Goffs UK breathes life back into breeze-up market as £290,000 Kingman colt stars

When the chips are down, the bloodstock industry rarely misses an opportunity to reaffirm its resilience, and that fortitude was on full show during a remarkably robust renewal of the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale in Doncaster on Wednesday, where a colt by rising star sire Kingman headed the market at £290,000.

Although a significantly smaller offering complicates year-on-year comparisons somewhat, key market indicators returned notably positive results in the circumstances, with those statistics reflecting a buoyant mood on the sales ground.

Some 99 lots were offered and 83 found a buyer for a clearance rate of 84 per cent. In turn, those transactions brought turnover of £3,869,900 - a 24 per cent decrease, albeit from 26 per cent fewer lots. The average rose by two per cent to £46,625, while the median was up by 15 per cent to £30,000.

The sales-topping son of Kingman was sold to Jamie Lloyd, who delivered the winning hand from the bidding area opposite the rostrum and provided Jim McCartan of Gaybrook Lodge Stud with a handsome return on the £120,000 he gave for the youngster last year.

"He's a smashing horse," said McCartan. "We bought him here at the Premier Sale and he's been very easy to deal with ever since. The lads at home have done a great job, it hasn't been simple this year getting horses ready for these sales, it's been a stop-start year, but they've put in a lot of hard work.

"Tim Kent [Goffs UK managing director] asked me to give him a good horse for the sale, so I did! Both Tim and Harvey Bell [of Tattersalls] did a good job getting these sales on, it wasn't simple but you need an auction. Considering what's happening in the world it's great to be able to come here and see people still looking for a racehorse."

Despite some anxiety over the health of the market, with the economic downturn brought about by the Covid-19 crisis appearing to have had a significant impact on proceedings at the Tattersalls Craven Sale, McCartan said he had always retained faith in the Kingman colt.

"There was a lot of interest in him and he did a very good breeze so I thought he'd make between £200,000 and £300,000," he said. "He's a real trainer's horse, he's so simple to do anything with."

The colt had not only put in an impressive breeze but is backed up by a deep page, as he is out of the Listed-placed Royal Applause mare Asaawir, and therefore a sibling to Dick Poole Stakes runner-up Marsh Hawk and Queen Mary Stakes third Hairy Rocket. Derby third Carlton House also appears further back in his pedigree.

Jamie Lloyd: 'Kingman is well known in America, he's already a prolific sire'Credit: Claudia Claydon/Goffs UK

"He's been bought with my partner David Meah for one of our best clients, Calvin Nguyen," explained Lloyd. "He'll come back to my farm first and then he'll go to trainer Richard Baltas in California as soon as he's ready.

"David's bought Calvin a lot of good horses in America and we bought him a few nice ones here, including Bodhicitta, who was second in the Gamely Stakes on her first try in a stakes race.

"Kingman is well known in America, he's already a prolific sire and this colt is a half-brother to two very precocious two-year-olds. He breezed very well, Jim and his team have obviously done a very good job with him."

Al Shaqab back in action

Al Shaqab Racing's name appeared on the docket of the second-top lot after Mandore International's Nicolas de Watrigant got the better of Anthony Stroud, with a bid of £200,000 required to secure the Dandy Man colt out of Light Glass offered by Mocklershill.

"There is no plan with regards to a trainer yet, but he's been bought for Al Shaqab," said De Watrigant. "I've been successful buying for them before, their silks have been carried to 19 Group 1 victories by horses I bought, so it's always nice to be able to buy another one for them. Let's hope this colt is the next Group 1 winner."

The agent added: "He has the physical, the temperament and he breezed very well; that's what it's all about for me. And, of course, you see down the page and it's the family of Street Cry."

Nicolas de Watrigant: 'He has the physical, the temperament and he breezed very well'Credit: Claudia Clayton/Goffs UK

The colt is the second foal out of a daughter of Lope De Vega whose third dam is the increasingly influential Irish Oaks heroine Helen Street, dam of Street Cry and the ancestress of recent Group 1 winners such as Territories and Victor Ludorum.

