Ghaiyyath's brother steals the show as Godolphin go to €1.2 million

Ghaiyyath's full-brother had been billed as the headline act of the Goffs November Foal Sale, and the sizeable crowd who gathered around the ring on Wednesday evening were not disappointed when the son of Dubawi was knocked down to Godolphin for an auction-topping €1.2 million.

Anthony Stroud was entrusted with bidding duties, and saw off a bold play by David Redvers to land the regally bred youngster from the top tier of the packed auditorium high to the right of Henry Beeby's rostrum.

"He's a very attractive foal," said Stroud. "Dubawi is the most wonderful stallion, and obviously we have this colt's full-brother, Ghaiyyath, by him. He'll be a good addition to Godolphin's homebred programme. That was our last bid, we weren't going to go any further, but we're very happy to get him."

Anthony Stroud: 'Dubawi is the most wonderful stallion'Credit: Peter Mooney

The colt is out of Nightime, who became the first offspring of Galileo to win at the highest level when she claimed the Irish 1,000 Guineas in 2006.

The seven-figure youngster is not the first member of her brood to join the Godolphin fold, as Sheikh Mohammed's operation also owns Grosser Preis von Baden winner Ghaiyyath, who topped the 2015 November Foal Sale at €1.1m, Man O' War Stakes heroine Zhukova, a 3,700,000gns purchase as a broodmare prospect, the 450,000gns Midnight Fair, and her yearling colt by Dubawi, who fetched 700,000gns last year.

The colt was offered by The Castlebridge Consignment on behalf of Dermot Weld's Springbank Way Stud, and the delighted breeder was among the assembled onlookers who saw the colt top the sale.

Lot 745: the Dubawi colt out of Nightime in the Goffs ringCredit: Peter Moody

"She's been a wonderful mare," Weld said of Nightime, who he trained on behalf of his late mother, Marguerite. "Most important of all to me was the enjoyment and pleasure she gave my mother when we won the Irish 1,000 Guineas with her."

The master trainer went on to explain that it had been his mother's idea to send Caumshinaun to Galileo for the mating that resulted in Nightime. He said: "It was my mother who decided to breed Caumshinaun to Galileo during his first year at stud - she really believed in Galileo.

"We raced Caumshinaun together too, she was a champion at four and is from such a great family. Nightime has been a wonderful producer for us."

Dermot and Kris Weld look on as the Dubawi colt sells to Godolphin for €1.2 millionCredit: Peter Mooney

There could be plenty more to come from the family too, as Weld said that Nightime's two-year-old Golden Horn half-sister, Syke, has been pleasing him in her work, and that the blue hen herself is in foal to Kingman.

"She's in wonderful condition and she's got a place of honour at Springbank Way," he added of Nightime. "We just keep five mares at the stud nowadays, but they're all Group or Listed performers so it's a very select band."

Earlier in the session Weld also sold a Dark Angel colt out of Nightime's daughter, Sleeping Beauty, to Mc Mahon and Hill Bloodstock for €130,000.

Weld also turned buyer on two occasions during the November Foal Sale, having secured a Profitable filly out of Kasanka at €55,000 and a Free Eagle filly, who was purchased on behalf of his grandchildren, at €10,000.

View full Goffs November Foal Sale results and stats

Shadwell spree

The excitement wasn't confined to the sales-topper, as sizeable sums were traded throughout the session. The second-top lot went the way of Sheikh Hamdan's Shadwell operation, with Stephen Collins, manager of Derrinstown Stud, going to €575,000 to secure the Dark Angel half-sister to Just The Judge offered by Ballylinch Stud.

"I'm delighted to get her as Sheikh Hamdan was very keen on her pedigree," said Collins. "She's a very well-bred filly and he has had a huge amount of success with Dark Angel. To me, she was arguably the nicest filly in the entire sale. She's very athletic-looking and obviously has enormous residual value as a broodmare for further on in time."

Stephen Collins: 'To me, she was arguably the nicest filly in the entire sale'Credit: Peter Mooney

The regally bred filly is out of Faraday Light and was bred by Joan Keaney Dempsey, who purchased the dam from Ballylinch Stud for just €26,000 in 2007.

Later in the session Shadwell went to €360,000 for the Lope De Vega half-sister to Venus De Milo offered by Stanley Lodge on behalf of Tullpark Limited. In total, Shadwell made three purchases for a total outlay of €1.030m.

