Night Of Thunder filly tops challenging edition of Sportsman's Sale at £72,000

A challenging edition of the relocated Goffs Sportsman's Sale concluded in Doncaster on Friday with a £72,000 Night Of Thunder filly topping trade. Although market conditions proved tough for most vendors, as was to be expected given a topsy-turvy sales season is taking place during a global pandemic, plenty seemed relieved that trade was taking place at all.

Those sentiments were echoed by Goffs chief executive Henry Beeby, who said: "Moving the Sportsman's Sale to our UK sales complex was not a straightforward decision but, on balance, was deemed the right one in the circumstances. Frankly all of us are in a quandary about what is the right thing to do at the moment, especially as things can change from day to day.

"Indeed, it's worth bearing in mind that the British prime minister announced new restrictions to help in the fight against Covid-19 on Tuesday, so we are constantly having to react and adapt at short notice. In that connection we are indebted to Doncaster Council, with whom we have liaised closely in recent months, as they have provided feedback and support as we have drawn up the detailed protocols required to conduct a sale in the current climate."

View full Goffs Sportsman's Sale results and stats

Beeby continued: "We are also very thankful to our vendors who embraced the change of date and location with hardly a murmur and worked with us to stage a sale that has returned a trade of relative strength on both days. Indeed, those yearlings that appealed most drew the normal level of activity from a large group of buyers from the UK, Ireland and those European countries on the UK's current green list."

Year-on-year comparisons are not entirely straightforward given the change in currency, with last year's sale conducted in euros, but at the current rates the average was down by 13 per cent to £13,345 and the median slipped by the same amount to £10,000.

The clearance rate was 68 per cent as 185 of 273 offered yearlings changed hands. With the sale having moved from Ireland to Britain, the catalogue was hit by a significant number of withdrawals, meaning 24 per cent fewer lots were offered at this year's Sportsman's Sale and 87 fewer yearlings sold. In turn, turnover dropped by 43 per cent to £2,468,900.

The top lot came as Ross Doyle, standing outside by the shoot, and Alex Elliott, bidding from the office opposite the rostrum, clashed over The Castlebridge Consignment's well-related Night Of Thunder filly, with Doyle winning out at £72,000.

The filly is out of Muzhil, a Manduro half-sister to the Middleton Stakes winner Beautiful Romance and the Listed-placed Executive Force. The dam supplied her first winner seven days before the sale when Monzoon, a son of Bated Breath, struck at Dundalk.

"She's a really good physical and a very good mover," said Doyle after signing the ticket. "She seems to have a great temperament, like most of these Night Of Thunders have. The sire is obviously a big draw but I was particularly impressed by the physical; I think she'd have held her own in most sales."

Ross Doyle: 'The sire is obviously a big draw but I was particularly impressed by the physical; I think she'd have held her own in most sales'Credit: Goffs

Richard Hannon trained Night Of Thunder to win the 2,000 Guineas, in which he beat Kingman and Australia, and the Lockinge Stakes before the son of Dubawi retired to Darley's Kildangan Stud.

The trainer is now set to take charge of Doyle's latest acquisition. The agent said: "She's going to Richard Hannon and has been bought on spec. He's quite a fan of the sire for obvious reasons."

The Night Of Thunder filly was making her second appearance at public auction having been pinhooked for a client of Emerald Bloodstock's at 21,000gns at last year's Tattersalls December Foal Sales.

Reflecting on the day he signed for the youngster, Emerald's Peter Kelly said: "She was a beautiful filly from a big family. I thought the sire had a big chance of breaking through and that's what he did!"

Fine and Dandy for Mags

It took just five lots for day one's high mark to be matched on Friday as Norman Williamson went to £50,000 for the Dandy Man colt out of Little Kipling offered by Ballyhane Stud. Although Williamson is no stranger to signing for yearlings for his Oak Tree Farm breeze-up operation, he explained he had been acting on behalf of agent Mags O'Toole.

"Mags O'Toole, who has left the building as they say, asked me to bid on him for her," said Williamson. "The sire is, as always, having a good time and he has a nice pedigree. He's a grand colt who looks like he'll be an early type."

