BLOODSTOCK SALES: It was a case of the usual suspects at the opening of the Goffs Orby Sale yesterday with John Magnier and Sheikh Hamdan dominating the proceedings.
Between them the two powerful owners picked up five of the top seven lots with the Coolmore supremo going to €825,000 to secure the top horse of the day.
That was a Sadler's Wells colt from Camas Park Stud, and although there were no fireworks to compare with the £2.1 million top price of last year, there was general satisfaction at the level of business.
The Goffs chairman Matt Mitchell reported an increase of over six per cent in the average and said: "With a £2 million horse, one man has done well. A six per cent increase is across the board."
It was an encouraging start to Ireland's most prestigious horse sale which had attracted unwanted publicity in the run-up to yesterday with seven yearlings having had their tails cut off at the weekend. All remain in the sale and those presented yesterday wore false tails.
"It's purely cosmetic. They have sold well. We have had had extra security in place but there seems to be no logic to what happened," Mitchell added.
Sheikh Hamdan has always been a powerful figure at this sale and his interest spanned the entire day.
He went to €525,000 early in the morning for the Kingmambo colt, also from Camas Park, who is out of the Grade One winner Insight and has already been named Calvador.
The very last lot, also by Kingmambo, was from the well known Kilcarn Stud and the Sheikh went to €500,000 to secure the colt from the famous Salsabil family. However, the Sheikh did lose out for the Danehill colt consigned by Eimear Mulhern's Abbeville Stud.
John Warren went to €700,000 to secure the colt who will go into training with the top English handler Michael Stoute. "He is extremely imposing, has a wonderful action and has great conformation," said Warren.
The general consensus among sellers seemed to be that money was out there for the right types but that it was a very selective market. Nevertheless, the old order was kept going by Sadler's Wells who supplied the top price of the day and also the half-brother to the champion European sprinter Owington who reached the half million mark.
Lot Vendor Price
149 - c by Sadler's Wells - Puck's Castle DL O'Byrne €825,000
85 - c by Danehill - Marlene John Warren Bloodstock €700,000
26 - c by Kingmambo - Insight Shadwell Estates €525,000
114 - c by Grand Lodge - Music And Dance DL O'Byrne €510,000
132 - c by Sadler's Wells - Old Domesday McKeever-St Lawrence €500,000
205 - c by Kingmambo - Spirit Of Tara Shadwell Estates €500,000
176 - f by Distant View - Sassy Bird Shadwell Estates €440,000
152 - c by Sadler's Wells - Puzzled Look Kern Lillingston €430,000
81 - c by Green Desert - Majmu John Ferguson Bloodstock €400,000
101 - f by Danehill - Moment Of Truth JL O'Byrne €400,000
104 - c by Danehill - Moon Drop DL O'Byrne €400,000
86 - c by Seeking The Gold - Mayenne John Ferguson Bloodstock €375,000
165 - c by Danzig - Rose Of Tara Shadwell Estates €350,000
180 - c by Marju - Sea Port D Farrington €350,000
113 - f by Kingmambo - Musicale Shadwell Estates €320,000
94 - c by Danehill - Misallah DL O'Byrne €300,000
169 - c by Darshaan - Sabaah Brian Grassick Bloodstock €300,000
150 - f by Dieses - Pump J Bolger €280,000
130 - c by Machiavellian - Obsessed John Warren Bloodstock €260,000
143 - c by Alhaarth-Pipers Pool John Warren Bloodstock €260,000
49 - c by King Of Kings - Khulasah C Gordon-Watson €260,000
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