Summerhill Stables makes instant impact at the Goffs Foal Sale

According to psychological studies it takes just seven seconds to make a first impression, with the human brain assessing a myriad gestures, images and signals within a matter of moments before reaching its conclusion.

On the opening day of the Goffs November Foal Sale, Joey Lyons' Summerhill Stables definitely made the right synapses light up in buyers' brains as the 27-year-old from County Meath sold her first two foals under her own steam, including one of the highlights of the session.

Lyons consigned a Kodi Bear filly whose dam, Armum, is a Society Rock half-sister to Ardad, the Flying Childers and Windsor Castle Stakes winner who sired Perfect Power in his first crop. She was bought by Tally-Ho Stud, breeders of Ardad and Perfect Power, for €62,000.

The April-born filly was just the second foal to go through the ring under the Summerhill Stables banner, following an Elzaam filly knocked down to Nenthorne Farm for €18,000 earlier in the session.

It's a stunning start to life as a consignor for Lyons, but one she has been preparing for over a long time, starting off on yard duties as soon as she was old enough for Collegelands Stud, owned by her cousins Austin and Ciara Lyons.

Joey Lyons with the Mehmas colt out of Munaasaba who is selling on TuesdayCredit: Goffs

They are all members of Meath footballing royalty as Joey Lyons' father Padraic and uncle Mick won All-Ireland medals in the green and gold, with Mick earning All-Star honours. They are no slouches when it comes to breeding either as Padraic bred Grade 1 Beverly D Stakes winner Watsdachances.

Lyons was quick to dispel any hint of a family rift as she explained how Summerhill Stables came into existence.

"I started off with Ciara when I was old enough, and was her top raking person!" Lyons smiled. "I graduated to leading up the foals when I was old enough and did the foal sales with Ciara, which was brilliant.

"My dad and uncle sold the foals through Collegelands, but when Covid hit I came home and discovered that there was enough work on the farm to keep me there full-time.

"I wanted to stand on my own two feet and my dad and uncle said they would back me, and that's how I got started. There was no falling out in the family or anything at all, I just wanted to go out and try it myself."

There's a history of success with Ballyhane Stud sires - Watsdachances is a daughter of former Leighlinbridge resident Diamond Green and the first foal sold by Summerhill Stables on Monday is a daughter of Elzaam - and it was Joe Foley who suggested to Lyons that she might enjoy working with yearlings.

A graduate of the Irish National Stud course, she approached Bill Dwan, whose own farm is about 20 minutes away from her home, and completed her first yearling prep for the Castlebridge scion.

"From that first prep with Bill, I was hooked," she exclaimed. "They come in so raw and by the end they are transformed. I had never experienced that before as we only deal with foals."

From there, she went to Sledmere in Australia for yearling prep, returning to Dwan's farm for the northern hemisphere season, before going back down under, this time to Waikato Stud in New Zealand, where she was assistant yearling manager.

She has also done the breeze-up sales with Tally-Ho Stud, where the importance of a strong team made an impression on her.

"I was nervous this morning before the Elzaam filly sold because you don't want to start off on the wrong foot, but Gary Carroll bought her for €18,000, which was a great start," she said. "The Kodi Bear filly had about 200 shows yesterday and for Tally-Ho to buy her is fantastic."

Lyons' nerves will be jangling even more on Tuesday as she offers a trio of foals including a Mehmas colt (lot 298) out of Munaasaba, who is a half-sister to the Commonwealth Cup and Prix Morny heroine Campanelle. That Kodiac filly sold for $5 million at Keeneland last week to MV Magnier.

Having made such an immediate impact, Lyons reflected: "I am delighted I took the stabilisers off and went out on my own two feet."

The family had a very successful opening day to the Goffs November Foal Sale as Collegelands Stud also appeared among the vendors of the top lots, with their Saxon Warrior colt matching the price of the Kodi Bear filly.

Ciara and Michael Carty of Kilmoney Cottage Stud bought the half-brother to two winners whose dam, Saadatt, is a New Approach daughter of 1,000 Guineas winner Ameerat, making the colt inbred 3x3 to Galileo.

Saadatt is a half-sister to Listed Gerry Feilden Hurdle winner High Bridge and to Listed Upavon Stakes second Oojooba, both by Monsun.

Saxon Warrior wins opening salvo

Three of the top four prices on Monday were for foals by Saxon Warrior, who sired Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Victoria Road in his first crop.

