‘If you’re serious about breeding the best, it’s a catalogue that really shouldn’t be missed’: genuine global appeal to Goffs Breeding Stock Sale

Cover image courtesy of Goffs

Timing is everything when it comes to racing and breeding, and much to the delight of everyone at Goffs, Saturday’s G1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley delivered a most timely reminder of the international appeal of the auction house’s November Breeding Stock Sale.

Folk Melody (Ire) (Street Cry {Ire}), the dam of gutsy Hong Kong raider Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) - now a four-time winner at the elite level - was purchased for €82,000 (AU$156,900) from the Godolphin draft back in November 2016, and subsequent to that, a number of other future Group 1 producers have emerged from the November Breeding Stock Sale, including the dams of recent elite-level scorers Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never {USA}), Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never {USA}) and Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio {USA}), to name but a few.

Then there is the dam of 5.4 million gns (AU$10.85 million) purchase Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never {USA}), the four-time Group 1 winner who ran her best race to date in Australia when fourth, beaten less than a length, in the $2 million The Invitation at Royal Randwick on Saturday.

An honour roll as recent and successful as that would ordinarily be enough to attract a global audience to County Kildare on November 24-25, but there is nothing ordinary about this year’s Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale, owing to the addition of a star-studded 41-strong draft from the Niarchos family as part of a decision to restructure their world-renowned breeding empire.

It’s a catalogue the like of which has not been seen for a while according to Beeby, who is relishing the prospect of attracting buyers from all over the world to compete for such a high-class ensemble of breeding stock.

“This sale is a consistent source of global quality and this year’s catalogue was already a very good catalogue, and then we added 41 from the Niarchos family,” Beeby told The Thoroughbred Report.

“We always have good drafts from Godolphin, they’ve got 54 this year, and we always have a good draft from the Aga Khan Studs, they’ve got 18. Ballylinch have got 16, The Irish National Stud 11, Moyglare have got eight and there’s 61 from the Castlebridge Consignment, including a dispersal from a very good German breeder in Gestut Hony-Hof.

“There’s good fillies off the track like Matilda Piccote, who recently won the G2 Challenge Stakes and there’s a multiple-Group-race winner, Insinuendo, trained by Willie McCreary. Then there’s very good Group 1 producers already like Laurelita and there’s 25 daughters of Galileo - obviously there’s going to be less of those as the years go by.

“It’s as good a catalogue as we’ve had for a long, long time and we expect huge global interest in it.”

Jewel in the crown

The list of champion racehorses bred or owned by the Niarchos family is both extensive and widespread in equal parts, with the likes of Kingmambo (USA) (Mr Prospector {USA}), Karakontie (Jpn) and the hugely influential Miesque (USA) (Nureyev {USA}) likely to continue featuring in the pedigrees of some of the world’s best performers for many generations to come.

The 41 Niarchos-owned lots to be offered at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale, which are spread across three different consignments, features no less than five Group 1-winning mares in foal to some of the best stallions on the planet, and there are plenty of others outside of that quintet for pedigree enthusiasts to drool over.

Seldom do racemares and producers of this quality end up at public auction, and the privilege of selling such highly credentialled offerings is not lost on Beeby and his team at Goffs.

“We’ve got a very good catalogue even without those, but obviously those 41 are extraordinary, headed by Alpha Centauri - a Classic winner and four-time Group 1 winner,” he said. “Then there is Alpine Star, who won the Coronation Stakes as well, and Albigna, and those three are in foal to Sea The Stars, Frankel and St Mark’s Basilica respectively.

“I’ve been in the business 41 years and all that time the Niarchoses have been one of the leading owner-breeders in the world. They’ve been going for 50 years in their current form and they have bred some exceptional horses.

“These are bloodlines that have been nurtured for half a century and it’s extremely rare for this concentration of quality to come to the market. They’re coming to sell, we’re very privileged to have them and we’re very grateful that we have got them.

“If you’re serious about breeding the best, it’s a catalogue that really shouldn’t be missed. You’ve just got to be involved.”

