Weekend flag-bearers providing welcome evidence for Dubai Sale

With two of its first-year graduates on this weekend’s World Cup card, the Dubai Breeze-Up Sale returns with another group of more than 60 youngsters to offer on Tuesday with organisers confident that buyers will have a better idea of what to expect.

There was an element of curiosity when Goffs had persuaded the predominately Irish-based consignors to bring horses across to the Gulf 12 months ago but they had the perfect advertisement when Go Soldier Go headed Mr Raj in the Al Bastakiya on Super Saturday. 

They are both entered for the UAE Derby and neither were among the most expensive to have been sold. Tapiture colt Go Soldier Go was found by agent Chad Schumer for $45,000 as a yearling and moved on by Church Farm & Horse Park Stud to Fawzi Nass for €124,000 while Mr Raj, by Bolt D’Oro, was picked up by enterprising Dubai owner Ahmad Bintouq for €87,00 from Gaybrook Lodge.

Tom Taaffe of Goffs, who is organising the sale, said: "Go Soldier Go was actually one of the slower breezes last year, he was a tall angular horse who needed a bit of time to fill his frame. Fawzi Nass has done an amazing job with him, he’s just improved and improved. 

"Mr Raj was also tall and a little bit empty of his middle at the time, he didn’t travel that great in the flight, or recover great here. Jim McCartan wasn’t as happy as he normally would be with a horse but he breezed respectably and has has developed and rewarded them.

"It’s important people know it’s not about the fastest horses that come up here and how flashy they look, it’s about people who can pick out a horse that they can see in time could be in the place that they want them to be, back to where it was before the clocks came in. And that’s given us great satisfaction."

As Taaffe suggests, the individuals brought here are not expected to be gunned down the straight as they might be to a market of two-year-old buyers, although quite a few were given a stern examination as the mercury rose at the Dubai Racing Club’s training track early on Monday morning.

"The whole theme here is we don’t want horses abused and doing too much too young, when they’re big in particular, and then they become fragile in areas - this is to let them progress naturally within themselves and be able to race really from October onwards," he added.

"We ended up with a lot of winners from May onwards, which was absolutely amazing. I’d feel with the attendance and the amount of people who’ve come from literally the globe, those who were maybe sceptical last year because there was no clock that these might be slower horses and might not be necessarily be the best of the year, that’s gone out the window after the success of last year."

The list of winning members of the 2022 class has now risen to 14 in six different countries. With the majority of this catalogue US-bred, it seems likely that they will hold greatest appeal for Arabian-based buyers to race on dirt. However, Kilminfoyle House’s Sea The Stars colt and Kingman filly are among the large sprinkling of European-breds and last year’s second-most expensive lot, also sold by Roger Marley and John Cullinan’s Church Farm & Horse Park Stud, was a Frankel bought by Big Red Farm for €521,000.

Tom Taaffe from Goffs is expecting an international buying benchCredit: Alain Barr

Labeling won a maiden in late November and then finished a very close third in the Grade 1 Hanshin Futurity.

"Hong Kong weren’t really here last year but there’s a number of them here and we did a bit of advertising in Japan, and they’ve come in force," Taaffe added.

"The idea was we’d have horses at three different levels at various price ranges for people to be able to access and purchase.

"Vendors have realised what might suit this area better, they’ve gone and bought that type of horse and I’m indebted to them for giving us the chance to try to sell some gorgeous horses."

The sale in the Meydan parade ring begins at 1pm GMT.

Read more

'It's all pressure until the horse sells' - Colm Kennedy looks ahead to the Dubai Breeze-Up Sale 

Variety adds to the reasons to celebrate the Cheltenham Festival