'She’s beautiful, with size, scope and a fantastic temperament' - Zarkareva tops Goffs at €240,000

Goffs saved the Christmas treats for last at the December National Hunt Sale with the selection box of mares providing the highlights of the four-day sale.

The biggest treat was enjoyed by Katie Rudd, who sold the beautifully bred and cleverly covered Zarkareva through her and John Dwan's Ballyreddin and Busherstown draft.

The seven-year-old brought a winning bid of €240,000 from the free-spending Coolmara Stables team, who have spent the last few years assembling a broodmare band of exceptional quality at a commensurate expense.

Zarkareva was trained by Henry de Bromhead to win the Grade 3 Buck House Novice Chase at Punchestown. She earned her Grade 1 black type at the same track when third to Energumene in the 2m novice chase at the festival and she was also placed in the Grade 3 Pierce Molony Memorial Novice Chase at Thurles.

She is by Authorized, who is the broodmare sire of Ballymore Novices' Hurdle, Champion Bumper and Leopardstown Grade 1 novice hurdle winner Sir Gerhard and Navajo Pass, successful in the Grade 2 Summit Juvenile Hurdle and Haydock Champion Hurdle Trial.

Her family is another brilliant Aga Khan creation as her dam Zarkiyna is a half-sister to Zarkasha, dam of the outstanding champion Zarkava and Zarkandar, whose four Grade 1 triumphs for Paul Nicholls include the Triumph Hurdle and the Grand Prix d'Automne.

It was a fantastic result for Rudd, who has previously sourced the likes of Grade 1 winner Lalor and Farouk D'Alene.

“I’m over the moon," beamed Rudd. "I bought her privately out of training and sent her to No Risk At All. He got injured shortly afterwards, so we were very lucky. 

"I’ve a real soft spot for the sire. I had Allegorie De Vassy [Grade 2 winner] and more recently Full Of Shade, who was sold for €280,000 to Willie Mullins, Harold Kirk and Pierre Boulard in the summer. So I’m a huge fan, he’s been very lucky for me."

With such a pedigree, being in foal to one of the best National Hunt stallions around and a career highlights reel of bold black type, Zarkareva was a standout from the moment the catalogue was released.

Rudd added: “I was quietly optimistic before she went into the ring that she would sell well. She’s a beautiful mare, with size, scope and a fantastic temperament. Add in to that her pedigree and race record, and she really ticked plenty of boxes."

With the pinhooking element of her business in mind, Rudd ventured that this might not be the end of her association with Zarkareva.

Zarkareva: Graded winner from the family of Zarkava and in foal to No Risk At All sold to Coolmara Stables for €240,000 at GoffsCredit: Goffs

“She’s gone to a great home in Coolmara," she said. "Hopefully I can buy a foal out of her some day!"

The six-figure sale set the seal on an enormously successful first year since Dwan and Rudd combined their consigning ventures, which Rudd took a moment to reflect upon.

“It has gotten off to a great start, so long may it continue," she said. "The year has been brilliant. A lot of the thinking behind the amalgamation was so that we could go to France and target those two-year-old sales. My forte is the French industry, so it made sense to target what works there. 

"I’m big into pedigrees. There is a good pedigree behind a lot of those good horses in France and, quite often, they are a different type to what we have over here."

Zarkareva was one of two mares offered on Thursday by Ballyreddin and Busherstown, with Hamish Macauley purchasing the other at €80,000.

Delightfantastic is a winning Yeats half-sister to this season's Persian War Novices' Hurdle winner Captain Teague and to Sky Pirate, who won the Grand Annual for Jonjo O'Neill. Her closely related brother by Order Of St George made €80,000 here on Tuesday.

Coolmara make waves once more

The Mariga family has become one of the biggest buying forces at National Hunt breeding stock sales over the past six years, purchasing mares including Grade 1 winner Petite Parisienne and Maskada, who gave the Cork family one of their best days in racing at Cheltenham last March when successful in the Grand Annual for De Bromhead and Darragh O'Keeffe.

When a well-bred mare or talented performer comes on the market, chances are they will be among the bidders and so it was at Goffs on Thursday afternoon when Zarkareva made her entrance under the sales ring spotlights.

Cathal Mariga, who is part of the next intake of students on the Irish National Stud's breeding course, revealed that sire power had a lot to do with their determination to add Zarkareva to their ever-expanding broodmare band in east Cork.

"We all saw what No Risk At All can do in the sales ring this week, siring the highest-priced foal in the world this year [€120,000 colt out of Hidden Harmony], and he's a sire we really like," said Mariga.

Katie Rudd, who sold the sale-topper at Goffs on ThursdayCredit: Orla Donworth

Her broodmare sire was another part of the package that appealed to the family.

"She's by Authorized and I am a big fan of him as a sire," he said. "We used his son Santiago for some of our mares and we sold one earlier this week for €43,000 [colt out of Listed-placed Takeittothelimits]. Santiago's stock look really nice and it's a sireline I think is very good."

