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Ben McElroy parts with £420,000 for yearling at Goffs Orby Sale
A colt by Irish National Stud resident Invincible Spirit (Green Desert) was the headline act on the first day of the Goffs Orby Sale on Wednesday as Ben McElroy parted with £420,000 (approximately $750,000) for the Irish National Stud-consigned youngster.
Catalogued as Lot 12, the colt is out of Aimhirgin Lass (Pivotal), who is herself out of unraced mare Nebrass (Green Desert) and was bought on behalf of Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Stables.
Nebrass is also the dam of Group 3 winner Yellow Rosebud (Jeremy) and Listed scorer Seeharn (Pivotal).
Further back this is the family of Arjuzah (Ahonoora) - the dam of Golden Jubilee Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) winner Malhub (Kingmambo) and Grade 3 winner Dhaamer (Dubai Destination).
Arjuzah herself is a grandam of Group 3 winner Heeraat (Dark Angel) and Listed winner Ambiance (Camacho).
Another colt by the Irish National Stud resident proved popular on day one with Avenue Bloodstock parting with £350,000 for the Airlie Stud-consigned youngster.
The colt - who was catalogued as Lot 221 - is out of the winning Xaar (Zafonic) mare Kate The Great, making him a half-brother to 2015 Bengough Stakes (Gr 3, 6f) winner Eastern Impact (Bahamian Bounty) and stakes performer Miss Kate Mae (Dark Angel).
Later in the afternoon, a filly by Dark Angel (Acclamation) proved popular with CBR Bloodstock going to £400,000 to secure the Baroda Stud-consigned filly.
Catalogued as Lot 153, the youngster is out of Lised winner Fashionable (Nashwan), making her a half-sister to Group 3 winner Jack Naylor (Champs Elysees) and a further four winners.
The filly’s third dam is dual winner De Stael (Nijinksy), who in turn produced three-time Grade 1 winner Wandesta (Nashwan), Group 2 scorer De Quest (Rainbow Quest) and Listed winners Source Of Light (Rainbow Quest) and Turners Hill (Top Ville).
The Hong Kong Jockey Club left it late to make their sole purchase for the day, when snapping up a colt by Dark Angel from the Grangemore Stud draft for £260,000.
Catalogued as Lot 241, the yearling is out of dual-winning Exceed And Excel mare Layla Jamil, making him a brother to Group 2 winner Birchwood.
Layla Jamil herself is a half-sister to Enrika's Gift (Orpen), who produced Australian-bred Happy Patrick (Encosta De Lago), who landed the Macau Sprint Trophy (Listed, 1200m) in 2013.
Group 1-winning Haunui Farm shuttler Belardo (Lope De Vega) has made a good start with his first northern hemisphere crop and his three-quarters brother was purchased by Coolmore’s M V Magnier for £180,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale on Wednesday.
Catalogued as Lot 109 and offered by Ballylinch Stud, the colt is out of stakes-placed Montjeu (Sadler’s Wells) mare Diamond Sky who is herself a sister to Berling who is one of five winners out of Danaskaya (Danehill).
Darley’s stalwart shuttler Exceed And Excel (Danehill) has consistently been banging in the winners on both sides of the globe for the past decade, so it was no surprise to see a colt by the sire make £170,000 on Wednesday when selling to Dwayne Woods.
The colt was catalogued as Lot 92 and offered as part of the Abbeville Stud draft the yearling is out of Italian Group 3 winner Cottonmouth (Noverre).
Cottonmouth has already proved herself a good producer with seven of her progeny being winners, headlined by Group 1 winner Dylan Mouth (Dylan Thomas) and Listed-winning pair Henry Mouth (Henrythenavigator) and Per Un Dixir (Holy Roman Emperor).
Scone-based trainer Sam Kavanagh and Byron Rogers made their presence felt on the first day of the sale when purchasing a colt from the first-crop of Cheveley Park’s new stallion Ulysses (Galileo) for £80,000.
Catalogued as Lot 112 and offered as part of Yeomanstown Stud draft, the colt is out of the unraced Pivotal (Polar Falcon) mare Diyavana, who is herself a daughter of Group 2 winner Diamond Tango (Acatenango), making her a half-sister to Group 2 winner Desert Skyline (Tamayuz).
Diamond Tango herself is out of Group 3 winner Diamond Dance (Dancehall) - the dam of four further winners including stakes winner Crystal Diamond (Teofilo).
Overall on Wednesday 163 of the 201 lots offered sold (81 per cent) for a total of £11,392,000. This was down approximately 44 per cent, for eight per cent fewer horses offered, from 2019 when 187 of the 219 lots offered sold (85 per cent) for €23,059,500 (approximately £20,407,659). The average on Wednesday was £69,980, down 36 per cent from €123,313 (approximately £109,123) in 2019. The median also fell approximately 25 per cent to £50,000, down from €75,000 (approximately £66,375) in the opening session a year ago which saw a top lot of €2,200,000.
Click here to view the sale results.