Cover image courtesy of Goffs
At A Glance
Day three of the Goffs Foal Sale was up 47 per cent on the same day in 2023 with gross sales of €18,246,500 (AU$29.5 million) for 158 lots sold.
The average for the session was up 61 per cent on the same session in 2023 at €115,485 (AU$186,000).
Wednesday’s median of €82,000 (AU$133,000) was up 64 per cent on the previous year.
Wednesday’s median of €82,000 (AU$133,000) was up 64 per cent on the previous year.
Across all three days, trade has been strong with €30 million (AU$49 million) sold to date with one more day of selling to come with an average of €57,384 (AU$92,000) across all 534 horses sold.
If there is one criticism about this bloodstock game of ours, it's the fact that we never seem to need a second invitation for a backslap and oftentimes we can portray things as being rosey in the garden when the opposite may well be true. Not at Goffs on Wednesday where the highest-ever turnover, average and median was achieved at the November Foal Sale.
Even the biggest of hitters in this business, like Coolmore's MV Magnier and Baroda Stud boss David Cox, admitted to being genuinely bowled over not only by the demand for foals at Kildare Paddocks, but by the huge cohort of young pinhookers and traders who rolled up their sleeves and got in on the action.
Yulong sells top priced colt
It was David Cox’s Baroda Stud who sold the most expensive foal through the ring at Goffs on Wednesday, a Sea The Stars (Ire) colt that went the way to Godolphin for €1 million (AU$1.62 million). A brother to Group 1 winner Teona (Ire), he was sold on behalf of Yuesheng Zhang's Yulong operation, who sourced the dam (Ambivalent {Ire}, herself a Group 2 winner) carrying the foal at Tattersalls last December for 925,000gns (AU$1.9 million).
Lot 566 - Sea The Stars (Ire) x Teona (Ire) (colt) | Image courtesy of Goffs
It was a result befitting of what has been extraordinary trade and Cox, not a man who goes all soppy easily, said he was blown away by the level of trade at every level this week.
Speaking about the top lot, he said, “When you get a foal that looks like he does, with his quality, strength and movement, and then you x-ray him a week before the sale and find out he's clean and has a good scope, it's some relief. You come here thinking you have a chance of having the best foal in the sale. When I got here, it was pretty evident after a couple of days that we did have the best foal in the sale.”
“When I got here, it was pretty evident after a couple of days that we did have the best foal (Sea The Stars x Teona colt) in the sale.” - David Cox
It was Anthony Stroud, bidding on behalf of Godolphin, who saw off another powerhouse owner-breeder in Juddmonte for the blue chip colt. Stroud commented, “He is a very nice individual (who) walked very well. (He has) a lot of presence and a lot of body. He is by Sea The Stars who is a Derby winner and he is out of a Group winner who has produced a Group 1 winner. All of the stars aligned. He has a wonderful temperament. We looked at him on many occasions and saw him in the pre parade ring and he was very relaxed. The pedigree and the conformation matched together. I think, from that point of view, he's a horse who will complement our homebreds. It (the market) looks very competitive. Prices are good and people are getting well paid if they have a nice horse.”
Anthony Stroud bid on behalf of Godolphin | Image courtesy of Goffs
The fact that two major outfits locked horns on the colt came as a relief to Cox who admitted to being unsure how to price the top lot prior to the sale. He also went on to offer his tuppence worth as to why he thinks foal buyers turned out in their droves at Goffs this week.
He said, “It was hard to price him and I'm delighted that Juddmonte and Godolphin took each other on and that he made his money. Fair play to Mr Zhang, Paul Curran and Vin Cox, they have supported us and that's the second millionaire we've had for them this year. We sold a Frankel at Tattersalls earlier on in the year to Amo Racing and, as I said, we're grateful for the support.
“Mr Zhang paid 925,000gns (AU$1.89 million) for the mare and they've got their money back with one foal. She's back in foal to Sea The Stars and is carrying a colt. This sale gives them options. It's a worldwide operation and, with Vin leading the charge and Paul looking after Europe, they buy and sell mares, foals and yearlings.”
Baroda’s David Cox on the strength of the market
On the market, Cox continued, “Goffs is especially unique to any other sales house and maybe it's an Irish thing as well. We've all grown up with ponies and are a bit closer to farm life than the English. There are more people involved with horses in Ireland and, every year, I see new faces all with the same dream of buying a foal and turning it into money as a yearling. That's what keeps the game going at the middle to lower levels. This year, we had foals there with 150 first shows. I mean, the dream is really alive the further you are from putting on the saddle! You get to the yearling sales and it narrows (the amount of buyers) and then on to the breeze-ups it's narrower again. Like, we'd an ordinary foal the other day with 130 first shows. He wasn't a good-looking foal so he didn't get many second looks but for him to get that many first shows was amazing and illustrates just how many people were here this week. I think it's something that English people must be worried about. They don't seem to have as many young people coming through in the game as we do in Ireland. It's the same with staff. When you go to the sales in America or Australia, you see all the Irish faces working the sales. We're very close to the horse and are exporting a lot of good horse people as well as horses.”
