‘He’s a global commodity’ – Frankel fever at Goffs as three lots fetch €440,000
Frankel (Galileo) lit up the Goffs November Sale ring on Sunday when a quartet of the world champion’s sons and daughters became the four most expensive foals sold in Ireland in 2020.
The day had begun with a 12th individual Group/Grade 1 winner for Juddmonte Farms’ homebred superstar when his two-year-old son Grenadier Guards won the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) at Hanshin in a track record for breeders Northern Racing.
It got even better when, during an extraordinary 45 minutes at Kildare Paddocks, the four Frankel foals in the catalogue sold in quick succession for six-figure sums, with three of them making €440,000 (approx. AUD$715,000) apiece.
First into the ring was the supplementary entry from The Castlebridge Consignment, a colt out of the Chartwell Stakes (Gr 3, 7f) winner and Matron Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) second Lily’s Angel (Dark Angel).
Bred by Phillistown Stud, he is a half-brother to three winners and the good-walking bay colt drew a host of admirers, which in turn saw the price increase steadily to €440,000. He was bought by Harry Sweeney of Paca Paca Farm and will travel to Japan where his sire had his first top-flight winner, Soul Stirring.
Sweeney said of his purchase: “Frankel has done very well in Japan where he is the sire of two Group 1 winners there this year, including a two-year-old colt this morning who won impressively in a course-record time.
“They are big, strong horses who do well in Japan and he’s a proven sire. I thought that was plenty of money for this colt but hopefully he will be lucky for us.”
Frankel’s dual Grade 1-winning son Mozu Ascot has been added to the Japanese stallion ranks, standing at Arrow Stud, while Frankel’s Group 1 winning full-brother Noble Mission, sire of Code Of Honor, has transferred to Shizunai Stallion Station from Lane’s End Farm for 2021.
Oneliner have the last laugh
A close relation to the colt out of Lily’s Angel was also offered and the Neilstown Stud-consigned youngster duly made €360,000 (approx. AUD$584,235) to the Lowry family’s Oneliner Stables.
Bred by Nick and Alice Nugent, the colt is in fact a half-brother to Lily’s Angel, who was also bred by the Goffs auctioneer and his wife, and to the Rosemary Stakes (Listed, 1m) winner and Cape Verdi Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m) second Zurigha (Cape Cross).
An elegant bay in the mould of his sire and grandsire, he was a standout in every way. His dam Noyelles (Docksider) is an unraced half-sister to the Prix de Flore (Gr 3, 2100m) winner In Clover (Inchinor), who in turn is the dam of three Group 1 winners including Frankel’s Prix du Cadran (Gr 1, 4000m) scorer Call The Wind.
The Oneliner team, who had been forced to quickly regroup having underbid Juddmonte on the preceding lot into the ring, secured the final Frankel foal to be offered this year.
“We are delighted to get him, we were underbidder on the previous lot and they were our two picks of the day,” said a relieved Gerard Lowry.
“They are two lovely foals by an amazing racehorse and champion. Frankel is a global commodity and he has worked with the family in the past. He has an exciting bunch of two-year-olds this year with eight black type horses and for a son of Galileo to get that many black type horses at two is excellent.
“This is a proven cross and the mare is a proven producer already and is from a Group 1 family.”
Juddmonte join the fray
Two of the four Frankel foals were consigned by Mariann Klay and Des Leadon’s Swordlestown Little Stud, with Juddmonte Farms going to €440,000 for the colt out of Nisriyna (Intikhab).
He is a half-brother to Centenary Vase (Gr 3, 1800m) winner and Hong Kong Gold Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) third Dinozzo (Lilbourne Lad), one of four runners and winners out of the mare. Perseverance paid off for Barry Mahon as Juddmonte’s Irish stud director had been underbidder to Harry Sweeney on the colt out of Lily’s Angel.
“Prince Khalid was very keen on this colt and he fits in very well with Prince Khalid’s programme,” said Mahon on the latest addition to Juddmonte’s high-powered string of bluebloods.
