Harry Angel Colt Tops Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale

The Harry Angel  story came full circle Aug. 25 at Goffs UK when a colt from the sire's debut crop brought £220,000 (US$301,890) from Alex Elliott to top the second and final session of a decidedly solid Premier Yearling Sale.

The six-figure colt becomes comfortably the most expensive offspring of Harry Angel, who graduated from the Ballyphilip Stud draft at the 2015 Premier Sale before landing a string of major races for Clive Cox, most notably the Darley July Cup (G1) and 32Red Sprint Cup (G1).

The striking youngster (Lot 296) was bred by Cheveley Park Stud from the Exceed And Excel  mare Red Box , who carried the Thompson family's famous red, white, and blue silks to listed success having been awarded the 2016 Carraig Insurance E.B.F. Stallions Breeding Winners Valiant Stakes in the stewards' room.

Houghton Bloodstock was entrusted with consigning the prized colt, who had plainly made plenty of shortlists before generating a flurry of bidding activity. Matters ultimately boiled down to Elliott, who was positioned in the office directly opposite the rostrum, and Oliver St Lawrence, taking instructions on the telephone in the crowded gangway below.

"Apart from being an exceptional horse who was very hard for me to fault, the Thompsons have been extremely supportive of me, I managed to buy A Plus Tard for them, and I'm delighted to be able to buy this horse off them," said Elliott shortly after the gavel came down in his favor.

Goffs UK: drama in the Doncaster ring as @A_C_Elliott sees off Oliver St Lawrence with a bid of £220,000 to secure a stunning colt from the debut crop of @DarleyEurope’s Harry Angel.

The top lot was bred by @CPStudOfficial and consigned by Houghton Bloodstock pic.twitter.com/7Jwix8zeDC

— Racing Post Bloodstock (@rpbloodstock) August 25, 2021

"As for the horse himself, he's by one of the best horses this sales ring has ever seen and is out of a very fast mare. I like to see the horses parade in the back ring and it was like men against boys watching him walk around there," Elliott said.

As well as being an imposing physical specimen, the colt has plenty to recommend him on pedigree, too, as his dam is a daughter of Cheveley Park's Prix de Diane Hermes (G1) heroine Confidential Lady . Although Elliott was unable to reveal the identity of the colt's new owner, he said his purchase would head into training with Clive Cox.

"All the breeze-up boys were on him and they're the best in the business with the fast ones," Elliott said. "But once you get into the end-user territory in the market then it can thin out a bit. I was all out though, that was my last bid, but we're pretty excited about him.

"He's been bought for a new client of mine and with the passing of Sheikh Hamdan, who was such an influential figure throughout the industry, and especially at this sale, we felt there was a bit of a gap in the market," said Elliott.

"We have the best bloodstock in the world in Britain and Ireland and these horses can still be very valuable commodities down the line. We'll be open to trading but we're trying to find the best horses we can and I'm very grateful to my client for backing me," Elliott said. "Hopefully, there's a picture of this horse by the parade ring next year after he's won a group 1."

Elliott also secured an £85,000 ($116,639) James Garfield  colt (Lot 271) from Rathbarry Stud, as well as the £100,000 ($136,843) Mehmas  filly (Lot 121) on day one, for the same undisclosed client.

Kodiac King of the Ring

The second top lot took his turn in the ring when Blandford Bloodstock's Richard Brown and Jake Warren clashed over the Kodiac  colt (Lot 359) out of Stunner offered by Tally-Ho Stud. After a sustained duel, the former party prevailed at £210,000 ($288,168).

"He's been bought for Sheikh Juma, who wanted to find a nice colt to send to Richard Fahey after his brother (Sheikh Rashid) had such a good weekend with Perfect Power  (winner of the Darley Prix Morny-Finale des Darley Series, G1)" said Brown from his ring-side office. "We ran through a few options and this was the horse we fell on together. He's an absolute smasher and comes from a top-class farm, who we've had a lot of success from in the past.

