Henry Beeby

Officials at Goffs have released a statement clarifying announcements made June 30 as regards the venue and date options for the company's marquee Orby Sale. As was previously stated, the Orby sale, with the cooperation of Tattersalls, is planned for Friday and Saturday, Sept. 24 and 25, at Park Paddocks in Newmarket. However, Goffs officials are expressing optimism that travel restrictions could be eased in time enough for the sale to take place at its originally scheduled dates of Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 28 and 29. These plans follow discussions...

The Goffs Orby Sale will for the second straight year be staged away from its traditional home in Co. Kildare, this year taking place at Tattersalls's Park Paddocks in Newmarket as the result of an agreement between the two sales companies. Originally slated for Sept. 28 and 29, the sale will now be held across two evening sessions on Sept. 24 and 25 after racing at Newmarket and with a daytime session on Sept. 26. The sale will, therefore, be held in conjunction with the Cambridgeshire meeting that features the...

Entries for the 2021 Goffs London Sale, to be conducted as an interactive virtual event on the eve of the beginning of the Royal Ascot meeting Monday, June 14, will open for a limited number of horses Monday, May 24 and will close Monday, June 7. The sale, which offers the unique opportunity to sell Royal Ascot and international racing prospects, will feature no more than 12 lots that will be promoted to an international audience via Goffs Online, leading up to the event and during a ground-breaking broadcast that...

At the conclusion of the two-day Goffs UK Spring Store Sale at Doncaster, demand for quality stores produced record-breaking results across the board. Although the top price on Tuesday of £105,000 did not match the £165,000 set on Monday, a buoyant middle market resulted in 115 sold from 133 (86.5%) offered. Over the two days of selling, 41 lots brought £50,000 or more, up from 22 lots in 2019. The gross was £7,191,500 with 224 sold from 271 through the ring. The average was £32,105 (+21%) and the median was...

Just days after launching The Goffs Million, a €1-million race for 2-year-old graduates of the Orby Sale to be held at The Curragh on Sept. 24, 2022, Goffs announced on Wednesday that the Goffs Sportsman's Challenge, worth a minimum €100,000, will be staged at Naas going six furlongs on Sept. 15, 2022. Like The Goffs Million, the continent's richest 2-year-old race, the Goffs Sportsman's Challenge will pay out to tenth place. It is open exclusively to graduates of the Goffs Sportsman's Sale, which will take place at Kildare Paddocks this...

Goffs appointed Amanda Zetterholm to the role of French Agent. Since 2012, Zetterholm served in client relations, nominations and, most recently, as assistant racing manager with H.H. Aga Khan Studs in France. She also previously worked with leading jumps trainer David Cottin in Chantilly and is a former assistant to trainer Mike De Kock. Zetterholm will commence her new role May 1. "Her experience and network of clients further strengthens our roster of international agents and follows the recent appointments of Jacob West and Mark Richards as U.S. and British...

One year on from the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, each and every individual in the racing and bloodstock realms has been faced with decisions they never wanted to, or dreamed they would have to, make. Those sentiments certainly ring true for the board and management team at Goffs. Faced with enduring national lockdowns and quarantine measures far more strict than those experienced by its competitors and clientele across borders, the Irish auction house found itself constantly returning to the drawing board throughout 2020 and into 2021. A measure of...

The delayed Goffs February Sale concluded on Thursday with Part 2, a session of 84 short yearlings. The difficulties presented by offering young stock in an online format were highlighted by a large number of withdrawals from the original catalogue of 228, and a clearance rate of 42%. The 35 horses to have found a buyer returned an average price of €10,311 and median of €8,000, and they added €360,900 to the overall tally for the sale which had to undergo both date and format changes. "Selling weanlings in March...

Holding a Thoroughbred auction during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been without its challenges, and the Goffs February Sale has faced more than most. First, the sale was split into two parts, and the Mar. 2 Part II was re-scheduled for Mar. 11, but as Irish coronavirus restrictions were extended, Goffs had no choice but to move Part II online. Goffs and vendors alike can take heart from the fact that the live online format has achieved some notable results this season, and there are 84 National Hunt and Flat...

Following on from the Goffs UK Online January Sale, which sold horses for up to £300,000 in the timed online format, Goffs will host a new Online March Sale on Mar. 24 in the same fashion. The sale will largely focus on horses in training but will also be open to breeding stock, and entries can be made through the Goffs UK website. The sale will be conducted in pounds sterling. Goffs Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby said, "The Goffs Online platform has proved a key addition to our service...

It took until the final lot of the Goffs February Sale for the six-figure mark to be reached and it was a round €100,000 for the top lot of the two days, Rubira (Aus), a young southern hemisphere-bred daughter of Lope De Vega (Ire) in foal for the first time to New Bay (GB). The 6-year-old mare was formerly trained in by Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman in New Zealand where she won the listed Diamond Lodge Gt North Champagne S. She was bought from the Baroda Stud draft by...

Goffs kicks off its 2021 sales season on Tuesday and Wednesday with Part I of its February Sale. Prevailing unprecedented circumstances mean that the mixed sale of yearlings, 2-year-old, fillies and mares and horses in training will take place as a live online auction, with no horses, vendors or purchasers on the grounds at Kildare Paddocks. COVID-19 safety measures late last year meant that Goffs staged its Autumn Horses-In-Training and Yearling sales in the live online format, and the positive results spoke to the resilience of the bloodstock market as...