Coolmore set a new Goffs UK Premier Sale record with £440,000 Kingman colt

A serious case of Kingman fever struck in Doncaster during day one of the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale on Tuesday, as members of the Coolmore team smashed the auction's record price to secure one of his sons, the colt out of Shamandar, for £440,000.

The strapping colt, consigned by Hillwood Stud, had been highly touted as one of the standouts of the sale, and a crowd of prospective purchasers and curious onlookers flocked to the sweltering sales ring to see if the youngster could live up to his star billing.

View full Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale results

Matthew Houldsworth and Shadwell's Angus Gold showed a keen interest but when Mick Kinane, operating on behalf of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, and the Coolmore crew, who stood huddled in the packed gangway, locked horns, the crowd had their answer as the Doncaster bid board swiftly sailed into record territory.

"Obviously we've been very impressed with what Kingman has achieved at stud to date, so much so that we've bought into Calyx, who'll be standing at Coolmore next year," said Coolmore's British representative Kevin Buckley, who signed on behalf of MV Magnier and was accompanied by the likes of Paul Shanahan and Mick Flanagan.

New record: the Doncaster bid board shows £440,000 for the first time in the Premier Sale's historyCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

"The general consensus among the team was that they were very impressed with the horse when they saw him this week so we're delighted to get him. I'm pleased for his breeders as well, Bob and Pauline Scott of Parks Farm Stud," added Buckley. "They actually attended the Nunthorpe as our guests on Friday. Obviously Charlie [Vigors, Hillwood Stud] and his team did a very good job with him."

Tuesday's purchase is not the first son of Kingman that Coolmore have signed for at public auction, having also landed recent Leopardstown maiden winner Cormorant for 1,050,000gns at last year's Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Coolmore's Kevin Buckley signs the docketCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

Hillwood Stud's decision to bring the colt to Doncaster was vindicated in spectacular style, and means that the Premier Sale has seen a record price for the second consecutive year, after Alastair Donald's purchase of a Gleneagles colt for £380,000 some 12 months ago.

"He was a lovely horse even back in the spring, it was just a case of choosing the right sale for him," said Charlie Vigors, who was joined in Doncaster by his nine-year-old son Harry. "We just thought that he could be a star here, whereas there's going to be a lot of other very nice Kingmans later in the year.

"We saw last year with the Gleneagles colt that if the horse is good enough, you'll make your value because Doncaster do a good job of getting the buyers in. I think with the way the sale has evolved over the last few years, people are hoping and expecting to find this type of horse here, as well as the traditional Doncaster yearling."

The £440,000 Kingman colt in the parade ringCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

The sale-topping colt is the latest six-figure offspring to be sired by Kingman, who also saw his yearlings fetch as much as €850,000 at the Arqana August Sale earlier in the month.

The soaring prices around his progeny are fueled by some scintillating racecourse results, with the last weekend alone seeing three new stakes winners arrive courtesy of Alligator Alley (Listed Julia Graves Roses Stakes), Boomer (Group 3 Prestige Stakes) and Raakib Alhawa (Listed August Stakes).

Charlie and Harry Vigors look on as the Kingman makes his way around the ringCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

"He's been a pleasure the whole way through, very straightforward," continued Vigors. "From the first moment he started showing on Monday morning, he was a total professional the whole way through. That's a trait with a lot of the Kingmans, they have wonderful minds and great movement.

"For the sire to have had the weekend he's just had was certainly good timing from our point of view."

Although he was Hillwood's man on the ground in Doncaster, Vigors pointed to the hard work that had gone on at home to get the colt to the sale in peak condition.

"It's a big credit to all the team at home," he said. "It's alright for Harry and I to be stood here taking all the glory but Tracy [Vigors] is the true grafter, she's probably lunged 20 yearlings this morning!"

The colt is the fifth foal out of his dam, a daughter of Exceed And Excel who was a 3,500gns vendor buyback as a yearling but went on to strike at Listed level, with her win in the 2009 Dick Poole Fillies' Stakes the highlight of her three career victories.

Shamandar is a half-sister to the Listed-winning Hung Parliament, while further back it is the family of top-flight winners Reynaldothewizard, Seventh Street and American Gal.

Keep up to date with all the action in Doncaster with Nancy Sexton's live blog