Undoubtedly the leading light among the Niarchos family’s smorgasbord of blue-blooded mares is European Champion 3-Year-Old Miler Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), whose quartet of victories at the highest level included the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas and the G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot.

She will be offered as Lot 1263 in foal to the Aga Khan’s champion stallion Sea The Stars (Ire), who is currently enjoying a red-hot run with his progeny Down Under courtesy of the likes of Cepheus (GB), Uncle Bryn (GB), Zeyrek (Fr) and Just Fine (Ire) - all of whom have won stakes races in Australia this season.

One of Alpha Centauri’s two Group 1-winning siblings, Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), will also come under the hammer on the first day, and just like her half-sister, she will also be offered in foal to a sire who can do no wrong in Australia - and all over the world for that matter - in the shape of the all-conquering Frankel (GB).

“She’s the jewel in the crown, she’s the queen,” Beeby said of Alpha Centauri. “It’s rare that you get Classic winners, but she’s also backed up by four other Group 1 winners like Alpine Star, the Coronation Stakes winner, in foal to Frankel.

“These horses don’t come up very often, and this is a very unique opportunity to be able to take advantage of an iconic set of bloodlines.

“They’ve all got global appeal, and there are several other close relations within the 41 who will have appeal as well. Maybe not at quite the same level, but you wouldn’t know what those mares would make.”

Something for everyone

Whilst the Niarchos offerings will of course take centre stage in the County Kildare auditorium, this year’s Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale is far from a one-trick pony, with a host of blue-blooded pedigrees and mares in-foal to Europe’s most elite stallions featuring in the drafts of some of the Northern Hemisphere’s premier breeders.

Aside from the obvious standout Laurelita (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) - the dam of this year’s dual Group 1 winner Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}) being offered in foal to Coolmore’s red-hot shuttler Starspangledbanner - there is plenty for Australian buyers to enthuse over in this year’s catalogue, with Redoute’s Choice, Encosta De Lago, Exceed And Excel and Fastnet Rock - the quartet who finished last season as the top four leading broodmare sires in Australia - all represented through one or multiple of their daughters.

There will also be plenty of well-performed racemares on offer, a trend which seems to be growing in popularity Down Under thanks in large part to the success of G1 Coolmore Classic heroine Con Te Partiro (USA) (Scat Daddy {USA}) and multiple Group 1 placegetter Princess Grace (USA) (Karakontie {Jpn}), both of whom were sourced as racing and breeding prospects from overseas prior to making a splash in Australia.

Considering the depth of quality set to be offered, there is no doubt that this year’s sale holds a genuine global appeal in the eyes of Beeby, who is confident that there will be something for everyone in attendance at next month’s two-day auction.

“It’s a very diverse catalogue and if you took the Niarchos draft out, it’s still as good a catalogue as we’ve produced for many a year,” he said. “Then you add the icing on the cake, and it’s very rich icing.

“There are 25 daughters of Galileo and if they don’t hold global appeal, nothing does. He is just the King. He may be gone, but he’s still very, very influential and will be for many years to come.

“If Australian buyers were attracted by the Niarchos draft and came to have a look at the whole catalogue, I think they’d find rich pickings. It’s a catalogue that anybody interested in breeding stock anywhere in the world should be paying close attention to.”

The likes of Yulong, Rosemont Stud and James Harron have all been active at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale in recent years, and Beeby revealed to TTR AusNZ that Kildare Paddocks is set to play host to the largest contingent of Southern Hemisphere buyers for some time.

“Our Australasian agent Mark Player tells us that he’s had more interest than he’s had for a good few years as a result of this draft, so we’re hoping that we’ll have plenty of interest from that part of the world,” he added.

“Elaine ‘Legs’ Lawlor lives in Australia half the year now as well, so we’re well represented down there, and Mark has said he would expect to have some significant buyers up with us.

“We’ve had a few in the past when we sold horses for Paul Makin in the Paulyn dispersal and for the Wildenstein family. We’ve had that sort of interest before, so we’d be hopeful to have it again.”

