At the 2008 Goffs November Foal Sale all eyes were on one filly as the only foal in the world by the legendary George Washington lit up the sales ring. Breeder Stefano Luciani has fond memories of that fairytale day at Goffs…
“That day at Goffs was such a great experience for our family and one I will never forget, it was a fairytale for us and she was a very special filly. My father Loreto, Niki my wife and our daughter Antonetta, who was just one year old at the time, were all there for the sale.
Date With Destiny was a special filly from the start, and she was very much like George Washington with the same head as him. Our mare Flawlessly was the only one to get in foal by him and by then he had died after breaking down at the Breeders’ Cup in Monmouth. George Washington was a great champion and it was full of emotion for us.
My father, who passed away in 2014, was a great fan of George Washington, he was a great horse, a real champion. When he retired to stud, even though his fee was €60,000, we decided to send Flawlessly to him. He was a son of Danehill and ticked all the right boxes and we believed so much in Flawlessly that we had no doubts about it, straight away it was decided she would go to George Washington.
When Date With Destiny was born and we knew she was a filly, the first thing we realised was that she would be George Washington’s legacy in the thoroughbred world.
We are commercial breeders and mainly sell foals and although she was incredibly special, it was the right business decision to sell her. She was sold through the Irish National Stud, who we have a long relationship with and John Clarke, who was the manager of the farm then, and his team did a beautiful job with her.
You can imagine how we felt on the eve of the sale and during the day leading up to her taking a turn in the ring.
I have been coming to Goffs since 1984 and I have never experienced an atmosphere at a sale like the feeling when Date With Destiny came into the sales ring. The whole room fell silent, everyone could see she was really, really special – the star of the sale. Twice we have topped the foal sale at Goffs so we have a particular affinity with the place but this was something different, something I had never experience in 25 years and not again since. She was the star”.