National coffers filled by filly's sale

Congratulations to the readers of this column. Both of you are now £650,000 richer thanks to Chryss O'Reilly, who paid out for a yearling filly at Goffs in Kill, Co Kildare yesterday.

Since the full sister to the 1997 Irish Derby winner Desert King was submitted by the Irish National Stud, it could be said

that everyone else in the country has a stake in the £650,000 too. But at the Orby sale, the figures demand you try to keep some things out of the stratosphere.

Tony O'Reilly's wife, who is also the chairwoman of the National Stud, is just the latest to add to the national coffers. Since the state-owned stud forked out just £30,000 for the yearling's mother Sabaah in 1994, her progeny have raised over £1.8 million.

"She is a beautiful filly," said a spokesperson for O'Reilly's stable. "She will stay at Castlemartin Stud for a month and then we will decide on a trainer."

O'Reilly's purchase was the top-priced horse of the day. The tangible disappointment at the failure of any of the horses to threaten the £2 million achieved by the Danzig colt on Tuesday showed how normal focus can be tainted by such large sums of money. There was one member of the usually pauperised press room who found himself at the coalface of the big money game and allowed the rest of us a glimpse of what it must be like.

Dermot Forde, a vet based in Moynalty, Co Westmeath, is a former breeding manager of Bord na gCapall and a correspondent for the Farmer's Journal. Acting for the splendidly named Countess Rossi Di Montelera, who is based in Switzerland, he paid out £550,000 for a colt by Entrepreneur.

"Heart-thumping stuff," was Forde's description of the bidding before outlining what the buyers are actually looking for among the throng of silky, flighty yearlings that prance into the ring.

"Balance, quality, correctness in conformation and good loose movement," said Forde, who had been the underbidder on a £900,000 colt on Tuesday.

While there was no repeat of Tuesday's £2 million fireworks, the overall figures rose sharply yesterday, with a turnover of almost £15 million. That, combined with the figure of over £18 million generated on Tuesday, resulted in an average price of close on £100,000.

"Breeders and pinhookers operating in the £100,000 to £200,000 market achieved significant profits and that's the measure of how healthy an industry it is," summed up Goffs managing director Matt Mitchell.