Frankel Fever To Continue At Goffs

FRANKEL FEVER TO CONTINUE AT GOFFS 
By Kelsey Riley 
Goffs became the first auction house to offer a foal by the unbeaten superstar Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) when selling the stakes-producing Crystal Gaze (Ire) (Rainbow Quest), with her Frankel colt by her side, to MV Magnier for £1.15 million at is inaugural Goffs London Sale in June. Less than a month later, Frankel fever continued halfway around the world when a filly out of Goodwood March (GB) (Foxhound) commanded ¥96,000,000 (US$941,177) at the JRHA Foal Sale. 

Next week, Goffs will become the first European auction house to offer weanlings by Frankel when it sends six youngsters by the dual Cartier Horse of the Year through the ring at its November Foal Sale, which runs Nov. 17 to 20. The Frankel foals–four fillies and two colts–will all be offered on the final day. 

The first crop of Frankel will no doubt spark a frenzy that hasn’t been seen since the first progeny of dual Classic and G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero Sea the Stars (Ire) went through the ring in 2011. 

Should anyone require a refresher, Frankel went undefeated in 14 starts between 2010 and 2012 for owner/breeder Khalid Abdullah and trainer Sir Henry Cecil. The bay capped his juvenile campaign with a victory in Newmarket’s G1 Dewhurst S., and blitzed the opposition by six front-running lengths in the G1 2000 Guineas the following spring. Frankel added the G1 St James’s Palace S., G1 Sussex S. and G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. as a sophomore, and after collecting three subsequent Group 1 miles at four–including the G1 Queen Anne S. by 11 lengths–Frankel successfully stepped up to 10 1/2 furlongs to win the G1 Juddmonte International by seven lengths. He capped his career with a victory over Cirrus des Aigles (Fr) (Even Top {Ire}) in the G1 Champion S. over 10 furlongs on British Champions day at Ascot. Other Group 1 winners conquered by Frankel include Canford Cliffs (Ire) (Tagula {Ire}), Nathaniel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Excelebration (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), Roderic O’Connor (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Farhh (GB) (Pivotal {GB}). Frankel’s Queen Anne demolition earned him a Timeform rating of 147–the highest mark ever assigned by that organization in its near 70 years of existence. 

Frankel has unsurprisingly attracted stellar books his first two seasons at Juddmonte’s Banstead Manor Stud in Newmarket, where he has stood the past three seasons for £125,000. In his first two seasons, 89% of the mares Frankel covered were black-type producers or performers. His first book included 61 Group 1 winners or producers. Frankel’s first in-foal mares were a hit at last year’s breeding stock sales; three at Goffs averaged €750,000, while seven sold at Tattersalls December for an average of 1.013 million guineas, led by the 4 million guineas Dancing Rain (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). 

European shoppers will have their first opportunity to scoop up Frankel weanlings at the Kill Paddocks Nov. 20. Al-Eile Stud offers a filly out of champion and dual Classic winner Finsceal Beo (Ire) (Mr. Greeley) as lot 897. The chestnut is a half-sister to last year’s €2.85 million Goffs Orby sale-topper and subsequent G2 Beresford S. winner Ol’ Man River (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), as well as Too The Stars (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), who realized €800,000 at this sale in 2011. 

Ballylinch Stud presents lot 886, a half-sister to French Group 3 winner US Law (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}) from the immediate family of Group 1 winners Pharaoh’s Delight (GB) (Fairy King) and Red Rocks (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Airlie Stud bringslot 885, a daughter of multiple group winner Discreet Brief (Ire) (Darshaan {GB}) and a half to G2 Royal Lodge S. winner Steeler (Ire) (Raven’s Pass). Barronstown Stud has lot 912A, a filly out of Guessing. The filly’s dam is a daughter of champion and dual Classic winner Imagine (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells), and half-sister to Group 1 winner Horatio Nelson (Giant’s Causeway) and Group 2 winners Viscount Nelson (Giant’s Causeway) and Kitty Matcham (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}). It is also the family of G1 Epsom Derby winner Generous (Ire) (Caerleon) and sprint champion Moonlight Cloud (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). Finally, Friarstown Stud offers two: lot 800, a daughter of Song (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells) who was purchased for €1 million in utero from the Paulyn Dispersal at GoffsNovember a year ago. Song is a full-sister to Classic winner Yesterday (Ire) and champion Quarter Moon (Ire) and lot 938, a colt out G1 E.P. Taylor S. heroine Lahaleeb (Ire) (Redback {GB}). 

Micheal Ryan of Al-Eile Stud, which bought Finsceal Beo for €340,000 as a Goffs Orby yearling and has sold both her foals through the Kildare auction house, noted that he decided to sell that three-time Group 1 winner’s latest produce as a foal in order to capitalize on the hype of Frankel’s first crop, as he did with her elder Sea the Stars half-sister Too The Stars (Ire), who broke her maiden at Epsom in September. Too The Stars was one of a pair by her sire to sell for €800,000 at this sale in 2011, and a third, an as-yet unraced colt, fetched €850,000, an Irish record for a weanling. 
Ryan noted that Finsceal Beo’s current foal resembles both her mother and her half-brother Ol’ Man River, the current second choice for next year’s G1 Investec Derby. 