That thrilling narrow success for the Ballydoyle colt at Keeneland undoubtedly boosted the profile of the 2,000 Guineas and Vertem Futurity winner at the perfect time, heading into the foal sales with his third crop.

There was a strong link between Victoria Road and the session-topping colt at Goffs as Ballyhimikin Stud, who consigned Victoria Road as a yearling on behalf of Trevor Stewart, was the purchaser of Woodleigh Stables' chestnut colt out of Gravity Queen at €88,000.

The Saxon Warrior colt out of Gravity Queen sells to Ballyhimikin Stud for €88,000Credit: Peter Mooney

Offered by Kildallan Farm, the late-February born colt is out of an unraced Holy Roman Emperor sister to Listed Prix de Pontarme second Impendor from the Juddmonte family of Interval and Zambezi Sun.

Rochestown Lodge Stud offered a Saxon Warrior colt, the first foal out of Zagharit, a winning Sir Percy half-sister to the Scandinavian Group 3-placed filly Inaya, and he was bought by the noted judges and breeders Paul and Marie McCartan of Ballyphilip Stud for €62,000.

The PR duties were left to Marie, who said: "We are delighted to get him and he will be for resale as a yearling. Saxon Warrior has made a great start to his stud career with a Breeders' Cup winner and all we need now is a bit of luck."

The son of Deep Impact was the toast of the sales with all four of the colts by the impeccably bred grandson of Galileo selling. Their average on Monday was €65,000, more than four times the average of the sale as a whole.

Fine and Dandy for Stauffenberg

Saxon Warrior's grip on the top of the table was interrupted by Dandy Man, with the Ballyhane Stud stalwart siring Forenaghts Stud's filly out of the winning Sea The Stars mare Astonished. She became the day's most expensive filly foal with her €85,000 purchase by Philipp Stauffenberg.

Astonished was trained by James Tate for Saeed Manana to win two of her six starts and is a daughter of Michael Ryan's Listed Trigo Stakes third An Saincheann, by Dylan Thomas, from the family of Coronation Stakes winner Maids Causeway.

Caoimhe Doherty, manager of Forenaghts Stud, spoke afterwards about the sale.

She said: "Dermot Cantillon bought her for Tony and Sharon Smurfit for 60,000gns, which was a little over budget, and Tony said to him, 'I'm astonished that you got her at that price.' She continued to astonish last year - we got €160,000 for her Night Of Thunder foal and her Dandy Man filly just made €85,000 so we are delighted."

Forenaghts Stud's Dandy Man filly out of the winning Sea The Stars mare AstonishedCredit: Peter Mooney

Despite being by two quite different sires, Doherty has seen a lot of Astonished in both of her foals.

"She has only had two foals but the one thing we have seen with them is they are both carbon copies of each other with great size, great scope with substance and bone," she said.

"She won over seven furlongs and one mile and is probably on the sharper side for a Sea The Stars mare. She throws a cracking foal and we have been well paid for them."

Stauffenberg was in the market for Dandy Man foals, and added Kellsgrange Stud's colt out of a half-sister to the dam of Tiger Tanaka for €55,000.

Arizona makes a mark

No Nay Never will be leading two-year-old sire in Europe this year and, like his studmate at Coolmore, sired a Breeders' Cup Grade 1-winning juvenile at the start of the month.

His Coventry Stakes winner Arizona stands at Coolmore's Fermoy farm of Castlehyde Stud and his first foals are hitting the market now.

Ballybin Stud's Arizona colt has a pedigree that could make him a Coventry Stakes horse as he is also a half-brother to Eldrickjones, who was second in the Royal Ascot Group 2 last year. The family is a Moyglare one which includes recent Australian Group 2 and Group 3 winner Gigakick.

The Arizona half-brother to Coventry Stakes runner-up EldrickjonesCredit: Peter Mooney

Peter Nolan was the buyer of Arizona's top-priced foal on Monday, striking at €60,000 for the half-brother to a pair of winners.

"He will be for resale," confirmed Nolan. "I've liked the stock by Arizona that I've seen."

Statistics

Trade on Monday was on a par with the opening day of the 2021 sale, with 172 youngsters of the 224 offered finding new homes, producing a clearance rate of 77 per cent.

That generated turnover of €3,514,000, which was a slight increase of three per cent on the equivalent day last year, with the average climbing by six per cent to €20,430 from €19,276. The median went in the opposite direction, recording a three-point dip from €16,000 to €15,500.

The sale continues on Tuesday with the second session of foals at 10am.

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