Bond Thoroughbreds makes €1.32m splash on day one at Goffs

Owner Charlie Bond was among the busiest buyers on the ground at Goffs, with four new recruits added to the Bond Thoroughbred ranks at a cost of €1,320,000.

The priciest of the quartet was the Frankel half-sister to Naval Power, who fetched €440,000 when offered by Tally-Ho Stud. The filly was signed for alongside agent Jason Kelly and trainer Christopher Head. The same connections also landed a Wootton Bassett colt from Castlehyde Stud at €420,000 earlier in the session. 

“There won’t be many more yearlings by Wootton Bassett now, so it's a case of buying them while you can,” said Bond. “Christopher knows Wootton Bassett inside out, he's trained so many winners by him, and this is the one he had on his list. We loved him too.

Read the sales report from day one of the Goffs Orby

“A beautifully bred Frankel filly speaks for herself. She was bought for the pedigree alone. She wouldn’t even need to hit the racetrack at that sort of money, in my view.” 

The familiar Bond Thoroughbred silks have twice come close to Group 1 glory when Head saddled Maranoa Charlie, another by Wootton Bassett, to finish second in the Prix Jean Prat and third in the City Of York Stakes. 

“Christopher's been great, I love what he does with all the technology and the stats he uses,” said Bond. “We’re introducing artificial intelligence into our own business and he's starting to use it too. We call our trainers partners, as it’s all about relationships. The communication has to be high.” 

Maranoa Charlie is being primed for a tilt at the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp on Sunday, where his owner hopes the three-year-old will further underline his stallion credentials. 

“Maranoa Charlie runs in France on Sunday and the rain is coming to help him,” he said. “He’s a good-looking horse by Wootton Bassett and the phone has been red-hot about him since the sad news about his sire.” 

Photo gallery: faces in the crowd as the great and good descend on Goffs 

He is not the only stallion prospect among the Bond Thoroughbred ranks, with recent private acquisition Marvelman being lined up for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions Day. 

“We won’t stand them at stud ourselves but we’ll work with partners,” Bond added. “We've got 24 broodmares now so it’s important to develop stallions for them to go to.” 

Maranoa Charlie will run in Sunday's Prix de la Foret at Longchamp on Sunday

The owner tasted Group success at the Curragh on Sunday when the Paddy Twomey-trained Black Caviar Gold landed the Weld Park Stakes.

The two-year-old filly is by Havana Grey, and Bond bolstered his string with the Irish trainer by landing a colt by the same sire at €200,000. 

“This is something completely different for us, as a speedy Royal Ascot two-year-old type,” he said. “I think it was me who introduced Havana Grey to Paddy, I told him the mindset of the sire and his progeny is unbelievable.” 

The quartet of purchases was completed by a €260,000 son of Mehmas who was also signed for in conjunction with Twomey. 

“We’re probably two years ahead of schedule in what we’ve done this year,” Bond said. “It’s super exciting. We had the Group 3 winner here yesterday and she didn’t just win, she bolted up. Billy said he had a hell of a lot left in the tank and the time was amazing. It's great to get Bond Thoroughbred back winning races at Group level.”

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