Galway winner Hasanabad tops trade at Goffs UK at £230,000

A bit of recent form can go a long way at public auction, as Hasanabad proved when he topped the Goffs UK August Sale in Doncaster on Wednesday after agent Richard Ryan struck the winning bid of £230,000.

The Aga Khan Studs-consigned four-year-old was hotly tipped to top trade having made all to land the Rockshore Apple Cider Race at Galway on Friday, and Ryan was not alone when Hasanabad entered the busy South Yorkshire sales ring.

Ben Haslam, standing at the bottom of the stairs opposite the rostrum, made a valiant attempt to secure the son of Nathaniel, but was forced to give a frustrated shake of the head once Ryan pushed the price to £230,000.

View full Goffs UK August Sale results and stats

"All eyes are on you," called auctioneer Nick Nugent in hope that peer pressure might draw out one last bid from the trainer, but when none was forthcoming the hammer came down in Ryan's favour.

"He's been bought for an established English client who would rather remain nameless at this point," said Ryan, who is also the Goffs UK horses-in-training agent. "It's more than likely the horse will go into training in the UK though."

Ryan said there were no immediate plans in place for the colt, who is out of the Listed-winning Kalanisi mare Hasanka and therefore a half-brother to the stakes-placed Hasanour, with the two-time winner considered more of a long-term prospect.

Hasanabad wins the Rockshore Apple Cider Race at GalwayCredit: Patrick McCann

"It was a good performance the other day at Galway, he's lightly raced and has been well minded by the Aga Khan's team and Dermot Weld - Dermot spoke very highly of the horse, so hopefully he can take a step up next year," Ryan said of the colt, who boasts an official rating of 92 after his Galway victory.

"It's very hard to find those quality horses. He's got a slight penchant for going around a tight right-hander so one hopes other right-handed tracks that we know of in the UK might suit."

He continued: "Everyone wants the top-class stock that come onto the horses-in-training market, it's a very popular end of the market. It's quite a unique situation with the Aga Khan though, we're so pleased to have his horses offered at Goffs UK and we're delighted he's sent us a horse of this quality. It was lovely that the client of mine was equally as keen."

The Aga Khan Studs offered six lots at the August Sale, and the sextet duly brought an aggregate of £334,000. Hasankey followed Hasanabad into the ring and also featured among the sale's top ten prices after the placed son of Mastercraftsman was bought by Laura Morgan for £52,000.

Ryan returns

Ryan later struck the winning bid for Everything For You, with the £72,000 purchase due to continue his career with Ian Williams.

"He'll go to Ian Williams for an established owner in England," said Ryan. "His form is good and he has a nice bit of scope about him so he'll be campaigned on the National Hunt scene over the winter.

"He's a 95-rated handicapper on the Flat and that might come in useful after that. He's the sort of horse that Ian does well with."

Everything For You, a five-year-old son of Pivotal, won three races for Kevin Ryan and amassed £54,957 in prize-money. He was last seen finishing just a head behind Spanish Archer in a class two handicap at Doncaster last week.

Elliott at the double

Gordon Elliott was among the jumps trainers in attendance in Doncaster and added two bright prospects to his Cullentra House Stables-based team in The Bosses Oscar and Geraldo, with the former secured at a cost of £75,000 and the latter at £66,000.

Geraldo, who was consigned by Ellmarie Holden's Coolmeen Stables, boasts an unblemished race record having won his sole start in a four-year-old maiden at Stowlin in May. The son of Jeremy was making his third appearance at the sales, having first fetched €5,000 as a foal before he went the way of Coolmeen Farms for €27,000 at the 2018 Goffs Land Rover Sale.

The Bosses Oscar, who was offered by Denis Murphy's Ballyboy Stables, remains a maiden but the rangy four-year-old showed significant promise behind considerably more expensive prospects in his two starts in point-to-points.

