Goffs

A half-sister to live Gold Cup contender Gerri Colombe (Fr) (Saddler Maker {Ire}) and a winning daughter of wondermare Quevega (Fr) (Robin Des Champs {Fr}) are some of the standouts on show at the two-day Goffs February Sale which kicks off on Wednesday at Kildare Paddocks.  Princess Vega (Ire) (Beat Hollow {GB}), winner of a Tramore bumper for Willie Mullins, will be sold in foal to Walk In The Park (Ire). As well as being a daughter of the six-time Cheltenham festival heroine Quevega, she is also a half-sister to...

Top breeze-up handlers Antonio Da Silva and Nikki Scallan of A&N Bloodstock had a lucky escape on Friday evening when, the horse box that they were driving on the way home from Dundalk races caught fire with the Jenny Lynch-trained Late Night Talking (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) inside it.  But for their quick thinking, the couple's Late Night Talking, who had finished third in the mile maiden just a few hours earlier, could have met a horrific end when the vehicle burst into flames on the M50 motorway in Dublin.  Sharing...

The initial races nominated as part of the Goffs €50,000 Bonus Series for horses purchased at last year's Goffs Orby Book 1 and 2 Sales have been released along with the publication of the Flat programme for 2024.  The bonus series carries a maximum prize fund of €500,000 and will see up to 10 bonuses of €50,000 paid to the winning connections of a diverse programme of juvenile races throughout Ireland this year. The Goffs €50,000 Bonuses, part of the Goffs Two Million Series, is open to two-year-olds who were...

The ITBA, in conjunction with the ITBA Next Generation committee, will host a Flat Breeding Seminar on Tuesday, February 6 ahead of the start of the Goffs February Sale the following day. Entitled 'Flat Breeding for the Modern Marketplace'will get underway at 6pm in the Goffs sale ring. Industry experts Cathal Beale, CEO of the Irish National Stud, Helena Burns of Anglesey Lodge Equine Hospital and Loughtown Stud, Dermot Cantillon of Tinnakill House Stud, bloodstock agent Matt Coleman and Juddmonte Ireland's general manager Barry Mahon will join a panel hosted...

Never has the demand to get horses into the breeze-up sales in Europe been higher. It begs the question; how do the big sales companies limit their catalogues?  Inspectors from Tattersalls, Arqana and Goffs have been out in force in recent weeks trawling through the breeze-up consignors' barns to come up with their shortlists.  According to Harry Fowler, one of the main inspectors at Goffs, entries for the company's only breeze-up sale have sky-rocketed this year. With most of the viewing done at this stage, the Goffs inspectors will meet...

A pair of colts led the proceedings with £68,000 final bids at Tuesday's Goffs UK January Sale in Doncaster. Little Lodge Farm was responsible for the leading colts, headed by lot 91, a May 17 foal by Vadamos (Fr) out of Banjaxed Girl (GB) (King's Theatre). Purchased by Brook Lodge Farm, the bay is a half-brother to Grade 3-winner Le Milos (GB) (Shirocco {Ger}) and listed scorer and graded-placed Kid Commando (GB) (Robin des Champs {Fr}). Later in the session, Rathmore Stud also offered £68,000 for lot 140, a colt...

A total of 149 lots, including dispersals from Irish point-to-point trainer Ellmarie Holden and from Whitewall Stables, were catalogued for the Goffs January Sale at Doncaster on Jan. 23. Featuring 81 NH weanlings, 20 NH mares and 48 horses-in-training, yearlings and 2-year-olds, the sale will begin at 10 a.m. Some of the lots on offer are lot 84, a Nathaniel (Ire) half-brother to Grade 1 winner Athena Du Berlais (Fr) (Martaline {GB}); a son of that Newsells Park Stud-based sire and the Grade 1 winner Black Tears (GB) (Jeremy) (lot...

The Tattersalls December Mares Sale marked the end of an era with Paul and Sara Thorman bringing the curtain down on their Trickledown Stud.  Trickledown made its first public offering back in 1990 and has seen a kaleidoscope of change in the industry ever since.  The Thormans will forever be associated for having back-to-back 2,000 Guineas winners--George Washington (Ire) and Cockney Rebel (Ire)--through their hands in the early noughties George Washington was sold by Trickledown on behalf of his breeder at Tattersalls in 2004, where he topped Book 1 when...

La Petite Sissi (Ire) (Ivawood {Ire}) (lot 385), a half-sister to G1 Pretty Polly S. heroine La Petite Coco (Ire) (Ruler Of The World {Ire}), is one of the leading lots catalogued for the Goffs February Sale on Feb. 7-8. A total of 431 lots are spread across the two days featuring both Flat and National Hunt horses of all ages, with each session beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday's session begins with 2-year-olds, horses-in-training and stores followed by a weanling section with a wide variety of sires represented. Foals kick...

The breeding stock sales are, by definition, where many of the best broodmares and foals are offered under the hammer, but many fine racing prospects have emerged from these sessions in recent years.  Some farm the sales better than others, notably trainers Joseph O'Brien and Paddy Twomey, who have made a habit of replenishing their stables with high-class runners each winter.  So who fared best this winter? O'Brien and Twomey were back again, with the pair signing for some interesting prospects with a view towards next season, while a number...

Tuesday's session featured Walk In The Park (Ire) as the sire of the top three lots at the Goffs December National Hunt Sale, and Wednesday's trade reflected much the same story, with that aforementioned sire responsible for two of the three top lots. However, it was No Risk At All (Fr)'s lot 605 that stole the show, when Glenvale Stud made a winning bid of €120,000 to top the session. Out of the Kayf Tara (GB) mare Hidden Harmony (Ire), the colt, the only one by his sire in the...

Walk In The Park (Ire) sired four of the six highest foals and the three top lots, as the Goffs December National Hunt Sale continued on Tuesday. Ballincurrig House Stud consigned lot 294, a son of Appy Days (Ire) (King's Theatre {Ire}), and he caught the eyes of Gerry Aherne and Charles Shanahan for €90,000. His dam is out of G3 Nell Gwyn S. heroine A-To-Z (Ire) (Ahonoora {GB}). Said the colt's breeder Cathal Ennis, "I've had my fair share of setbacks and bred enough slow ones too. I'm not...