Lope de Vega Mare Tops Goffs February Sale Final Day

The best was saved until last as a black-type performer with several clearly persuasive plus points finally broke the six-figure mark at the concluding session of the Goffs February Sale Feb. 10.

Rubira was a listed winner for the lauded Lope de Vega in the Diamond Lodge Champagne Stakes at Pukekohe in New Zealand back in 2018 but was on Irish soil being offered by Baroda Stud as Lot 253, the final entry in the catalog.

The 5-year-old had been covered by Lope de Vega's Ballylinch neighbor and upwardly mobile stallion New Bay, which led to brisk bidding through ethernet cables on both sides of the Irish Sea. Eventually it was agent Alex Elliott who secured her for €100,000 (US$120,938) on the dot.

"I've put a syndicate together and hopefully should have some fun with it," Elliott said. "I know she won her listed race in New Zealand but a stakes winner anywhere is attractive, and she had group form in Australia.

"A New Bay foal will be exciting as the stallion has been very good to me. We bought and sold his (Juddmonte) Royal Lodge (G2) winner New Mandate with The Lucra Partnership and Ralph Beckett.

"If we can get in, it would be tempting to send the mare to Camelot, as he has had a lot of success in the Southern Hemisphere."

Bidding Not Rocket Science for De Burgh

Like everyone in the industry, Hubie De Burgh has had to embrace the digital age and the Irish agent had fingers poised at the keyboard to lead the session for most of the way.

Offered through The Castlebridge Consignment, the Fastnet Rock filly Rocket Science (Lot 131) had scored at Galway and Roscommon last summer for trainer Jessica Harrington.

Representing owners and breeders Ann Marshall and Frank Dunne of Hamwood Stud, she produced her best effort on ratings when fourth to the subsequent Coolmore America Justify Matron Stakes (G1) winner Champers Elysees in the Coolmore Stud No Nay Never Fairy Bridge Stakes (G3) at Gowran Park in September.

A 4-year-old daughter of Queen Mary (G2) third Hairy Rocket (a daughter of Pivotal), Rocket Science's Churchill half brother was bought for €140,000 ($155,097) by Camas Park as a foal and De Burgh had to go to €84,000 ($101,588) to obtain her.

"I'd been underbidder a few times online, and I was always very nervous of pressing the wrong button and finding I'd bought something I didn't want," he confessed.

"One of my daughters is very switched on at knowing when to bid, so thankfully I've had a bit of back-up!"

Explaining the future of the filly, De Burgh added: "She was bought for Australia. She's from a speed family and Fastnet Rock and Pivotal goes so well down there.

"It's very hard to win two races in Ireland, and she managed that. She was just off stakes class and some of those stakes fillies do cost a lot of money, so perhaps we got a bit lucky."

The prospect of two horses for the price of one proved attractive throughout the day, with several other mares with valuable covers making decent money. 

Another Castlebridge offering Gracefully Done (Lot 190), a daughter of Australia and Belmont Park's Matron Stakes (G1) winner Sense of Style, made €76,000 ($91,913) while in foal to Ten Sovereigns.

She takes the population of Thoroughbred broodmares at Hawthorn Villa Stud near Dromkeen in County Cork to a neat half-dozen.

"We're more into breeding National Hunt and show jumpers, but I'd been finding the good National Hunt mares too dear and kept being blown out," explained the stud's owner Brian Mehigan.

"We thought we'd try the flat instead. She was still expensive enough but she had it all done, as we say. I believe she's due to foal very soon, so we're looking forward to having her on the farm and seeing what we have."

The Rahy mare Soft Lips (Lot 140), who has had a few good performers in France, including current group-placed 3-year-old Unveil, was bought privately by Carol Henley for €66,000 ($79,819) and is expecting a New Bay foal.

Well-Bred Mare Joins Parole Board

It had taken just 10 minutes and a couple of lots for day one's peak price to be eclipsed as New York Ballet (Lot 116) stepped on the virtual stage.

The Poet's Voice mare from Lady O'Reilly's Hollyhill Stud is out of Swynford Paddocks Hotel Sweet Solera (G3) winner and Meon Valley Stud Mile (G1) third English Ballet, herself a sibling of Lady Bamford's Prix de Diane Longines (G1) scorer Star of Seville and the St. James's Palace Stakes (G1) runner-up King of Comedy.

A lengthy bidding session saw Tanya Gunther and Eurowest Bloodstock gain the day at €52,000 ($62,888).

Gunther had a very specific target in mind, explaining: "She will ship to England to be bred to Without Parole."

The owner/breeder and her father John, who run Glennwood Farm in Kentucky, announced in October that they would be standing their St. James's Palace Stakes winner Without Parole at Newsells Park Stud, where he gets his new vocation underway in just a few days time at a fee of £10,000.

Final Standings

The all-online sale, providing a valuable service to keep the wheels turning, had a slightly different format to prevent direct comparison but the figures held up well, realizing an aggregate of €1,585,700 ($1,917,710), an average of €13,553 ($16,391) (down 10%), and median of €8,000 ($9,675) (up 60%). Of 191 lots, 117 sold at a clearance rate of 61%.

Goffs group chief executive Henry Beeby said: "The last 11 months have been unlike anything we have ever known, and we have been forced to adapt and react to the ever changing situation caused by COVID-19.

"A live online sale is never going to be our first choice for any category but our customer-friendly platform continues to evolve and serve us well.

"Over the last two days we have taken 1,425 bids from 190 clients in 10 countries which has allowed us to provide a marketplace that would otherwise have been unattainable. We are always grateful to every vendor and each purchaser but never more than so than at present as the pandemic puts more barriers in the way of normal bloodstock trading.

"Vendors have stepped up with all the additional information required for purchasers to make as informed decisions as possible in the current environment. That has led to a trade that is acceptable albeit selective especially yesterday.

"However today has seen spirited bidding for the most attractive breeding propositions and underlined the enduring desire for the best of Irish bloodlines."

Beeby expressed optimism that the second part of the sale would be staged in more normal circumstances March 11, adding: "We salute everyone who engaged over the last two days for their fortitude and acceptance of what is required whilst at the same time hoping fervently that we can soon return to the usual norms of horses and people filling Kildare Paddocks.

"That always results in the best of both worlds for sellers and buyers whilst also allowing all of us to engage and catch up on a one to one basis, something that we miss more as each lockdown progresses."