Goffs

Eight point-to-pointers have been added to the 2023 Goffs UK Aintree catalogue, bringing the total lots to go under the hammer at Aintree on Apr. 13 to 23. Among the additional entries are lot 5, Lady Jago (Ire) (Getaway {Ger}) a winner of her debut for Terence O'Brien at Rathcannon; lot 14, the 5-year-old gelding Caher Roes Den (Ire) (Soldier Of Fortune {Ire}), the winner of his most recent PTP for Colin Bowe at Castletown-Geoghegan; and lot 21, last out point-to-point winner Rokathir (Fr) (Muhtathir {GB}), who will also be...

Paddy Twomey and statistics go hand in hand. It seems as though, whenever the trainer's name is mentioned, a number or a stat of some sort will follow. And it's easy to see why: statistically, Twomey is the most upwardly-mobile handler in Ireland. This is a man who has been operating at a 23 per cent strike-rate or higher since 2018. That takes serious doing in an environment as competitive as Ireland. While the 46-year-old has been training officially since 2012, his Tipperary-based operation has been open to outside owners...

Five two-year-olds worth almost €2 million will be re-offered by Arqana next month as another sales house bids to recoup the losses incurred by the Derby-winning owner Saleh Al Homaizi who racked up over €20 million of unpaid debt at the yearling sales last autumn.  As revealed by TDN Europe back in January, Tattersalls were the first sales company to re-offer the 17 juveniles who were knocked down to bloodstock agent Richard Knight for 11,055,000gns at the October Yearling Sale last year.  A Frankel (GB) colt out of Bold Lass...

Joseph O'Brien has an array of talent to look forward to this season, headed by G1 Irish 2000 Guineas hope Al Riffa (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Group 1 winner Above The Curve (American Pharoah) and smart additions to the stable in Jumbly (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}), Mooneista (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) and Ottilien (Fr) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). But a yard as big as Owning Hill needs a conveyor belt of youngsters coming through the ranks and O'Brien can boast just that. Last season's stats back up such a statement. With...

The Goffs Million, the richest 2-year-old race in Europe, will be rebranded as the Goffs Two Million Series at the 2023 Goffs Orby Sale, the sales company announced on Friday. In addition, the Orby and Sportsman's Sales will now be known as Orby Book 1 and Orby Book 2 and will be held from Sept. 26-29. The series is open to all yearlings catalogued in the 2023 Goffs Orby Book 1 and Book 2, and more than 1,000 yearlings will be offered across the two books. The 2023 seven-furlong Goffs...

A total of 73 juveniles by some of the pre-eminent dirt sires from America complemented by a collection of top European turf stallions are set to go under the hammer during the second renewal of the Goffs Dubai Breeze-Up Sale to be held Tuesday evening in the sprawling parade ring at Meydan Racecourse. "It's just a huge honour and privilege to be appointed as auctioneer now for the second year by the Dubai Racing Club and the chairman, Sheikh Rashid bin Dalmook Al Maktoum, and it's a great feather in...

There has been a change to the treatment of point-to-point performances in sale company catalogues, the International Cataloguing Standards Committee (ICSC) European sub-committee announced on Friday. Currently, winning British and Irish point-to-point performers are classified as runners, but not as winners in either the subject horse detail or the dam summary line. For all National Hunt sales from April 2023 onwards, if the progeny of a dam has won a point-to-point in Great Britain or Ireland but the same animal has not won under rules the point-to-point only, winner(s) will...

The demand for American dirt-bred horses for next month's Goffs Dubai Breeze Up Sale has, according to Eddie O'Leary and Con Marnane, two titans of the game, provided consignors with a clear framework about what will and won't ring buyers' bells in the sales ring.  While Tom Taaffe, the client relations agent at Goffs, described last year's inaugural Dubai Breeze Up Sale as "a very good start," there is a growing confidence among consignors that next month can be even better, with Marnane admitting to have 'upped his game big...

A 73-strong catalogue of 2-year-olds for the Goffs Dubai Breeze-Up Sale on Mar. 21 is now online. Slated for 5 p.m. in the Meydan Racecourse Parade Ring, the sale's breezes will take place the day prior at the Dubai Racing Club Training Track at 7:45 a.m. on Monday, Mar. 20. Held for the first time in 2022, the inaugural sale has already produced 13 individual winners in five countries and there are also several group-placed horses. Among the best graduates is the winner Labeling (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who is also...

The husband-and-wife team of Paul and Sara Thorman at Trickledown Stud, one of the most recognisable names in any sales catalogue, have revealed a change of emphasis that will see the operation concentrate more on pinhooking rather than breeding in the coming years.  Trickledown consigned over 300 horses annually in its pomp but, after reducing the broodmare band to just four ahead of the breeding season, Paul explained how he and his wife Sara will bid to enjoy life a bit more whilst running a more streamlined version of the...

With a selection of quality Flat and National Hunt weanlings, 2-year-olds, horses in training and breeding stock on offer, there was little surprise that Goffs chief executive Henry Beeby said the February Sale features something for every type of buyer on Wednesday and Thursday.  The first live sale of 2023 at Goffs, the February sale boasts 447 lots including supplementary entries, with leading pinhookers and buyers reported to be on the ground inspecting the stock on Tuesday.  Beeby described himself as optimistic of a productive trade over the two days,...

Galileo (Ire) and Dubawi (Ire) fillies with Classic connections are among 23 supplementary lots to be offered at next week's Goffs February Sale set for Feb. 8 and 9. Pedigrees are available to view online here. Close relations to G1 Irish Oaks and G1 Yorkshire Oaks heroine Seventh Heaven (Ire) (Galileo) head the supplementary lots, with Over The Rainbow (Ire), a 4-year-old daughter of Dubawi out of Seventh Heaven, to be offered from The Castlebridge Consignment (Lot 383A). Baroda Stud offers an own-sister to Seventh Heaven in Sweet And Lovely...