The biggest clash of the Goffs UK Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale came down to Anthony Stroud and Jason Kelly. As usual in last week’s Tattersalls Craven sale, it was Stroud who emerged the winner, with a bid of £420,000 (US$525,000, £1 = US$1.25) required to bring down the hammer on April 24.
The sales duel was sparked by Derryconnor Stud’s Havana gray Escape the horse Firebreak victoriously in Trutina. She shares the further reach of her page with the 2023 European champion 2-year-old male Troy city but a more important piece of evidence was her performance in practice before April 23, with the youngster finishing in the top five five times on the day.
“This filly creates a very good breeze and we like the way she goes,” Stroud said. “She is a beautiful, well-balanced filly and we think she is one of the prettiest fillies for sale. She has been bought for KHK Racing but no trainer has been decided yet. ”
Stroud has emerged as one of Havana Grey’s biggest fans, and with good reason as the agent responsible for unearthing the stallion’s unbeaten double Group 1 winner. Vandeek .
“He seems to be putting a lot of toughness and speed into his herd. He is doing very well, especially if you consider the mares that have been bred to him in previous years. He’s really raising his game. He’s got a very bright future and he’s doing some remarkable things.”
Also doing notable things was Derryconnor Stud’s Katie McGivern as she registered a 740% return on investment with filly Havana Grey, who was signed by Creighton Schwartz Bloodstock for £50,000 at the Premier Yearling sale last year.
“Based on her homework, we expected her to take it easy like she did, but then you just leave it in the market for her to price her,” McGivern said. “Everyone has checked her out and she’s very clean in that regard, so just see who’s coming. It’s no surprise she’s made a little money because we love her at home. All of her homework was special. She was very happy with the results.
Brown is back in business
Blandford Bloodstock’s Richard Brown is rarely away from the action at the Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale and has signed contracts for five of the top 10 lots on the day. The most expensive of them is Mehmas The colt got out Jane Doewho made £380,000 when offered by Willie Browne’s Mocklershill.
“He is one of the best sires of 2-year-olds around, a gorgeous horse and one of the best salesmen,” Brown said. “I saw him on Sunday and Willie was very tall for him at the time and yesterday he had a very good breeze. The ground was very hard yesterday and he is a low-working horse should go on the summer yard.
“He looks forward to the future but no trainer has been decided yet. He will have a short rest now and then we will try to steer him towards Ascot, as I am sure Many people will do the same.”
Internal reflection
While the upper end of the market became increasingly active as the session continued, there was a clear selectivity in trading, especially away from the upper levels. This is evidenced by a clearance rate of 81% as the expanded portfolio saw 167 units sold from 207 units on offer.
Those transactions helped the deal reach record revenue for the second year in a row, with spending up 3% to £10,359,700 ($12,949,625). The average price is slightly below last year’s record of £62,035 ($77,544), while the selectivity of that market is also reflected in a 10% drop in average prices to £36,000 ($45,000), compared with £40,000 12 months ago .
Goffs UK managing director, Tim Kent, said: “Wow. What an incredible end to a fantastic day in Doncaster. It’s always going to be difficult to build on huge progress gain from this sale in 2023 and part of the day, it was looking like we weren’t going to get this but the sale seemed to gain momentum as the day progressed and ended with a flourished to bring record revenue.
Lot 168 receives wind on April 23 at Doncaster
“These results were supported by a top price of £420,000, 12 horses sold for £200,000 or more and 28 horses achieved prices of £100,000 or more.
“We are the first to admit that none of this could have been done without the loyal support of an incredible group of suppliers. The inspection team was optimistic upon arrival visits farms and we were delighted to learn that the average purchase price of yearlings was 6% higher than in 2023, but this doesn’t matter when you start selling and we Feeling relieved to hear positive feedback from dealers and buyers who have inspected the horses.
“We would therefore like to say a sincere ‘thank you’ to everyone who has trusted Goffs to sell their best early season wind machines and we are delighted that we can deliver style in Doncaster.”
He continued: “While we have much to celebrate today, it would be remiss not to acknowledge the fact that markets are already selective. There is a clear difference between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ and this was very evident today, however, while some horses failed to find buyers in the ring, around 50 private sales helped boost rates. 81% clearance rate and some have commented that that is a true reflection of any growing market—if they go well, they sell well.
“Finally, we have to thank buyers at all levels of the market. We are delighted to have a strong domestic buying group competing with a significant number of new arrivals to sales at Doncaster. Indeed, the Goffs team have worked tirelessly to deliver internationally to buyers participating in this sale and this has been rewarded with round-the-clock sales of horses to race in the US, Bahrain, Dubai, France, Italy, Qatar , Saudi Arabia, Scandinavia and elsewhere.”
The complete result for the sale is possible viewed here.
