Kodiac Colt Tops Second Day of Goffs Orby Sale

A bid of €575,000 (US$553,044) proved the peak of another solid session of the Goffs Orby Sale, which concluded Sept. 28 with turnover in excess of €50 million ($48,090,800).

Live bidders were stationed all over the packed auditorium when Alice Fitzgerald's Kodiac  colt out of Fikrah came under the hammer, but it was Ross Doyle, standing on the top tier, who had the final say at €575,000.

There was a sense of déjá vu about Doyle's purchase as it was roughly 12 months ago that the agent gave €340,000 ($397,637) for this colt's full sister, Magical Sunset, who went on to beat Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes (G2) winner Sakheer  on debut and was last seen finishing fourth in the Goffs Million in the colors of Amo Racing. While this colt will head to the same trainer as Magical Sunset, namely Richard Hannon, Doyle explained he will be racing for different connections.

"He's a very natural horse and he's by a sire we've been lucky with. He's been bought for Magne and Bente Jordanger of Stall Perlen, who've been very good long-term clients. He'll go to Richard Hannon and hopefully he'll be a good horse."

Fitzgerald has bred four winners from the 17-year-old Fikrah, with Magical Sunset joined by useful types Hell Bent and Loaded as well as Wokingham Stakes scorer Hey Jonesy.

"It's brilliant, we're over the moon, and couldn't be happier," said a beaming Fitzgerald. "Goffs has always been a very lucky place for us, which is why we brought him here, and Kodiac has been a lucky stallion too and he works very well with this mare."

Earlier in the session Doyle went to €300,000 ($288,696) for the Prince of Lir (IRE) half brother to Oscula  who was offered by Kilpatrick Farm after being pinhooked by Robson Aguiar for €60,000 ($67,918).

The buyer said: "He was bought for Amo Racing. He's a smashing, big, strong horse and is obviously a half brother to a tough-as-nails filly. He'll go back to Robson's and Kia (Joorabchian, owner of Amo Racing) will make his mind up about a trainer later in the year."

Demand was sustained from the start of Day One to the close of selling on Wednesday and that was reflected across the key market indices, which all showed significant year-on-year gains, as well as a final tally of 188 six-figure lots. 

Turnover across the two days rose by 24% to €50,374,500 ($48,451,000), while the average was up by 11% at €121,384 ($116,749). 

The median was also up by 16% to a record €87,000 ($83,678), which is a particularly commendable result considering the offering of 468 lots was a 14% increase compared to 2021. The clearance rate stood at 89% as 415 of those yearlings found a buyer.

Ten Sovereigns Colt Goes West

The second top lot came late in the session when Jacob West outbid M.V. Magnier at €500,000 ($480,908) to secure the Ten Sovereigns  colt out of Indigo Butterfly. The colt, whose dam is a Le Havre half sister to Flying Childers winner Sand Vixen, who in turn bred group 1 Jebel Hatta hero Dream Castle, was making his second appearance at public auction having been pinhooked by Pier House Stud for €130,000 ($147,156) last November.

"He'll come back to America and go to Todd Pletcher and was purchased for Robert and Lawana Low," said West. "Ten Sovereigns was an incredibly fast horse and he's a son of No Nay Never , who's a son of Scat Daddy. Todd trained Scat Daddy so he's got a relationship with that sire line and he had a lot of appreciation for No Nay Never when he was racing in America and Ten Sovereigns has just carried that on.

"This horse was incredibly good looking. Mr. and Mrs. Low took a big swing at the full sister to Blackbeard (sold for €2.6 million, $2,498,367, on Day One). Unfortunately we didn't get her but I told them this colt was selling late in the day. I said he was probably going to be expensive but thankfully we were able to get him."

Merry Seeing Stars

For much of the session the market was led by Loughtown Stud's Sea The Stars  filly out of Zvarkhova who fetched €460,000 ($442,435) from Hugo Merry after a six-figure clash with Suzanne Roberts.

"She's for a partnership with my good old client Andrew Rosen, Gainesway, and LNJ Foxwoods," said Merry. "Andrew had Pink Sands with Gainesway and she was sold for a lot of money (sold to Masahiro Miki for $2.3 million) last year so we've been very lucky with them and they're great friends so they've decided to partner up to make the dollar stretch a bit further."

Skiffington Secures Saffron Beach Sibling

Jane Chapple-Hyam has enjoyed some big days with her stable star Saffron Beach , most notably her wins in the Kingdom Of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes (G1) and the Prix Rothschild (G1), and the Newmarket-based handler can look forward to training the full brother after Amanda Skiffington gave €450,000 ($432,817) for the Ballylinch Stud-consigned son of New Bay .

"He's very, very like Saffron Beach," said Skiffington. "I see a lot of Jane Chapple-Hyam so I've seen a lot of her. This colt will go to Jane, too, for Fiona Carmichael and her partner. He's a very athletic horse, he's so like his sister, and he's got the pedigree too so fingers crossed."

Casse Keeps It in the Family

The progeny of Marlhill House Stud's Belesta have proved popular at past editions of the Orby Sale, with the €1.6m Old Glory topping proceedings in 2017 and his Frankel full brother bringing €900,000 from Kenny McPeek 12 months ago. American agent Justin Casse, who also signed for Old Glory, added a further €450,000 to the mare's Goffs record when he secured her Galileo  colt for an undisclosed client shortly before lunch.

"I don't know where the horse is going just yet," said Casse. "I'm familiar with the family though as I bought the Frankel out of the mare five years ago for the Zayats. He was a talented individual and I think Kenny McPeek has the other Frankel who sold here last year. This colt ticks all the boxes."

He added: "The sale seems very strong, the clearance rate is good, and there's money for horses at all levels."

Manor House Makes a Mark

John and Jess Dance's Manor House Farm operation has been busy restocking at sales across Europe this year and added 12 more youngsters to the string at the Orby for an investment of €1,995,000. The priciest of the dozen was secured late in Wednesday's session when racing manager Maria Ryan went to €425,000 ($408,772) for the Sea The Stars half brother to grade 1 winner Blond Me.

"He's been bought for John and Jess Dance and as far as I'm aware he'll go into training with James Horton," said Ryan after signing the ticket. "It's very exciting and John's actually just messaged me saying, 'You've just successfully bid on the most expensive horse we've ever bought!'"

The Sea The Stars colt out of Holda was offered by Camas Park Stud after the colt was pinhooked from Wardstown Stud at a cost of €270,000 ($305,631).

Beeby Hails 'Electric Trade'

Commenting on the two-day sale, Goffs group chief executive Henry Beeby said: "The expectation coming into the Orby Sale was that we would enjoy a strong trade following good results elsewhere and so we were hopeful of some improved statistics. However, nothing could have prepared us for the strength of the market and the vibrancy of the sale, especially on day one, which saw the world's highest-priced yearling so far this autumn at €2.6 million ($2,530,000).

"The stunning sister to Blackbeard headed a truly electric trade that resulted from wonderful support from Irish breeders, who responded to our strong sale of recovery last year by significantly increasing their support, hence a catalog that grew by 15 percent. To return such improved numbers for average and median is particularly noteworthy given those increased numbers, as is a clearance rate of 89%, which compares very favorably.

He added: "Orby 22 has proved, yet again, that it is the measure of any yearling sale anywhere when we have the support of Irish breeders and we send our sincere thanks to each vendor for entrusting us with so many of their world-class yearlings.

"We know we are nothing without the horses but the class of 22 allowed us to go all out to drive the biggest and most diverse group of buyers to Kildare for many a year and we are so pleased that there are so many success stories from the sale."