The son of Oscar finished third to Grandads Cottage, who fetched £200,000 from Aiden and Olly Murphy at the Goffs UK Aintree Sale, at Portrush on debut, before he filled the runner-up spot behind subsequent £170,000 Tattersalls Cheltenham May Sale top lot Largy Fix at Loughanmore in late-May.

A €23,000 foal purchase by Gerry Merrigan, The Bosses Oscar was making his second visit to the sales this year, having failed to sell at £48,000 when offered at the same sale as Largy Fix.

"I'm delighted with both of them," said Elliott. "One of them is a winner and the other showed nice form when placed in point-to-points so they look nice horses to kick on with.

"They'll both have a few weeks off now and then they'll be ready to go to war with in the winter months. They were both a sensible price too."

O'Keeffe on the scoresheet

Another trainer leaving Doncaster with an interesting recruit was Jedd O'Keeffe, who stretched to £75,000 to secure smart sprint handicapper Marnie James, who was offered by Iain Jardine Racing.

The four-year-old son of Camacho had been purchased by Jardine and Compas Equine for £35,000 at the 2016 Premier Yearling Sale and did previous connections proud by winning five of his 22 starts and reaching the frame on five more occasions for earnings of £75,408.

"We're excited about him and he came highly recommended by Iain Jardine, who very kindly told me all about him," said a delighted O'Keeffe.

"He looks to have had some very good form in the past and I would think he'll take his new owners to some nice meetings so hopefully we'll have some fun. I like the fact that he's strong and moves well, he's the type of horse that appeals to me."

Marnie James, who has a peak Racing Post Rating of 109, has not won since last September, but has slipped to his last winning official mark. O'Keeffe had clearly done his homework as he said he had an upcoming race in mind for his new recruit.

"He seems to like York and there's a race there that might do for him coming up, but we'll get him settled in at home and see how he is," he said.

Grech and Parkin draws to a close

Trade at the Goffs UK Spring Sale was dominated by horses from the Grech and Parkin dispersal, most notably Interconnected, who set a new record when bought by Darren Yates and Phil Kirby for a staggering £620,000.

The dispersal drew to a close on Wednesday with the sale of seven more lots, which contributed £126,800 to the session's turnover.

Stuart Parkin bought out his former partner Mike Grech to take five of those lots home, including Pumped Up Kicks, who fetched £36,000 when offered with her Pether's Moon colt foal at foot, and that mare's two-year-old Blue Bresil filly, who brought £38,000.

Those transactions meant the Grech and Parkin dispersal concluded with 35 horses sold across the two sales for an aggregate of £2,000,300.

Final figures

A busy session of trade saw healthy increases in all key market metrics. The figures were led by the clearance rate, which closed at 85 per cent, with 216 of 254 offered lots finding a buyer.

In turn, those transactions brought turnover of £2,897,100 - up 36 per cent on the aggregate recorded 12 months ago; an average of £13,413 - up 16 per cent year-on-year; and a median of £7,500 - up six per cent on 2018’s £7,100.

In his end of sale statement, Goffs UK’s managing director Tony Williams said: “We have enjoyed a solid day’s trade in the ring today with strong demand throughout, demonstrated by an 85 per cent clearance rate and a full complex of buyers from across Europe.

“The obvious highlight of today’s sale was the Aga Khan Studs-consigned Hasanabad who was destined to attract plenty of interest in the ring following his smart win at last week’s Galway festival.

“We once again attracted a number of pointers from Ireland and it’s pleasing to see this sector of the sale continue to grow, as it was to see point-to-point trainers on the buyers’ sheet for the stores early in the day.

“We would like to thank all our vendors and buyers at today’s sale and look forward to welcoming many back to our Premier and Silver Yearling Sales later this month.”

More sales news:

Joseph O'Brien among the first-time visitors at Saratoga Sale

Juddmonte go to $600,000 to secure flashy Tiznow colt with stallion potential

Red Armada sails away with top lot at Goffs UK Goodwood Sale