Written by Chris McGrath (TDN Europe)
Cover image courtesy of Goffs/ Sarah Farnsworth
It had felt like an apt morning to start a breeze-up sale: find a sunny nook away from the north wind, and it was a glorious spring day; find yourself exposed, and you felt a bitter parting shot of winter. That kind of polarity is pretty standard in this sector, but a stunning Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale, headlined by a £500,000 (AU$938,000) Harry Angel (Ire) colt from Tally Ho who became the most expensive flare horse ever sold in this ring, allowed many vendors to bask, almost dazed, in their own personal sunbeams.
Last year, this auction produced 17 six-figure sales from 158 lots. This time round, as many had been recorded by the halfway stage of an admittedly expanded offering of 184. By the end of proceedings, no fewer than 33 lots had made £100,000 (AU$187,000) or more. At one stage there were three £200,000 (374,000)-plus sales–as many as were achieved from the whole catalogue last year–in the course of just seven lots into the ring. The average duly soared from £48,989 (AU$92,000) to £63,396 (AU$119,000) (up 29 per cent). The median rose 11 per cent to £40,000 (AU$75,000).
Lot 191 - Harry Angel (Ire) x Go Angellica (Ire) (colt) | Image courtesy of Goffs
In the circumstances, it could be no surprise that the principal protagonists in the record sale should be those namesakes, and mutual stalwarts of this auction, the O’Callaghan family of Tally-Ho Stud and trainer Michael O’Callaghan.
With typical acuity, Tally Ho had bought the record-breaking colt as a €38,000 (AU$63,000) foal, at the Goffs November Sale of 2021; not as a potential yearling pinhook, but expressly as a long-term play for their breeze-up division. He was out of Go Angellica (Ire) (Kheleyf {USA}) (Lot 191), who promised to double down the speed as a stakes winner at two.
“Yes, when we bought him the plan was always to breeze,” confirmed Roger O'Callaghan. “He was always a class horse, a natural: unbelievable temperament, just easy, so simple. When you asked him, he delivered. And when you didn't ask him, he didn't!”
“He (Lot 191) was always a class horse, a natural: unbelievable temperament, just easy, so simple. When you asked him, he delivered. And when you didn't ask him, he didn't!” - Roger O'Callaghan
Michael O’Callaghan will already have had his eye drawn to the page, having bought dual Group winner Twilight Jet (Ire) (Twilight Son {GB}) from the same vendors here two years ago; he was out of a half-sister to Go Angellica. But then the colt breezed a tick off the quickest time of the sale on Monday.
“I thought him the best horse here by a long way,” the trainer declared. “Obviously, I’ve been extremely lucky with the vendors, and he’s from the same family as a very good horse for us. Trade has been very strong so we kept our powder dry for this lad, we didn’t want to leave without him.”
His model has often been to trade on breeze-up graduates, but the stakes for this one are plainly high.
Michael O'Callaghan signs the docket for Lot 191 | Image courtesy of Goffs/ Sarah Farnsworth
“Please God, he needs to be a Group 1 horse,” he conceded. “He could potentially be traded, down the line, but he has to go and do it. But if he can get to a high level by mid-summer, who knows? He certainly looks ready to go, hopefully we’ll be getting the top hats out.”
The main talking points
Tally Ho had already enjoyed another excellent day even before topping the sale and duly ended as leading consignor, banking £1,340,000 (AU$2.5 million) for a dozen sold. Federico Barberini/Apple Tree Stud gave £200,000 (AU$377,000) for a son (Lot 26) of Kodiac (GB), who has had some of his finest hours in this ring, out of a mare bought by Tally Ho for 35,000gns (AU$69,000) back in 2015. In the meantime she has gained fresh distinction as a half-sister to the mother of Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never {USA}).
Fillies were in conspicuous demand and Longways Stables processed two with nice pedigrees within five minutes for a total of £550,000 (AU$1 million). Jake Warren gave £340,000 (AU$641,000) for a Dark Angel (Ire) filly (Lot 167) (a €52,500/AU$88,000 private purchase at Arqana) specifically because his clients Bermuda Racing would ultimately want to breed from “a beautiful filly who did a phenomenal breeze-and whose half-sister has already bred a top-class horse” in G2 May Hill S. winner Powerful Breeze (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}). Then two lots later Oliver St Lawrence gave £210,000 (AU$396,000) for a Dubawi (Ire) filly (Lot 169) out of a Group-placed mare.
Havana Grey (GB) built on his Newmarket triumph by fuelling another tremendous pinhook, Knockanglass Stable banking £200,000 (AU$377,000) from Al Mohamediya Racing for a son (Lot 46) found in this ring last August as a £27,000 (AU$51,000) private sale to Kilronan.
The Blue Point (Ire) bandwagon was another to keep on rolling, with five lots changing hands for an aggregate of £690,000 (AU$1.3 million). Katie Walsh of Greenhills Farm had been hoping to ride the wave with the colt (Lot 37) she had found in Book 2 at Tattersalls last October for 42,000gns (AU$83,000), and was delighted as he soared to £220,000 (AU$415,000) for Arthur Dobell of Oliver St Lawrence Bloodstock in the company of trainer Roger Varian. “The sire's on fire,” Walsh enthused. “With all the chat about them, I felt lucky to have one. They're just so consistent and straightforward. I'm not sorry that I can't be at Punchestown now!”
The Sioux Nation (USA) filly (Lot 35) presented by Gary Bloodstock clocked one of the fastest times on Monday and that completed an impressive salvage operation after she was returned unsold for €15,000 (AU$25,000) at Fairyhouse last September. A £160,000 (AU$302,000) docket from Avenue Bloodstock/Paddy Twomey was not just due reward for keeping the faith, but for John Nagle’s discovery of her young dam for just €2800 (AU$4600) at Goffs in February 2020. Another hit for Sioux Nation was the colt from Mocklershill (Lot 204) that brought £210,000 (AU$396,000) from Anthony Stroud.
One of the fastest times had set more parochial shoppers a challenge as a daughter of Lane’s End rookie Catalina Cruiser (USA) out of a mare aptly named Quizzical (USA), by the obscure Cindago (USA). She’d been purchased by Glending Stables for US$50,000 (AU$76,000) at Keeneland last September, but while Roderick Kavanagh could not quite match his eye-watering triumph at Tattersalls last week, £140,000 (AU$264,000) from Najd Stud was another highly satisfactory increment on his ledger.
Another profitable Keeneland pinhook was Lot 101, a son of the late Claiborne stallion Flatter (USA) picked out by Bushypark Stables for just €25,000 (AU$42,000) last September. Out of a sister to Grade 1 winner Capo Bastone (USA), here he elevated his value to £195,000 (AU$368,000) as Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock sought to enhance his brilliant record at this sale.