“She’s a lovely, racy type,” Ryan said. “She’s a very similar makeup to the Montjeu [Ol’ Man River], but looks a bit more like the mother. She has a lovely temperament.” 

Friarstown’s John Egan noted he is “very pleased” with his two Frankel foals that will be sold at Goffs. 
“They’re both fantastic looking foals, and great walkers,” he added. 

While the filly out of Song boasts a pedigree that suggests she could be highly sought after as a broodmare prospect, the colt out of Lahaleeb also hails from a strong female family. Friarstown bought back Lahaleeb’s Galileo yearling colt for 1.2 million guineas at Tattersalls October last year, and the nursery also took home her Sea the Stars yearling filly for 300,000gns at the same sale last month. 

“I think the colt will really turns heads,” Egan said. “He’s outstanding, but the filly has all the residual value in the world. It will be very exciting–I’m looking forward to getting them in there.” 

Song is back in foal to Dubawi (Ire) and will be offered by Friarstown at the Goffs November Breeding Stock sale. 
Goffs Chief Executive Henry Beeby noted that recruiting Frankel foals was a specific initiative taken on by the Goffs team. 

“We went out specifically to target Frankel foals–we did some very specific direct marketing to the people who had the foals,” Beeby explained. “We used our enormous success with the first-crop Sea the Stars foals to demonstrate that if we were given the opportunity we’d deliver. Happily, the breeders who have supported us listened to that and believed in it too.” 

Of the sextet of Frankel foals assembled for Goffs, Beeby said, “They are bred in the purple–every one of them is a potential sale topper. On paper, the Finsceal Beo is a mega standout. We had enormous success selling the Sea the Stars–Finsceal Beo for a huge price at the time, Ol’ Man River as a yearling, and now this filly. I’d be very hopeful they’d sell very well. There are a number of end users coming to the sale, so we’ve sort of built the sale around that.” 
Beeby noted the Frankel foals he has seen appear to have a few common traits. 

“They all have great walks, the ones I’ve seen, and they all have wonderful temperaments,” he said. “The one at [Goffs London] was pulled out of a field five or six days before the sale, and he showed like a professional. He showed like a yearling–it was amazing.” 

Beeby said he attended a parade of Frankel foals at Banstead Manor earlier this year, where the 10 youngsters shown all reflected those same qualities. 

“They all walked up and down beautifully, impeccably,” he said. “And they had wonderful temperaments and lovely, strong swinging walks. They’re a beautiful bunch.” 

While the Frankel offerings will no doubt be star attractions, there is much more to look forward to in the foal sale catalogue. Two foals by Frankel’s superstar sire Galileo are set to go under the hammer: lot 787, a filly out of G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Saoire (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and a half-sister to stakes winner Requisition (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and lot 826, a half-sister to dual Group 1-winning miler Toronado (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) whose dam is a half-sister to G1 Racing Post Trophy victor Casamento (Ire) (Shamardal). 

“It’s important to remember we have two impeccably bred Galileo’s as well,” Beeby said. “The Galileo sister to Toronado is a potential sale-topper at any sale in the world. The Saoire is by Galileo out of a Classic winner, so they don’t come much better than that.” 

Beeby continued, “If you just take those eight foals, then you’ve got some Sea the Stars’, Nathaniel’s, Invincible Spirit’s, Lope De Vega’s and some other really well-bred horses, I would say the Goffs November Foal Sale is the measure of any foal sale anywhere.” 

Frankel isn’t the only luminary of his generation to be represented by his first crop. Nathaniel, who was beaten a half-length in second by Frankel on both their career debuts and went on to win the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II S. and G1 Coral-Eclipse, has three catalogued at Goffs. Nathaniel stands at Newsells Park Stud in Britain. Excelebration, a resident at Coolmore in Ireland, finished second or third to Frankel in four Group 1s prior to winning the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois and smashing the opposition in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. He has six catalogued. Other sires represented by their first foals include Group 1 winners Casamento, Fame and Glory (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}), Foxwedge (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), Helmet (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), Power (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), Rio De La Plata (Rahy), Sans Frontieres (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Sepoy (Aus) (Elusive Quality) and So You Think (NZ) (High Chaparral {Ire}). 

Commenting on the strength of the new sire crop, Beeby reflected, “There were a lot of first-season sires that have done very well with their first runners this year. There seems to be a wider cross-section of very successful first-season sires this year than in a long time.” 

He added, “To get a couple of Nathaniels to travel has been great. They’ll stand out, and we’re delighted to have them.”