With 30 broodmares, including two new Flat recruits, making plans for mating all the mares requires creativity and the family has sent some to France in the last couple of seasons, using the best sires on offer. That could be an option for Zarkareva too.

He said: "We will foal her down and see what the No Risk At All is like but she could go back to France to be covered. She is a lovely mare with a great Aga Khan pedigree and a champion on the page, so hopefully she is lucky for us."

Familiar faces make headlines

Jackie and Justin Owens of Mount Armstrong Stud, outside Clane, are becoming a regular feature of this sale report, having made the headlines here two years ago when purchasing the Grade 1 JLT Novices' Chase and Neville Hotels Novice Chase heroine Shattered Love for €260,000. They earned top billing as vendors last year when selling Shattered Love's first foal, a colt by Walk In The Park, for €155,000.

For the third year running they make an appearance in the report and returned to their original guise as buyers, again delving into the Gigginstown cupboard for Scarlet And Dove, who cost a little less than Shattered Love at €200,000.

Grade 3 winner Scarlet And Dove made €200,000 in foal to Crystal OceanCredit: Orla Donworth

Offered carrying her first foal, by Crystal Ocean, the nine-year-old daughter of Jeremy was trained by Joseph O'Brien to win a pair of Grade 2 mares' chases and a Grade 3 contest of that type in addition to the Grade 3 Flyingbolt Novice Chase against geldings. 

Her year-younger full-brother Lets Go Champ is in training with De Bromhead for Roger Brookhouse and was second in a novice chase at Punchestown on Tuesday, having filled the same position in a Grade B handicap hurdle at the track's big meeting last April.

Their dam Dark Mimosa is a Bahri half-sister to the star-crossed Our Conor, the Triumph Hurdle and Spring Juvenile Hurdle winner by Jeremy, so having that potential superstar as such a close relation gave added pedigree points to Scarlet And Dove.

Justin Owens said: "She is a queen of a mare, a great model and in foal to a very promising young sire. She was the pick of the mares here and we are delighted to get her."

Her second dam Flamands is a Sadler's Wells full-sister to Casey Tibbs, who was a Listed winner on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and second in the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes. 

She is also a full-sister to the Listed Prix de Thiberville winner String Quartet, who is the dam of Group 2 Park Hill Stakes and Group 3 Lillie Langtry Stakes winner Meeznah. Another half-sister,  Oiseau De Feu, is the dam of Oiseau Rare, who won the Group 2 Prix de Royallieu and Group 3 Prix Minerve.

Scarlet And Dove's six-year-old half-sister Jenny Flex was offered six lots later as part of the Robcour draft and made €62,000 to Peria Stud. By Walk In The Park, she won a chase at Down Royal in early October for Gordon Elliott and had previously been successful in a four-year-old mares' maiden for Colin Bowe.

Jackie Owens of Mount Armstrong Stud signing for her new mares at GoffsCredit: Sophie Webber Photography

In the three years since the couple established their own operation at the original site of Noel O'Callaghan's Mountarmstrong Sud, they have focused on developing a mixed band of Flat and National Hunt broodmares, with the emphasis firmly on purchasing mares of the highest quality.

Owens said: "We are establishing a mixed broodmare band and looking for foundation mares like Shattered Love and now her. We are trying to do something that has a commercial element to it as well as racing some of the offspring, so we want to have a group of high-class mares to breed from."

With the likes of Shattered Love and Scarlet And Dove on the National Hunt side of the broodmare band, and using stallions that are always in demand at the sales, their approach seems to be striking the correct balance.

Shattered Love has a filly foal by Crystal Ocean who has been retained and, unsurprisingly, is back in foal to Walk In The Park.

Robcour mares popular addition

The Gigginstown mares will be joined at Mount Armstrong by one to have carried the black, white and pink silks of Robcour. Gin On Lime won the Grade 3 Like A Butterfly Novice Chase for De Bromhead and was fourth in the Grade 1 Manifesto Novices' Chase at Aintree.

By Doctor Dino, her third dam is a half-sister to the Cheltenham winning full-brothers Hors La Loi, who was victorious in the Champion Hurdle and Supreme Novices' Hurdle, and Stayers' Hurdle winner Cyborgo.

Gin On Lime ahead of her sale at Goffs for €75,000 to Mount Armstrong StudCredit: Orla Donworth

Brian Acheson's Robcour offered a quintet of mares at Goffs on Thursday, with the highest price of €90,000 given by Peter Molony of Rathmore Stud for Say Goodbye, a Getaway full-sister to the Grade 1 Kauto Star Novices' Chase second The Big Breakaway.

Second in the Paddy Mullins Mares' Handicap Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival and a Listed winner over jumps in America, she was trained by Elliott and actually beat Gin On Lime in a chase at Limerick last year. 

