Goffs Orby Gets Underway In Ireland

Ireland is enjoying something of an Indian summer this week, ensuring a positive mood among prospective buyers and vendors alike as just short of 500 yearlings for the Goffs Orby sale have been scrutinized in the sun over the last few days.

As highlighted by Bill Oppenheim in yesterday’s TDN, the Orby Sale aggregate has risen by 41% in the last two years, with the Goffs team working hard to attract an international buying bench. Its positioning a week ahead of the Tattersalls October Sale, with the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe an enticing filling in the sandwich, offers overseas buyers a worthwhile whistlestop tour of Europe’s elite sales and best day’s racing and, judging from the various faces to be seen in Kill, plenty have again made the trip.

Among those viewing yearlings on Monday were plenty of Americans, including Claiborne’s Walker Hancock and Bernie Sams, Gatewood Bell, Shaun Dugan, Jason Litt and Jak Knelman. Last year’s leading buyer Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum–who took home eight yearlings for €3.4 million–has long been a staunch supporter of Goffs and he was again patrolling the sales grounds with his team from Shadwell.

The Orby Sale has had a particularly good run with Classic-winning fillies of late, with notable graduates such as Dancing Rain (Ire), Just The Judge (Ire) and Sky Lantern (Ire). This year’s G1 Irish Oaks winner Covert Love (Ire) failed to find a buyer when paraded here two years ago, but her success this year for Hugo Palmer and the FOMO Syndicate will ensure that the sole offering by her late sire Azamour (Ire) is not overlooked. The Airlie Stud-consigned filly is lot 229 and is out of the Kingmambo mare Kincob, making her a half-sister to the listed winner and Group 3-placed Gemstone (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). The family also includes G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Bachelor Duke.

Almost €39 million changed hands at last year’s sale for 356 yearlings sold from a slightly smaller catalogue than for this year’s renewal. Top honors went to Jim Bolger’s Redmonstown Stud, which sold a Galileo (Ire) colt–a brother to G1 1000 Guineas runner-up Cuis Ghaire (Ire) now named The Major General (Ire) and owned by Sue Magnier–for €1.5 million.

The County Wexford-based farm has no Galileo yearlings in its draft this year, but instead offers six yearlings by his sons New Approach (Ire) and Teofilo

(Ire)–the latter one of two Darley stallions to have been born and raised at Redmonstown. The other is New Approach’s son, Dawn Approach (Ire), whose full-sister appears as lot 201. Its a family that continues to throw up high-class winners for Bolger. Another full-brother, Herald The Dawn (Ire), won the G2 Futurity S. in August before finishing runner-up to Air Force Blue (Ire) in the G1 National S. on Irish Champions weekend, while half-sister Fainne (Ire) is responsible for last weekend’s G3 Somerville Tattersall S. victor Sanus Per Aquam (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}).

Referring to the late May foal out of prized mare Hymn Of The Dawn, Redmonstown Stud manager Ken Bolger said, “She’s the image of the mare. She’s taken it all very well because she’s been very busy over the last few days.” He added, “We’ve been delighted with the results this season–the colt [Sanus Per Aquam] winning in England at the weekend was fantastic. We’ve become a bit more commercially-minded and instead of racing everything we’ve been bringing youngstock to the sales. The last few years have been a dream come true with Teofilo and New Approach. Jim was behind Galileo from day one. He had great belief in him from the start.”

Of course the offspring of another son of Galileo, Frankel (GB), will garner plenty of interest over the coming fortnight, with six set to go under the hammer in the next 48 hours at Goffs.

Noel O’Callaghan’s Mountarmstrong Stud has just one yearling on offer this week but she’s a fine one, being by Frankel out of the champion racemare Alexander Goldrun (Ire) (Gold Away {Ire}), whose own achievements on the track take up plenty of space on the catalogue page. The mare has visited Galileo twice since retiring to stud and her third foal, a March-born bay filly, should provide an early highlight for the sale when she passes through the ring as lot 23. She has been the subject of plenty of praise this week.

Another Irish farm to have enjoyed cheering home a stakes-winning graduate in recent weeks is the Fagan family’s Deerpark Stud, whose Kodiac (Ire) filly Shaden (Ire) won the G3 Firth Of Clyde S. for Lady Cecil on Sept. 19. Shaden’s dam, Lady Avenger (Ire) (Namid {GB}), has no yearling this year, but Shaden’s full-sister heads to the December Foal Sale at Tattersalls. Meanwhile, Deerpark offers two pinhooked fillies on the second day of Orby, daughters of Pour Moi (Ire) (lot 442) and Excelebration (Ire) (lot 471), the latter being the first foal of the unraced Tragic Moment, a sister to dual listed winner Il Warrd (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}).

The Orby Sale begins Tuesday at 10 a.m., and continues Wednesday at the same time. For the catalogue, results and live streaming, visit www.goffs.com.