"He looks very forward and he's an early foal out of a Pivotal  mare so hopefully he'll make a good 2-year-old. It's further than I thought we'd have to go but Sheikh Juma showed great resolve," Brown said.

The colt is the first foal out of Stunner, an unraced Pivotal sibling to seven winners including the stakes-placed pair Busker and Bergamask ; the latter is better known as the dam of Coventry Stakes (G2) scorer Buratino . Stunner was added to the Tally-Ho broodmare band at a cost of 77,000 guineas ($107,329) in 2018.

The Kodiac over Pivotal cross has been responsible for a host of noteworthy talents, including group 1 winner Fairyland  and recent Prix de Lieurey (G3) scorer Cloudy Dawn .

Reflecting on the market over the two days, Brown said, "It's been very good and there's been fantastic trade. We all felt that the better horses were on day two but even yesterday the trade was great, too. Lots have been changing hands and the prices have been very fair. I've been involved with a few of the vendors selling too and I think all told it's been a helluva trade."

Coolmore Join the Fray

Coolmore joined a diverse buying bench late in the piece when the operation's British representative Kevin Buckley signed at £160,000 ($219,557) for the Starspangledbanner  filly out of Under Offer (Lot 381).

"The team loved her and she's been signed for by MV Magnier," said Buckley. "He'll decide which trainer she's going to in due course."

The filly was presented by Alice Fitzgerald, who bred the youngster with her partner Mike Doyle under the Summit Bloodstock banner.

Under Offer, a Bated Breath  sibling to a trio of French stakes performers, was picked up for just 10,000 guineas ($13,867) in 2018. She was reoffered at Tattersalls in 2019 while carrying the Starspangledbanner filly, her first foal, in utero but was retained at 75,000 guineas ($101,677). 

"I'm delighted and that's a fantastic start for the mare," said Fitzgerald. "She was a bit of a bargain when we bought her and we actually took her to the December Sale but didn't sell her, which obviously we're delighted about now! The mare isn't overly big so I think Starspangledbanner has put a bit of strength into this filly."

Starspangledbanner's current yearlings were bred at a fee of €17,500 and the eight who sold at the Premier Sale averaged £56,875 ($78,046).

Happy Hunting for Doyle

Happy Romance  has been one of the Premier Sale's poster girls since her acquisition for £25,000 ($30,548) in 2019, having won the Weatherbys Super Sprint, the Goffs UK sales race, and a brace of group 3s for first-time owners the McMurray family.

The daughter of Dandy Man  was sourced by Peter and Ross Doyle from Redpender Stud, and the father and son duo returned to the source of success when landing a filly (Lot 268) by the same sire and from the same vendor for £130,000 ($178,390) midway through Wednesday's session.

"She's a very similar type of filly to Happy Romance, although obviously, we've had to pay a lot more for her," said Ross Doyle. "She was the pick of the fillies in this sale, she stood out as something a bit different, and Richard Hannon told me not to leave the sale without her."

"Thankfully we were able to get her for a loyal client of the yard. She looks very mature already so hopefully she stays ahead of the crowd," Doyle said.

The filly is the first living produce out of Nuclear Option, whose siblings include the smart Danielsflyer , who is also by Ballyhane Stud stalwart Dandy Man.

Doyle added, "We've had unbelievable luck buying from Redpender over the years, we've had champions from them, horses like Canford Cliffs , Toormore , Estidhkaar , and Happy Romance."

The filly generated a handsome bit of pinhooking profit for her connections, having been picked up by Redpender's Jimmy Murphy for €29,000 ($35,584) at the Goffs November Foal Sale. Murphy quipped he would be heading back to the foal sales to reinvest when it was put to him he had pulled off the biggest pinhooking success of the sale.