“Frankel is a truly international sire as we saw again in the last few hours with his latest Grade 1 winner in Japan and he has a great bunch of foals here who are a great credit to the Irish breeders who used him. This colt was beautifully prepared by top breeders and we were delighted to get him.”
It was the third attempt for the Juddmonte team to buy a foal on Saturday, proving the old adage of third time luck true. Mahon added: “We also underbid the Frankel out of Lily’s Angel and an Expert Eye filly who earlier made €180,000 [Lot 660 from Ballylinch Stud, a half-sister to Group 3 winners Burnt Sugar and Brown Sugar, bought by Yeomanstown Stud]. She was very nice and we have some lovely foals at home by the sire.”
Swordlestown Little also offered the only filly in the sale by Frankel and she boasted a pedigree that befitted her lofty price tag of €440,000. The February foal is a half-sister to Terebellum (Sea The Stars), who won this year’s Dahlia Stakes (Gr 2, 1m 2f) and pushed Circus Maximus (Galileo) all the way to the line in the Queen Anne Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) at Royal Ascot.
Their dam Marvada (Elusive City) won the Brownstown Stakes (Gr 3, 7f) and is a half-sister to the Listed-placed Paint In Green (Invincible Spirit), who is also the dam of Premio Lydia Tesio (Gr 1, 2000m) hero Sound Of Freedom (Duke Of Marmalade). The blue-blooded filly was bought on an online bid from Blackstar Bloodstock.
Lucky Vega sibling stars
Lucky Vega (Lope De Vega), successful in the Phoenix Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) this year for Jessica Harrington, was a Goffs Orby graduate from Baroda Stud and his Footstepsinthesand (Giant’s Causeway) half-brother was a standout when the catalogue for this sale was released.
Consigned like his older sibling by David Cox’s nursery, the colt had far more to recommend him than just the exploits of Lucky Vega, who was also placed in the Middle Park Stakes (Gr 1, 6f).
A good-looking colt by the son of the brilliant Giant’s Causeway (Storm Cat) and out of a Cape Cross (Green Desert) daughter of Prix de l’Opera (Gr 1, 2000m) winner Satwa Queen (Muhtathir), the athletic bay was an excellent mover and an impressive advert for his sire.
He will be coming back to Goffs for the Orby Sale where expectations will be heightened considerably by the €300,000 (approx. AUD$486,860) paid for him by the JC Organisation, clients of Goffs’ Scandinavia representative Filip Zwicky.
“He’s a beautiful foal and we loved him even without the update,” said Zwicky. “He’s for very good clients of mine and Goffs and they will bring him back here for the Orby Sale next year.
“It’s their first time to pinhook a foal, they have bought broodmares and horses to race at Goffs before. They bought two horses at the Orby Sale in 2018, which was their first time to buy horses here.
“One was by No Nay Never and the other was a colt by Tapizar who they named Bullof Wall Street and he won the Swedish Derby this year, so they have been very lucky and successful with their Goffs purchases and hopefully this colt will continue that.”
Trade stepped up several notches on the previous two days with a session that was high on quality.
The appetite for the best of the 2020 foal crop on offer was reflected in a clearance rate of 82 per cent and an average price of €76,844 (approx. AUD$124,708). The median was at €52,000 (approx. AUD$84,400) and total sales for the session came in at €10,374,000 (approx. AUD$16.84 million).
Overall the three days were a success, with 75 per cent of foals offered selling, the average was down 12 points on 2019 to €36,743 (approx. AUD$59,629) while the median of €20,000 (approx. AUD$32,450) dropped nine per cent on last year’s sale.
Turnover for the three days was €17,489,600 (approx. AUD$28.38 million), which was a decline of 33 points on last year’s sale. However the 2019 renewal of the November Foal Sale was a record-breaking event and when placed against the 2018 version, this year’s sale held up very well in the unusual circumstances.