipse even that price at €1.2 million is a superb result for his breeders, and we are so grateful that we were given the chance to deliver for them again. His price was backed up by three others to better last year's top price and a trade of sustained demand over the three days of our Part 1 Foal Sale that built to a real crescendo today as clearly demonstrated by an incredible 91% clearance rate and a huge €98,248 average, which advanced 32%. Indeed, each Part 1 statistic has advanced, with a record average, up 16%, and a whopping 47 foals making €100,000 or over, up from 38 last year.

"We extend our thanks to every vendor, however big or small, and wish each buyer the best of luck, whether they have bought to resell or race. Goffs November foals have an excellent record in both spheres, so we look forward to offering many of this year's catalog at the Goffs and Doncaster next year and then cheering them into winner's enclosures around the world.

"For now, we turn our attention to some lovely breeding stock and then the Part 2 foals, which are sure to offer more great opportunities."