Stuart Williams and Tom Morley join forces again with Herculean

Stuart Williams and Tom Morley have struck up a formidable partnership down the years, with runners trained by Williams and owned outright by Morley having notched up 21 wins in 143 starts at a healthy 15 per cent strike rate.

The duo will team up once again after Williams signed on the dotted line for the regally bred Herculean at £38,000 on Morley's behalf at the Goffs UK December Horses in Training Sale on Friday.

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Trained by Roger Charlton, the Juddmonte homebred led home a one-two for his sire, Frankel, in an Ascot maiden at two and followed up in a Pontefract novice stakes at three. He has since earned a Racing Post Rating of 96 for placing twice in Class 3 company.

"I've purchased him for Tom Morley and that's about the amount we expected to pay for him," said Williams, who was seated in the rows to the right of the rostrum.

"He's a high-class horse and hopefully we can have some fun with him. We'll get him home first and then see how he is before making any plans."

The four-year-old gelding is a full-brother to the talented Group 3 winner Fair Eva, and is out of the Haydock Sprint Cup heroine African Rose. He shares his granddam with the Coventry Stakes scorer and sire Calyx.

Herculean: lit up the Doncaster sales ring on FridayCredit: Sarah Farnsworth / Goffs UK

Morley was returning to the well having previously been involved with the 2011 King's Stand Stakes scorer Prohibit, a son of Oasis Dream purchased by trainer Robert Cowell for 85,000gns from Juddmonte Farms at Tattersalls in 2009.

His mother Julia was also a part-owner of the Cowell-trained Goldream, another son of Oasis Dream who joined Prohibit on the King's Stand roll of honour in 2015. Arabist will also switch trainers after catching the eye of Goffs UK agent Richard Ryan and Ian Williams at £20,000.

The three-year-old son of Invincible Spirit was previously trained by John Gosden for Coronet's owner-breeder Denford Stud. He broke his duck in a Haydock maiden in September, when fending off the efforts of the smartly bred Swift Wing.

Ryan said Arabist, who has since been gelded, had been purchased with a dual-purpose career in mind.

The first lot to reach five figures was Grumpy Boots, a five-year-old son of Stowaway who was third on his only start for handler John 'Shark' Hanlon and owner Rachel O'Neill in a Toomebridge maiden.

Auctioneer Tim Kent, who will take over as Goffs UK managing director in the new year, welcomed an opening bid of £5,000 for the gelding and eventually knocked him down for £16,000 to AS Crawford Groundworks.

"He's a well-bred horse and should make a proper chaser," said trainer Mick Flannery, who was standing beside owner Joe Crawford by the holding ring.

The final Goffs UK sale of the year was impacted by a number of withdrawals, with 60 of the 77 lots on offer changing hands for a solid 78 per cent clearance rate and total sales of £389,800, at an average spend of £6,500 and median price of £3,750.

Last year's sale, which also comprised a foal session, saw 167 lots offered and 91 change hands for total receipts of £634,000, at an average spend of £7,000 and median price of £4,000.

It was the final sale for Goffs UK managing director Tony Williams, who heads back to his native Australia later this month.

He said: "Today's sale ends what has been another fantastic year for Goffs UK with new records set in the yearling, point-to-point and horses-in-training markets – the latter seeing a world record set for a National Hunt horse in training with Interconnected selling for £620,000 at the Doncaster Spring Sale.

"This month also completes my time as managing director of Goffs UK and I would like to extend a big thank you to all who have made my time in the UK such a memorable experience. I wish everyone a happy Christmas and the Goffs UK team all the very best for the coming year."

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