Big Week Ahead At New Look November Sale

Action at day one of the new look Goffs November Foal Sale kicks off today at 10 a.m. with 279 foals catalogued for the first session of a three-day Part 1 sale of foals. On Thursday the focus then switches to breeding stock with two days of fillies and mares before Part 2 of the foal sale resumes on Saturday and Sunday. Trade is likely to heat up a lot quicker with this new format as the foals with the strongest pedigrees are brought to the market in the first three days as opposed to the last three days in previous years. At last year's sale foals from the Wildenstein Dispersal provided the top three prices headed by a daughter of Siyouni (Fr) and Amerique (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) that sold to Shadwell for €775,000 and while the absence of such a famed draft this time around will make it a challenge to match that figure there is enough sire power represented throughout the week to suggest trade will be brisk. High end investors have a couple of opportunities to acquire a daughter of the mighty Galileo (Ire), the first chance presenting itself early on Wednesday when lot 541 steps into the ring. This daughter of Inca Princess (Ire) Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) is a full-sister to Group 1 winner Johannes Vermeer (Ire) and also Group 2 winner Elizabeth Browning (Ire) who made 700,000 gns in Newmarket last month.

The Castlebridge Consignment offer each of the Galileo foals and lot 732 offers international appeal being a daughter of Fix (NZ) (Iffraaj {GB}), a multiple graded stakes winner in New Zealand who was also Group 1 placed.

While the pedigrees on offer strengthen throughout part one, some that may prove popular on Monday include lot 258, a son of Ballyhane Stud's Dandy Man (Ire). The colt, offered by Ardrums House Stud is a half-brother to the stakes winner Lily's Rainbow (Ire) (Intikhab) and the pedigree got a recent boost when the foal's 2-year-old full sister Julia's Magic (Ire) broke her maiden at Dundalk Nov. 10. The filly was the subject of a glowing reference from her trainer Denise Foster after the race who commented, “dare I say it, I think she's better than Lily's Rainbow.”

A number of stallions are represented with their first crop of foals and one of these Cable Bay (Ire) is the sire of lot 193, a filly with an international pedigree whose first generation features stakes winners or performers in Ireland, Australia, America and Japan, headed by Dariana (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}), winner of the G1 Queensland Derby in Australia in 2010. A half-sister to a group 1 winner will always command a premium and lot 118 is just that as the daughter of Epaulette (Aus) is a half-sister to GI EP Taylor S. winner Folk Opera (Ire) (Singspiel {Ire}) who also won the G2 Prix Jean Romanet in France.

Other stallions with their first crop of foals on offer include Anjaal (GB), Brazen Beau (Aus), Capella Sansevero (GB), Due Diligence, Free Eagle (Ire), French Navy (GB), Fulbright (GB), G Force (Ire), Gleneagles (Ire), Golden Horn (GB), Gutaifan (Ire), Hallowed Crown (Aus), Hot Streak (Ire), Ivawood (Ire), Kingston Hill (GB), Make Believe (GB), Muhaarar (GB), Night Of Thunder (Ire), Outstrip (GB) and Shooting To Win (Aus). How the progeny of these are received by buyers and pinhookers will lead to an anxious week for many breeders and stallion masters while the general health of the bloodstock industry will once again be tested as the week progresses.