Heeraat Colt Tops Silver Sale

The name of first-season sire Heeraat (Ire) was among the top lots at Goffs UK's Premier sale on Wednesday when Shadwell shelled out £150,000 for one of his colts, and Heeraat was at the top once again at that sales company's Silver yearling sale on Thursday when his colt from Egmont Stud (lot 544) topped trade at £48,000. The first foal out of the unraced Ringtail (Street Cry {Ire}) was bought by Peter and Ross Doyle, and was making a significant improvement on his €17,000 foal purchase price. Heeraat, a Group 3-winning sprinter for Sheikh Hamdan, stands at Mickley Stud for £4,000.

An important trend from the record-breaking Premier sale was the high clearance rate, and that continued on Thursday with 87% of the 137 offerings sold. The aggregate for 120 sold was £1,411,500 compared to 114 sold for £1,256,500 last year. The averaged climbed 6.7% to £11,763, while the median jumped 42.9% to £10,000.

Havana Gold (Ire) has made a fast start to his stud career this year and sits behind only the late Society Rock (Ire) on the European first-season sires table. The Tweenhills resident was responsible for the second-top lot on Thursday, Furnace Mill Stud's lot 577, who was sold to Howson and Houldsworth Bloodstock for £45,000.

Goffs UK Managing Director Tony Williams said upon the conclusion of trade, “The 'Donny yearling' is proving as popular as ever, as witnessed earlier this week at the Premier Sale, and to see that demand continue into today's Silver Sale is excellent as proven by a high 87% clearance rate and a 43% increase in median. We saw plenty of major owners and trainers stay for today's sale and a number of new faces arrive from throughout Europe and that created a good buying bench, a good atmosphere and is certainly a great sign for this budding sale. This sale has consistently produced quality horses, the most obvious being Quiet Reflection but more recently Fashion Queen and the promising stakes winning 2-year-old Raydiance, and we wish all our buyers the very best of luck with their purchases. We would also like to extend our thank you to all our consignors who offered horses today.”