November Sales, Goffs Wrap Up With Varied Results

From our last report in the Nov. 10 edition of the BloodHorse Daily, covering The November Sale at Fasig-Tipton and Books 1 and 2 of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, the needle did not move appreciably. Certainly not the leading sires by weanling and covering sire average through the end of the Keeneland sale Nov. 17.

The entire Keeneland sale, in which for the first time private sales were included, was up by 1% in gross, from $197,851,300 last year to $200,139,400, while the average increased by $213, or three-tenths of 1%, from $74,830 to $75,043. I think we can call that close to dead even.

Fasig-Tipton's one-day gross fell from $89,473,000 to $68,011,000, but it could hardly be called a precipitous drop considering the day's average was still $531,336; those values are simply a reflection of how many seven-figure fillies and mares were consigned and made the sale. In 2017, for example, the gross was $74,200,000. Last year's $89 million gross was way off the graph and doesn't alter the conviction that the market is essentially stable.

The entire Kentucky November sale market does show a 7% drop in both gross and average, but I maintain that drop is nominal. In 2018, the two sales combined had 2,784 sell for $287,324,300 for an average of $103,206. In 2019, 2,795 sold for a gross of $268,150,400 at an average of $95,939. For further details on the sales for the past five years, see Brianne Stanley's Weekly Sales Tickers at www.billoppenheim.com.

Curlin  was the leading sire by weanling average with four or more sold at an average of $493,750, while Quality Road  had six sell for an average of $404,167. Gun Runner  (8/$344,375) and Arrogate  (4/$311,250) were the leading first-crop weanling sires.

Quality Road (7/$1,175,000) was the leading covering sire of in-foal mares, followed by Medaglia d'Oro  (8/$977,500), Curlin (7/$894,286), wide-margin leading first-year covering sire Justify  (21/$789,048), and War Front  (8/$738,125).

Meanwhile, the main European foal market opened with big gains in the Goffs November Foal Sale Part 1 held Nov. 18-20.

The progression of the sale is the opposite of the U.S. in that the best sell last. The first two days saw the averages virtually even with last year, €18,178 Monday and €33,613 Tuesday, though there was a 6% improvement in the clearance rate from the catalog, from 59% on the first two days last year to 65% this year.

But then the market made a big 32% jump in average Wednesday, the best day, from an average of €75,534 last year to €98,248 this year, highlighted by the €1.2 million (US$1,329,400) full brother to Ghaiyyath, by Dubawi. Overall, Part 1 of the foal sale grossed over €5 million, or 26% more than last year, while the overall average was up 16% to €49,051. Even the median improved by 7%, from €28,000 to €30,000, for 525 foals sold.

Many sires will have more yearlings cataloged during the Tattersalls December Foal Sale, which is actually held Nov. 27-30. Kingman, for example, had two sell at Goffs for an average of €290,000; he has six more cataloged at Tattersalls. His sire, Invincible Spirit, had three average €210,000 at Goffs, and has another three cataloged at Tattersalls.

Of the sires that had a significant number sell at Goffs, Dark Angel was the hero, with seven foals from his 2019 crop, sired at an €85,000 fee, average €222,143. Sea The Stars had 10 average €157,800; Lope de Vega had eight average €128,750; while No Nay Never, a top second-crop sire like Kingman, had seven foals average €105,143, off a 2018 stud fee of €25,000.

Among sires with their first crop of weanlings selling, Coolmore's Churchill had three average €133,300, and Caravaggio had 10 average €90,700, a good start for both, who have 11 and 22 cataloged at Tattersalls. Splitting them by average at Goffs was Cheveley Park's Ulysses, who had four sell at Goffs for an average of €93,750.