“There are more people involved with horses in Ireland and, every year, I see new faces all with the same dream of buying a foal and turning it into money as a yearling.” - David Cox
There is still one more day of foals on Thursday, but at the close of play on Wednesday, Baroda Stud had netted €1,618,000 (AU$2.6 million) for 17 lots sold. The Sea The Stars became the second millionaire lot the outfit sold in 2024 following on from the 1.1 million gns (AU$2.26 million) sale of the Frankel (GB) colt to Amo Racing at Book 1 last month. Of course, days like Wednesday are tinged with sadness given David's Dad Dermot passed away earlier this summer.
David Cox | Image courtesy of Goffs
Cox concluded, “We were involved in the Niarchos dispersal last year and I can remember thinking, 'how are we going to find another millionaire horse?' It's happened twice this year and it was days like this where I'd get the text off Dad saying 'well done'. I miss those texts. I'd a point-to-pointer who sold well last week and I know he'd have been on the phone straight away after that. Days like that are tough. But look, it's been a good year business wise and we have a great team with Padraic Gahan, Noel McDonnell and all the staff. It's a travelling circus, really, and we're on the road the whole time.”
Magnier: 'It's great to see the amount of young people coming into the business'
MV Magnier echoed Cox's sentiments regarding the vibrancy of the sales ground this week after signing for a Camelot (GB) half-brother to Mother Earth (Ire) from Grenane House Stud for €420,000 (AU$680,000). It's been an amazing year for the stallion, who deserved his €25,000 (AU$40,500) bump to a 2025 covering fee of €75,000 (AU$121,900) after a slew of high-class winners, most notably with G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Bluestocking (GB).
Magnier commented, “He's a very nice horse. Sure Mother Earth was one of those special fillies and Camelot is enjoying the best year he's had since he's gone to stud. In fairness, Adrian and Mark (Wallace) have been great supporters of ours and we're just delighted to be able to support them. Mother Earth has a Frankel foal at foot and is in foal to Justify. The Camelots have been selling well all year and he's just gone into that elite status now. He can get you a high-class Classic type of horse.”
MV Magnier | Image courtesy of Goffs
On trade, he added, “It really is fantastic how it has gone from Monday, Tuesday - the whole way through. From the lesser foals up to the better bred horses on Wednesday, it really has been very strong. The best thing about it is the amount of young people around here. That's the best sign - the amount of young people coming into the business. It's a great thing to see and, in fairness to Goffs, they have been encouraging these young lads and girls to buy horses. It can't always be about us old lads anymore!”
Youth isn’t wastest on the young
At just 30 years of age, Adam Morgan of Greenville House Stud ranks as one of the youngest vendors on the sales circuit. Youth proved no barrier to success as Morgan enjoyed a banner sale with three six-figure lots - a Lope De Vega (Ire) filly to Newtown Anner Stud for €450,000 (AU$729,000), a Blue Point (Ire) colt to Sumbe for €320,000 (AU$518,000) and a Mehmas (Ire) colt to Katsumi Yoshida for €100,000 (AU$162,000) - going through the ring within the space of just 20 lots of each other. Indeed, Morgan was destined to make it in this business. The son of Isaac, who bred Fast Company (Ire), Morgan spent time working at Rathasker Stud and clearly wasn't walking around with his eyes closed.
He commented, “It's only a small farm at home and we try to do the simple things right. We're just lucky that breeders and owners have stuck by us and sent us good stock. Dad (Isaac) bred Fast Company while my aunt (Mary Morgan) bred (Cheltenham Festival winner) Shattered Love. We've been quite lucky with our breeding. The broodmare band has always been quite small at home. I spent time with Maurice Burns and I learned a lot there.”
He added, “We never expected what happened here today. The footfall has been crazy and it's only when you come out the other side of the ring when you realise how good of a horse you had.”
“We never expected what happened here (selling for €450,000 (AU$729,000)) today. The footfall has been crazy and it's only when you come out the other side of the ring when you realise how good of a horse (Lot 574) you had.” - Adam Morgan
The Lope De Vega rightly created the biggest stir. Out of proven producer Ayr Missile (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}), who is the dam of two high-class horses by Bungle Inthejungle (GB), Lot 574 was very much the jewel in Greenville's crown.
Morgan said, “Patrick Burns owns Ayr Missile. She wasn't an expensive mare and he sent her to Bungle Inthejungle and she came up with Living In The Past and then Jungle Drums won a Listed race earlier this year. It's just been a very lucky family for him and he bought her Lope De Vega. It was an end user's foal. A lot of the pinhookers wanted to get her but, at the end of the day, she's a breeding prospect. You dream of these sorts of things.”
Lot 574 - Lope De Vega (Ire) x Ayr Missile (filly) | Image courtesy of Goffs
He added, “We were very busy. Some people were left waiting a little longer than they should have but the staff we have are excellent and all of the buyers were very understanding. A special thanks must go to my partner Jillian Murphy who plays a massive role in the operation. She's a massive part of my life and what she does for me.
“I think everyone has been very happy with the trade overall. In other years, there might be some people who had a good sale but they'll say it was great. Others will have had a bad sale and they might say it was fine. But I do think across the board that everyone has got their fair share of money. It's been a great week.”