"He breezed very well," said Browne. "He's not your typical Dandy Man, I'd say there's more of his damsire, Lope De Vega, in there. I really loved him. I was selling him for a client and I'm sure he'll be pleased with that."

The colt was making his third sales ring appearance, having been pinhooked by Glenvale Stud at 80,000gns as a foal before being bought back by the same operation at 75,000gns at last year's yearling sales.

American appeal

Star Bloodstock pinhooked two colts by American Pharoah ahead of the 2020 breeze-up season and have now achieved noteworthy results with both. The first of those to reach public auction turned a tidy profit when sold to Simon Chappell for 400,000gns at the Craven Sale, and the second went the way of Blandford Bloodstock's Richard Brown for £175,000 during Wednesday's Goffs UK session.

"The stallion is exceptional, there's a bit of magic about him," said Brown after signing for the colt, a $90,000 pinhook out of Gitchee Goomie. "He's not over big but he's still got a bit of growing to do and if he'd come here at 16 hands high we wouldn't have been able to get him. We'll give him a bit of time off and I think he'll blossom. The vendors do a super job, they've sold a lot of very good horses."

Brown revealed the colt would be heading into training with David Simcock for the Never Say Die Partnership, with members of the Star Bloodstock team retaining a share.

He said: "Some of the shareholders will probably have a heart attack as this is far more money than I've ever given for one, but he's been bought for our resale syndicate, the Never Say Die Partnership.

"We have the horses with David Simcock, we've raced the likes of Teppal and Fiji before, and there are ten shareholders involved."

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic having wreaked havoc with economies around the world, Brown said the continued strength of the export market for horses with form meant the American Pharoah colt represented a risk well worth taking.

"He's by a properly international stallion and the resale markets are very strong, and that's what we'll tee him up for," he said. "If he's above average there are a lot of people out there who'll want him, there's Hong Kong, America, anywhere. It's a brave shout but hopefully it'll pay dividends. We thought long and hard about launching this year's syndicate but the resale markets seem completely unaffected by the crisis."

Brown was among a chorus of voices singing the praises of the bloodstock industry for how it has responded to the considerable challenges the coronavirus pandemic has presented.

"The fact we're even here shows what a phenomenal industry this is," he said. "We're all fierce competitors in this industry, but when things go wrong - like Covid-19 or even in someone's personal life - it's extraordinary how people rally around together. The fact Goffs and Arqana have worked together to get this sale on is incredible."

'We couldn't have predicted that!'

In this end-of-sale statement, Goffs UK's managing director Tim Kent said: "We couldn’t have predicted that! It’s been a very long journey to enable us to hold this sale and there have been many twists and turns along the way, but we are absolutely delighted with what has been achieved today.

"To deliver those results is way beyond what we could have imagined, and the timing could not be better with the yearling sales not far away.

"It has been a huge team effort to get to this stage and it has been a real joy working with Arqana to hold this event. The original (Doncaster) and the best (Arqana) have come together to outperform any similar sales in Europe this year, but none of this could have been done without the huge support of the BHA, Doncaster racecourse and Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council.

"All three of these organisations have been extremely proactive during the planning of this sale and a special mention must go to Roderick Duncan and his team at the racecourse who have prepared some of the best ground ever offered. We must also mention the local hotels who have opened especially for our clients, and we could not have held the sale without them.

"However, the real credit for today’s achievements lie with the vendors. They have been extremely supportive during the planning of today’s sale and have kept these horses in top form for an extra two months before today.

"Many have resisted the temptation to sell privately and have instead shown huge faith in what we’re doing, only to be well rewarded as a result. We are nothing without our vendors and this has never been more evident than in the last three months, meaning that we are indebted to them for their loyalty."

Kent added: "It’s fair to say that this has been worth the wait, and we look forward to today’s graduates racing very soon, where we will be in the strange position of cheering home those sold by Goffs and Arqana – something else that I would not have predicted!

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