She is a half-sister to Kildisart, winner of the Grade 3 handicap chase at Aintree's Grand National meeting for Ben Pauling, and out of Princess Mairead, who is a half-sister to the dam of Rathvinden. The family also includes Grade 1 Navan Novice Hurdle third Aura About You, who is the dam of Grade 1 Golden Cygnet Novice Hurdle winner Latest Exhibition.

Molony also bought the Grade 2 Black Hills Handicap Chase and Listed Opera Hat Mares' Chase winner Magic Daze from the draft outside the ring for €80,000. 

By Doyen, and another trained at Knockeen Stables, she comes from the Hickey family's most successful pedigree in recent years. Her second dam, Magic Park, is a Carroll House half-sister to the Gold Cup, King George, Punchestown Gold Cup, Durkan Chase and Irish Arkle hero Kicking King, and to Fairy Lane, the dam of Grade 1 Manifesto Novices' Chase winner Kalashnikov.

Foals fail to fire

Thursday morning's final foal session failed to hit the heights of earlier in the week, with a pair of colts by Blue Bresil and a son of Jukebox Jury the highlights of a more subdued trade.

Molony's Rathmore Stud were the buyers of both Blue Bresil colts, going to €35,000 for Walshtown Stables' son of Listed mares' novice handicap chase winner Me And Ben. The daughter of Revoque is a half-sister to the Listed bumper winner Duhallow Gesture, whose own foal by Rathbarry Stud's Grade 1 sire made €40,000 at Goffs on Wednesday. 

Their dam Monumental Gesture is a half-sister to Grade 1 and Cheltenham Festival winners Rhinestone Cowboy and Wichita Lineman, and to the dam of Grade 1 Drinmore Novice Chase winner Coney Island.

Rathmore Stud's Peter Molony was busy as both buyer and vendor at Goffs on ThursdayCredit: Sophie Webber Photography

The Blue Bresil colt out of the unraced Galileo mare Mardie Gras was knocked down to Rathmore Stud for €30,000. Consigned by Tullogher House Stud, he is out of a half-sister to a Grade 3 chase winner in West With The Wind, Champion Bumper runner-up New Year's Eve and the Listed-placed Flat performer and hurdles winner Midnight Game.

Gerry Hogan went to €30,000 for Tom Coughlan's Jukebox Jury colt who is the third foal out of Missdeschamps, placed twice in point-to-points. Her dam is a Be My Native half-sister to Livingstonebramble, who won the Dan Moore Handicap Chase and was second in the Thyestes Chase for Willie Mullins.

Statistics

The final day of trade consisted of mares and foals, and the clearance rate of 58 per cent was exactly the same as that recorded on the preceding two days; a total of 93 horses out of the 159 offered were sold for receipts of €1,947,300 at an average price of €20,939, with the median at €10,000.

Over the four sessions of foals the clearance rate was remarkably consistent at 59 per cent, with 424 sold from 713 offered. That trade generated receipts of €6,812,050 with an average price of €16,066 and a median of €12,000.

The mare trade on Thursday generated turnover of €1,389,900 for 44 mares sold at an average of €31,589.

End-of-sale statement

In his end-of-sale statement, Goffs group chief executive Henry Beeby pointed to the growth that the December National Hunt Sale has experienced over the last decade.

"The two top-priced National Hunt foals of the year anywhere, together with the ten highest prices for a National Hunt broodmare in Ireland and the United Kingdom this autumn, clearly illustrate the progress this sale has made as such accolades would have been unthinkable a few years ago," he said. 

"Goffs December is now the clear first choice for so many National Hunt breeders, which led to our largest ever catalogue for this sale and four days that witnessed some serious bidding duels for several outstanding young future jumpers and established broodmares. €120,000, our second highest National Hunt foal ever, and the €240,000 for Zarkareva are proper headline acts and we are delighted to have delivered consistently at the top of the market."

Kieran and Cathal Mariga of Coolmara Stables Credit: Sophie Webber Photography

He also mentioned that the clearance rate reflected the difficulties in the wider marketplace.

"It must, however, be noted that the market has spoken loudly at the middle to lower end of the week, as evidenced by a clearance rate that makes for serious reflection," he said. 

"Goffs will always strive to provide the best possible marketplace for all categories and work tirelessly to deliver for every vendor but, when four in every ten fail to find a buyer, it must surely be a warning sign for breeders when making plans for next year and beyond. 

"Indeed, this is a sobering statistic, especially for the smaller entities, and I can only state that Goffs will continue to work with everyone to create the best possible arena for each entry we receive. That includes the ITBA, HRI, ITM and individual breeders as our fortunes are indelibly linked to those of each vendor who chooses the Goffs service."

Read more from Goffs

Lightning strikes again at Goffs for Galbertstown Stables and Orchardstown Stud 

'He's been a lovely colt from birth' - close relative to Stage Star ignites Goffs sale at €110,000 

It's a Walk In The Park at Goffs as Coolmore sires dominate upper echelons of trade