"You needn't worry, we'll do harm with that before the year is out. She was a lovely filly though. We were very lucky with Happy Romance and it's great to have another one. I'm thrilled the Doyles and the Hannons have bought her," Murphy said.

"She came from a very good breeder in John Grogan, he wouldn't have many mares but his success rate is very high," Murphy continued. "She was very much like she is now the day we bought her."

Richards Face Off for Ribchester

It took just 22 lots for day one's highest price to be eclipsed as Richard Hughes got the better of Richard Ryan for the Ribchester  colt out of Mirabile Dictu (Lot 244) from Ballyhimikin Stud with a bid of £125,000 ($171,529) delivered from the gangway.

"I've done the rounds for two days and I thought he was the best horse here," said Hughes. "I absolutely fell in love with his walk and his movement. He's a big, solid horse so he's going to be a fine individual.

"He's very mature already so we'll see how we go with him. I still own him at the moment so there'll be a few sleepless nights. I couldn't help myself though as I thought he was the standout here," said Hughes.

Bred by Joseph Stewart Investments, the colt is a half brother to four winners, most notably the listed-placed Tres Belle .

Hughes said he is yet to train the progeny of Ribchester, but has two members of the stallion's second crop to look forward to next year having also secured a son (Lot 187) of the Kildangan Stud resident from Redpender Stud at £28,000 ($38,316) during day one.

Another Success for Ardad

Sire on fire Ardad  continues to go from strength to strength, with his 17 first-crop winners headed by Prix Morny hero Perfect Power.

The Overbury Stud stallion was responsible for another of the session's six six-figure lots when Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock outbid Clive Cox at £100,000 ($137,223) for the colt out of Pigeon Point (Lot 282) consigned by Whatton Manor Stud.

"Ed Player (from Whatton Manor Stud) called me last week and said he'd had an absolutely belting Ardad arrive on the farm so my ears pricked up straight away," said Brown, who signed for both Ardad and Perfect Power when the pair came on the market at the breeze-up sales.

"And what a smashing colt he is. It all added up with him and there are a lot of similarities between him and Perfect Power. He's a great muscular, athletic type and Ardad is breeding horses with great temperaments—this colt is another example of that," Brown said.

"We had to go a long way but one of the best judges around in Clive Cox was underbidder so we're delighted," said Brown. "He's been bought for Sheikh Rashid, and he'll go to Richard Fahey."

The colt was bred by Fiona Denniff from the Harbour Watch  mare Pigeon Point, who did not make the racecourse having suffered some fairly significant misfortune early in life.

Denniff explained, "I bred the mare but something frightened her in the paddock when she was a yearling and, even though she's flat-bred, she jumped two gates and injured herself so she never raced."

On what prompted the mating to Ardad, who looks set for a sizeable fee increase having spent the latest covering season at just £4,000, Denniff said, "I went to look at Ardad when he was parading at the sales and thought he was a lovely individual who'd suit a few of my mares, so I bought a breeding right to him. We've been living every winner since and we've loved this colt from day one, he's never put a foot wrong."

Final Numbers

Intensity of trade built on an upward curve throughout the two-day Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale, and the final results duly made for positive reading, particularly the rock-solid clearance rate of 89%.

The two days of trade saw 326 of 366 offered lots change hands, which in turn generated receipts totaling £13,334,000 ($18,297,300)—a 16% year-on-year increase on the COVID-impacted renewal in 2020.

The average closed at £40,902 ($56,127), a 20% increase, and the median was back up 19% to £32,000 ($43,911). As was widely predicted by those who had been busy inspecting the stock on offer, day two proved the stronger of the sessions, as highlighted by the sale of the top lot, the £220,000 Harry Angel colt bought by Elliott.

Wednesday's session finished with aggregate sales of £6,343,500 ($8,704,730), a 39% gain on the corresponding day from last year. The average was up by the same amount to £42,860 ($58,814), while the median climbed by 43% to £35,000 ($48,028).