Familiar faces

Arguably the name most familiar to buyers from Australia in this year’s 541-strong catalogue will be the former Chris Waller-trained mare Dawn Wall (Fastnet Rock), who landed the G3 Kembla Grange Classic and Listed Gold Coast Bracelet prior to being exported to the Northern Hemisphere to begin her career as a broodmare.

Catalogued for sale as Lot 1183, Dawn Wall, whose once-raced daughter Mirror In Space (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) will also go under the hammer as Lot 1127, was a $1.3 million yearling purchase by BBA Ireland at the 2015 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, and as a proven commodity Down Under by one of the finest broodmare sires on the planet, the dual Stakes winner is bound to make plenty of appeal to both domestic and Australian buyers alike.

“She went to Galileo, Galileo, Galileo and Dubawi, and she’s in foal to Saxon Warrior, so she’s clearly highly thought of and she’s already produced a stakes placegetter with her first foal,” Beeby said of Dawn Wall.

“It’s a very exciting family and it’s one of those great Pat O’Kelly families as well, with Banimpire, My Renee and Carnegie in there. Interestingly, Insinuendo is there, and it goes back to the great Detroit family.

“It’s a wonderful, wonderful pedigree.”

This family has already made its mark in the Goffs sales ring, with Dawn Wall’s first foal, the Group 3-placed Albula (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), going the way of BBA Ireland together with Yulong’s Lucky Vega Syndicate for €500,000 (AU$956,900) at this very sale 12 months ago.

Yuesheng Zhang’s global operation has accounted for the top lot at this sale for the past two renewals, while last year the BBA Ireland-Lucky Vega Syndicate combination teamed up to purchase the top four lots through the ring and ended the sale as leading buyer with a total of €5.625 million (AU$9.389 million) spent, a figure which accounted for over a third of the sale’s turnover.

The November Breeding Stock Sale is clearly an auction that the Yulong team hold in high regard, and Beeby, who is effusive in his praise for Zhang, is hopeful that the global powerhouse will once again feature prominently on the buyer’s sheet this time around.

“Mr Zhang is an amazing man and he has been a very good friend to Goffs,” Beeby said. “I’ve met him many times and I’ve been out to his racecourse in China.

“He has been investing heavily everywhere and he was a major investor at this sale last year, he was quite extraordinary. I’d love to think he’ll do the same again this year, but we’ll see.

“He’s shrewdy and I certainly wouldn’t play poker with him. He’ll keep his cards close to his chest, he’ll know what’s going to happen and nobody else, which is probably the way it should be.

“He’s a joy to deal with and just a gentleman. He’s a great enthusiast and it’s lovely to see.”

A warm welcome

With less than a month to go until selling gets underway at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale, buyers from all over the world will be busy scouring the star-studded catalogue as they prepare their order books for the first auction of its kind in the European calendar.

Having already received interest from a number of ‘high calibre’ buyers in Australia, Beeby was keen to stress that his team, together with the help of Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM), will be more than happy to roll out the red carpet for anyone willing to make the journey across to the Emerald Isle.

“If anybody wants to come and hasn’t been before, just pick the phone up, we are very focused on making people’s visit to Ireland enjoyable,” he said.

“There’s nothing like an Irish welcome and we have huge numbers of people to look after everybody, as do ITM, who will make a significant contribution to any air fares as well for any buyers who come.

“If people want to come for a day or two and then go to the Irish National Stud, or Gilltown, or to Kildangan or Coolmore, we’ll arrange that for them alongside ITM. We’ll have them picked up at the airport, we’ll organise hotel accommodation for them and we have two very good restaurants on the facility. I can guarantee Australian buyers that if they haven’t been before, or they haven’t been for a while, this is the best sales complex in the world for navigating and using. It’s beautifully laid out.

“If people have gone to America for Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland they can hotfoot it across to Goffs before they head off to Newmarket and Deauville. They’ll get a welcome like no other and they will have an enjoyable visit, so I’d encourage anyone to take the plunge.”