Golden Horde's breeder living the dream as half-brother sells for £260,000

A Mehmas half-brother to the high-class Golden Horde was among the highlights of day two of the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale in Doncaster on Wednesday as Oliver St Lawrence secured the youngster with a bid of £260,000.

The Highclere Stud-consigned colt was listed as a sibling to four winners in the catalogue, including Pipalong Stakes scorer Exhort, but Golden Horde boosted the page further when he landed the Group 2 Richmond Stakes on his penultimate outing before he finished third to Earthlight in the Prix Morny last time out.

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"He's got the most improved pedigree in the book," said auctioneer Nick Nugent as the strong-looking colt entered the Doncaster ring.

Shadwell's Angus Gold was among the first to react and made a strong play from his position in the bidders' area but it was St Lawrence, stood among those sheltering from the rain by the gangway, who stayed on best.

"He's a nice horse with a lovely update," said St Lawrence, who was accompanied by long-time client Fawzi Nass. "We don't have a trainer in mind just yet but he looks a proper runner.

Oliver St Lawrence signs the £260,000 ticket for the half-brother to Golden HordeCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

"He looks as if he should be precocious enough and there's plenty of precocity in the family. He's a nice strong horse and has a good bit of size to him. I've seen some nice stock by Mehmas this week."

St Lawrence enjoyed a fruitful spell at last year's Premier Sale when his haul included Albany Stakes winner Daahyeh, though he revealed he also picked up a rather unwanted association with Golden Horde, who sold to Clive Cox for £65,000, during the Doncaster auction.

"We bought Daahyeh here last year and a nice Brazen Beau horse called Raahy, who's rated 96," he said. "Those results have encouraged Fawzi Nass to come back here this week. We were the underbidders on Golden Horde too, so it's quite nice to come back and get this colt."

Among the onlookers when the Mehmas colt came under the hammer was James Cloney, who bred the youngster and Golden Horde from the Pivotal mare Entreat at his Clara Stud in County Kilkenny under the CN Farm banner.

"It's magical to see a horse you've produced at home - who you've looked after from the day he was born, you've minded and worried about him - do so well," said Cloney, who keeps 15 mares on his farm. "I was delighted when we sold Golden Horde here last year; delighted with the price and even more delighted, as I said to Clive Cox, that the horse went into such good hands.

The Mehmas half-brother to Golden Horde in the Goffs UK ringCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

"Thankfully that's happened again today too as a lot of time and effort goes into getting them to this stage. You feel sorry to see them go, but there's good compensation for it as well! When you live it every morning and night you look forward to days like these. It's a dream and we're living it at the moment.

"It was a very good price for a very good colt," added a delighted Cloney. "It's an exciting family, Golden Horde is going to be a very good three-year-old."

Cloney acquired the mare from her breeder Cheveley Park Stud for just 14,000gns at the 2016 Tattersalls July Sale with Golden Horde in utero. Entreat is a Pivotal half-sister to Group 2 winner Producer, while the mighty Serena's Song appears beneath the third dam, meaning the page also features current names such as Honor Code, Zabeel Prince, Rizeena and Summer Romance.

"When we were hunting for the mares the combination of her being by Pivotal and having such a strong back pedigree was big for me," said Cloney. "We knew the mare had a chance of filling up the top of the pedigree when we bought her.

"At the time I felt she was still unexposed, she'd only been covered four times by Ducth Art and had two to run on the ground. Exort has obviously won her Listed race and is running in a Group 3 on Saturday. Entreat was a stunning-looking mare too."

There should be plenty more for Cloney to look forward to too, as he reported Entreat has an "absolute cracker" of a Zoffany filly foal at foot and is safely carrying to Tweenhills Farm's star reverse shuttler Zoustar.

More Goffs UK news:

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

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