Summerhill Shines on First Day of Goffs November Sale

According to psychological studies it takes just seven seconds to make a first impression, with the human brain assessing a myriad gestures, images and signals within a matter of moments before reaching its conclusion.

On the opening day of the Goffs November Foal Sale Nov. 14, Joey Lyons' Summerhill Stables definitely made the right synapses light up in buyers' brains as the 27-year-old from County Meath sold her first two foals under her own steam, including one of the highlights of the session.

Lyons consigned a Kodi Bear  filly (Lot 159) whose dam, Armum, is a Society Rock  half sister to Ardad , the Pepsi Max Flying Childers (G2) and Windsor Castle Stakes winner who sired Perfect Power  in his first crop. She was bought by Tally-Ho Stud, breeders of Ardad and Perfect Power, for €62,000 (US$64,170).

The April-born filly was just the second foal to go through the ring under the Summerhill Stables banner, following an Elzaam  filly (Lot 66) knocked down to Nenthorne Farm for €18,000 ($18,630) earlier in the session.

It's a stunning start to life as a consignor for Lyons, but one she has been preparing for over a long time, starting off on yard duties as soon as she was old enough for Collegelands Stud, owned by her cousins Austin and Ciara Lyons.

They are all members of Meath footballing royalty as Joey Lyons' father Padraic and uncle Mick won All-Ireland medals in the green and gold, with Mick earning All-Star honors. They are no slouches when it comes to breeding either, as Padraic bred the Beverly D. Stakes (G1T) winner of 2015 Watsdachances .

Lyons was quick to dispel any hint of a family rift as she explained how Summerhill Stables came into existence.

"I started off with Ciara when I was old enough and was her top raking person!" Lyons smiled. "I graduated to leading up the foals when I was old enough and did the foal sales with Ciara, which was brilliant.

"My dad and uncle sold the foals through Collegelands, but when COVID-19 hit, I came home and discovered that there was enough work on the farm to keep me there full-time.

"I wanted to stand on my own two feet, and my dad and uncle said they would back me, and that's how I got started. There was no falling out in the family or anything at all; I just wanted to go out and try it myself."

A graduate of the Irish National Stud course, Lyons approached Bill Dwan, whose own farm is about 20 minutes away from her home, and completed her first yearling prep for the Castlebridge scion.

"From that first prep with Bill, I was hooked," she exclaimed. "They come in so raw, and by the end they are transformed. I had never experienced that before, as we only deal with foals."

From there, she went to Sledmere in Australia for yearling prep, returning to Dwan's farm for the northern hemisphere season before going back down under, this time to Waikato Stud in New Zealand, where she was assistant yearling manager.

She has also done breeze up sales with Tally-Ho Stud, where the importance of a strong team made an impression on her.

"I was nervous this morning before the Elzaam filly sold because you don't want to start off on the wrong foot, but Gary Carroll bought her for €18,000, which was a great start," she said. "The Kodi Bear filly had about 200 shows yesterday, and for Tally-Ho to buy her is fantastic."

Lyons' nerves will be jangling even more on Tuesday as she offers a trio of foals, including a Mehmas  colt (Lot 298) out of Munaasaba, who is a half sister to the 2021 Commonwealth Cup (G1) and Darley Prix Morny - Finale des Darley Series (G1) in 2020 heroine Campanelle . That Kodiac  filly sold for $5 million at The November Sale, Fasig-Tipton's marquee breeding stock sale near Lexington, last week to M.V. Magnier.

Saxon Warrior Wins Opening Salvo 

Three of the top four prices Monday were for foals by Saxon Warrior , who sired Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) winner Victoria Road  in his first crop.

That thrilling narrow success for the Ballydoyle colt at Keeneland undoubtedly boosted the profile of the QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas (G1) and Racing Post Trophy Stakes (G1) winner at the perfect time, heading into the foal sales with his third crop.

There was a strong link between Victoria Road and the session-topping colt at Goffs as Ballyhimikin Stud, who consigned Victoria Road as a yearling on behalf of Trevor Stewart, was the purchaser of Woodleigh Stables' chestnut colt (Lot 231) out of Gravity Queen at €88,000 ($91,080).

Offered by Kildallan Farm, the late-February-born colt is out of an unraced Holy Roman Emperor  sister to listed Prix de Pontarme second Impendor  from the Juddmonte family of Interval and Zambezi Sun .

Rochestown Lodge Stud offered a Saxon Warrior colt (Lot 135), the first foal out of Zagharit, a winning Sir Percy  half sister to the Scandinavian group 3-placed filly Inaya, and he was bought by the noted judges and breeders Paul and Marie McCartan of Ballyphilip Stud for €62,000 ($64,170).

The PR duties were left to Marie, who said: "We are delighted to get him and he will be for resale as a yearling. Saxon Warrior has made a great start to his stud career with a Breeders' Cup winner and all we need now is a bit of luck."

The son of Deep Impact  was the toast of the sales, with all four of the colts by the impeccably bred grandson of Galileo selling. Their average on Monday was €65,000 ($67,275), more than four times the average of the sale as a whole.

Fine and Dandy for Stauffenberg 

Saxon Warrior's grip on the top of the table was interrupted by Dandy Man , with the Ballyhane Stud stalwart siring Forenaghts Stud's filly (Lot 162) out of the winning Sea The Stars  mare Astonished. She became the day's most expensive filly foal with her €85,000 ($87,975) purchase by Philipp Stauffenberg.

Astonished was trained by James Tate for Saeed Manana to win two of her six starts and is a daughter of Michael Ryan's listed Trigo Stakes third An Saincheann , by Dylan Thomas , from the family of Coronation Stakes (G1) winner of 2005, Maids Causeway .

Caoimhe Doherty, manager of Forenaghts Stud, spoke afterwards about the sale.

She said: "Dermot Cantillon bought her for Tony and Sharon Smurfit for 60,000gns, which was a little over budget, and Tony said to him, 'I'm astonished that you got her at that price.' She continued to astonish last year—we got €160,000 for her Night of Thunder  foal and her Dandy Man filly just made €85,000 so we are delighted."

Despite being by two quite different sires, Doherty has seen a lot of Astonished in both of her foals.

"She has only had two foals, but the one thing we have seen with them is they are both carbon copies of each other with great size, great scope with substance and bone," she said.

"She won over seven furlongs and one mile and is probably on the sharper side for a Sea The Stars mare. She throws a cracking foal and we have been well paid for them."

Stauffenberg was in the market for Dandy Man foals, and added Kellsgrange Stud's colt (Lot 230) out of a half sister to the dam of Tiger Tanaka  for €55,000 ($56,925).

Statistics 

Trade on Monday was on par with the opening day of the 2021 sale, with 172 youngsters of the 224 offered finding new homes, producing a clearance rate of 77%.

That generated turnover of €3,514,000 ($3,636,990), which was a slight increase of 3% on the equivalent day last year, with the average climbing by 6% to €20,430 ($21,145) from €19,276 ($19,950). The median went in the opposite direction, recording a three-point dip from €16,000 ($16,560) to €15,500 ($16,042)

The sale continues Nov. 15 with the second session of foals at 10 a.m. local time.