Day 1 of the Goffs Orby Sale saw 33 yearlings make six figure sums, headed by
joint top lots reaching €300,000, and a median on a par with last year’s opening
session. Galileo (Ire), who accounted for four of the top five lots at Arqana’s
August Sale and the topper at Baden-Baden, has established himself as one of
Europe’s most important patriarchs and his influence was certainly felt Tuesday.
While Coolmore’s number one resident was responsible for two of the top four
lots and the top-priced filly, his son Teofilo shared the highest billing with
the day’s prize colt.
It was Demi O’Byrne who lit the blue touchpaper early on in the trading when
securing Galileo’s jewel of the Croom House Stud consignment. From one of the
leading French families, Lot 12 is out of a winning three-quarter sister to the
2007 Prix Saint-Alary (Fr-G1) heroine and Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1)
third Coquerelle (Ire) (Zamindar), and is therefore a descendant of Luth de
Saron (Fr), whose dynasty encompasses a host of top-class runners, including the
sires Roi Normand and Luth Dancer.
“She’s a lovely, lovely filly and a fabulous
mover while the stallion speaks for himself,” O’Byrne summed up.
Three lots before securing the top-price filly, Demi O’Byrne had been forced
to see off Blandford when paying €200,000 for a son of Danehill Dancer from a
distinguished Wertheimer family. Consigned by Clare Castle on behalf of Paget
Bloodstock, the half-brother to listed-placed Cote Quest (Green Desert) is out
of a half to the dual Group 3 winner and 2004 Prix du Jockey-Club (Fr-G1)
runner-up Prospect Park (GB) (Sadler’s Wells) and his full-brother, the 2008
Prix Greffulhe (Fr-G2) hero and Grand Prix de Paris (Fr-G1) second Prospect
Wells.
Fresh from celebrating his first top-level success on the flat with the Irish
St Leger (Fr-G1) hero Sans Frontieres (Galileo [Ire]), one-time jumps supremo
Sir Robert Ogden was seeking to supplement his burgeoning team of class acts in
this sphere. Ogden, highly active on the yearling circuit so far in 2010, was at
the forefront again Tuesday with a trio of choice colts, led by Teofilo’s
aforementioned joint-topper. Consigned by Paddy Twomey’s Hawthorn Villa Stud as
Lot 179, the February-foaled bay is a grandson of the top-class High Heeled Hope
(Salt Lake), who is also the dam of 2008 Endine H. (G3) winner and Test S. (G1)
runner-up Sweet Hope (Lemon Drop Kid) and stakes-placed Highgate Park (A.P.
Indy). His page includes the highly regarded and talented Ballydoyle runner
Jupiter Pluvius (Johannesburg), who failed to build on his two-year-old promise
after winning the 2007 Killavullan S. (Ire-G3).
Not surprisingly, it was Teofilo’s breeder, owner and trainer Jim Bolger who
made his presence felt in the ring, but he had to surrender when the bidding
reached €300,000.
“We had bought one Teofilo already at Deauville, and this horse really showed
himself well,” said Ogden’s Racing Manager Barry Simpson. “He did everything
required of him, and looks to have an excellent temperament. He’s an exciting
type.”
Earlier, Ogden had paid €240,000 for Barouche Stud’s Lot 158, the sole
representative of Medaglia d’Oro to sell this week. His second dam is the 1999
Adirondack S. (G2) heroine Regally Appealing (Valid Appeal) from the family of
Rockport Harbor.
“The stallion is very hot at the moment and this colt fit the profile of what
we were looking for,” Simpson added. “He really looked like a quality sort.”
The third of the Knighted entrepreneur’s high-profile purchases was lot L37,
Noreland’s Stud’s son of Acclamation (GB) from a family cultivated by Baron
Edouard de Rothschild. Out of a half to dual group-winning stayer Epitre (Common
Grounds), the February-foaled bay was secured for €160,000.
Since retiring to Banstead Manor Stud, Oasis Dream (GB) has established a
reputation for producing a wide range of top-class performers, and the pick of
his progeny have come to command large premiums. That was the case again Tuesday
as the extra Lot 125, a grandson of the stellar Gainsborough flagbearer Hatoof
(Irish River [Fr]), was sold for €250,000. The youngster hailed from Timmy
Hyde’s Camas Park Stud. Initially purchased for €160,000 at Arqana December, he
was bought back at Deauville last month at €170,000, a move that was justified
after Alex Cole’s final bid on behalf of owners Jim and Fitri Hay.
“He’s a very nice colt by a top stallion and was a welcome addition to the
catalogue,” Cole explained.
David and Patricia Thompson’s Cheveley Park Stud took home a pair of leading
lights among the potential broodmare prospects. Lot 156 was a stand-out on
paper, being by Galileo out of the late Dr. Vincent O’Brien’s top-class
sprinter-miler Grecian Dancer (Dansili [GB]). Consigned by Seamus Burns’s Lodge
Park Stud, her dam was progressing quickly when she was in foal with this filly
in 2008, and followed a first pattern success in the Ridgewood Pearl S. (Eng-G3)
with a third in the Windsor Forest S. (Eng-G2) at Royal Ascot on her final
start. Her predominantly fast family includes the 2002 Flying Childers (Eng-G2)
winner Wunders Dream (Averti) and the top-class Hong Kong performers Firebolt
(Flying Spur) and Mensa (Rudimentary).
“She’s an especially good-looking filly out of a very good racemare, and her
pedigree will enhance the broodmare band back home,” Cheveley Park Stud’s
Managing Director Chris Richardson explained.
At the close of play, the average of €70,887 was down by 8 percent on 2009
and the median stayed the same at €50,000. Full results can be found on
www.goffs.com. The sale continues today at 11 a.m.