Lot 698: the Dandy Man colt bought by Mags O'Toole for £50,000Credit: Goffs

The transaction represented a good bit of business for Ballyhane's Joe Foley, as he had signed for Little Kipling, a Royal Applause sister to the stakes-winning and Grade 2-placed Royal Albert Hall, at just 5,000gns at the Tattersalls July Sale in 2017 before sending her to Ballyhane's linchpin stallion Dandy Man.

The colt is the first foal out of Little Kipling, who produced a filly by Camacho on March 28 this year before she was among the debut book of mares to visit Ballyhane's new recruit Soldier's Call.

Foley said of Little Kipling: "She was a winner and a good-looking filly by Royal Applause, who is a good broodmare sire, and is out of a winning mare in Victoria Sponge.

"She was also a sister to a good horse in Royal Albert Hall. She's in foal to Soldier's Call but after today she could well be going back to Dandy Man next year."

Alex Elliott on the mark

Alex Elliott got among the buyers when going to £46,000 for a Pride Of Dubai filly offered by Lodge Park Stud late in the session. The February-born filly is out of The Shrew, a Listed-placed Dansili half-sister to Mill Reef winner James Garfield.

Elliott said: "She's been bought for Michael Bell. It's a Gredley family and I just thought she was gorgeous. She's a big scopey filly and I quite like the stallion; he's had Fancy Man and Star Of Emaraaty this year, although she actually looks a bit more like a Street Cry [sire of Pride Of Dubai] than anything.

"She vetted very well and she comes from a fantastic farm too. There wasn't much not to like."

Lot 834: the Pride Of Dubai filly bought by Alex Elliott for £46,000Credit: Goffs

Lodge Park's Damian Burns added: "She's a lovely straightforward filly. She's the biggest the mare has had, she's quite a small mare herself. We actually put her up for the Orby but because the mare had only bred two winners Henry [Beeby] advised us to come here instead, even though she was more of an Orby type physically."

Lodge Park offered three lots across the two Sportsman's Sale sessions and sold all three for receipts totalling £73,000. Reflecting on the state of trade in Doncaster, Burns said: "The nice horses are selling well but if you haven't got the individual you will struggle. It's the same story every year, it's just a bit less forgiving this year.

"We've had to make that bit of extra effort to bring the horses over but everyone is doing their bit this year. There's a market there and trade is going on."

Dods lands well-related Vadamos

The session's fourth top lot will be heading to Michael Dods' Denton Hall Stables after the Group 1-winning trainer went to £37,000 for the Vadamos colt out of Strike A Light offered by Tally-Ho Stud.

The colt boasted a sizeable update as his Coulsty half-sister Suicide Squad had won the Listed Premio Repubbliche Marinare since the catalogue's publication. Tally-Ho's Roger O'Callaghan said: "Geoffrey Howson bought the mare [for 10,000gns].

"We couldn't get a bid for Suicide Squad last year but the Italians bought her after and she looks a good filly now."

Tally-Ho sold six yearlings for an aggregate of £117,500 across the two days. O'Callaghan acknowledged the tricky market conditions but, with eight lots to sell at the Orby Sale and 13 more at Book 1, was content to look forward rather than backward.

"It's been tough going, but then every sale is tough," he said. "We have to sell next week and the week after so we've just got to keep on going. We'll just carry on as usual and do what we have to do."

Dods said of his purchase: "He looked a tough colt, an easy mover, and the half-sister has done well. He won't be an early two-year-old but the sire has done okay."

Final word

Beeby concluded his end-of-sale statement by saying: "We want to acknowledge our appreciation to all attendees over the last few days as we are very aware that the protocols in place, whilst very necessary, can be frustrating on occasions. However, they have been embraced with a level of acceptance and good humour, which is helpful as we strive to do the right thing when no one really knows what that entails!

"Of course the stats do not compare with previous renewals of the Sportsman's Sale but the key point is liquidity and the ability to trade. In that connection the last two days have delivered, although comparing with 12 months ago is made even harder by the fluctuation of sterling in the intervening period, so we would suggest that the most revealing figure is the clearance rate."

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