Kingman reigns

Breeders who used sire sensation Kingman during his early years at Juddmonte's Banstead Manor Stud received some significant returns during Wednesday's session, with the two offerings by the son of Invincible Spirit fetching sizeable sums.

Both lots were signed for by Cormac McCormack Bloodstock, with the pricier of the pair the colt out of the Listed-winning Holy Roman Emperor mare Flying Fairies, who was offered by The Castlebridge Consignment and knocked down at €310,000.

The other was the colt out of Archangel Gabriel, who was knocked down at €270,000. Both colts were conceived during Kingman's fourth season on covering duty, when his fee was £55,000. He is due to stand the 2020 season at £150,000.

The colt out of Archangel Gabriel was offered by Eimear Mulhern's Abbeville Stud on behalf of breeders Steven Smith of Hunscote Stud and Chris Humber.

"We're extremely pleased, he was a wonderful specimen and the mare has done us extremely well," said Humber. "We chose Goffs as we thought he'd stand out here and he has so we're very happy."

Having signed for the colt out of Archangel Gabriel, a sibling to the top-level winners Kingsfort and Prince Arch, McCormack said: "He's been bought for an established client to be resold. He comes from a very good nursery and we have all seen what the sire can do."

Caravaggio colt catches Holland's eye

Caravaggio's debut crop of foals continued to find favour with buyers, including leading pinhooker Brendan Holland of Grove Stud, who went to €240,000 for a colt out of Show Me The Music during the opening exchanges of Wednesday's session.

Offered through The Castlebridge Consignment and bred by Ennistown Stud, the colt is out of a daughter of Dubawi and the Falmouth Stakes heroine Music Show, who was purchased with her first foal in utero for 110,000gns by BBA Ireland at last year's Tattersalls December Sale.

"The Caravaggios have plenty of substance and length to them," said Holland. "They're good walkers with good minds. He's had some good foals here this week and I'm sure there'll be some good ones [at Tattersalls] next week too. This foal was one of the best colts here today."

Caravaggio's first foals were in the headlines earlier in the week when a colt out of Cape Joy topped the opening session of the November Sale when purchased by Peter and Ross Doyle for €100,000.

Final figures

The seven-figure Dubawi colt's price-tag contributed to November Foal Sale (part one) turnover of €25,751,800, which was up by a chunky 26 per cent year-on-year. The average and median prices also rose, with the former up 16 per cent to €49,050 and the latter up seven points to €30,000.

The clearance rate was 81 per cent, with 525 of 645 offered foals finding a buyer.

Trade during Wednesday's session proved particularly intense, as evidenced by the aggregate rising by 35 per cent to €16,211,000. Wednesday's average was also up by 32 per cent to €98,245 and the median rose by 31 per cent to €68,000. The clearance rate was an impressive 91 per cent, with 165 of the 181 offered foals changing hands.

At the close of trade on Wednesday, Goffs group chief executive Henry Beeby said: "We're nothing without the horses' is a phrase we use regularly and it was never truer than today as we witnessed a trade of intensity and strength which was driven by a superb selection of the cream of the 2019 foal crop.

"We are indebted to so many leading breeders, from Ireland and the UK, who have entrusted us with their best foals and are simply delighted to have repaid that trust with some amazing prices.

"Heading the day was unsurprisingly the beautiful own brother to Ghaiyyath who had held the distinction of being the highest priced colt foal ever in Ireland, as well as Europe's highest priced foal of his year.

"For the 2019 colt to eclipse even that price at €1.2 million is a superb result for his breeders and we are so grateful that we were given the chance to deliver for them again. His price was backed up by three others to better last year's top price and a trade of sustained demand over the three days of our Part 1 Foal Sale that built to a real crescendo today as clearly demonstrated by an incredible 91 per cent clearance rate and a huge €98,248 average, which advanced 32 per cent. Indeed, each Part 1 statistic has advanced with a record average, up 16 per cent and a whopping 47 foals making €100,000 or over, up from 38 last year.

"We extend our thanks to every vendor, however big or small, and wish each buyer the best of luck whether they have bought to resell or race. Goffs November Foals have an excellent record in both spheres so we look forward to offering many of this year's catalogue at the Goffs and Doncaster next year, and then cheering them into winner's enclosures around the world.

"For now we turn our attention to some lovely breeding stock and then the Part 2 foals which are sure to offer more great opportunities."