Sea The Stars Dominates Record Breaking November Foal Sale

A record breaking Goffs November Foal Sale drew to a close with a final session that was dominated by the first crop of the legendary Sea The Stars.

Topping the sale at €850,000, the highest priced foal ever sold at Goffs by some way, was a colt by the six time Group 1 winner from an exceptional draft from Jim Bolger’s Redmondstown Stud ().  Purchased by John Clarke on behalf of Sunderland Holding Inc, the colt is out of the Stakes winning mare Affianced who is the dam ofSoldier Of Fortune and Heliostatic. 

John McCormack earlier outbid Clarke to secure the outstanding Sea The Stars filly out of dual Classic winner Finsceal Beo () at €800,000.  She was consigned by Al Eile stud.  Rob Speers of Mertoun Paddocks, bidding on behalf of Ibrahim Araci, also went to€800,000 for another superb Sea The Stars offering from Redmondstown Stud in , a three parts sister to two Guineas placed fillies in Cuis Ghaire and Gile Na Greine.  Two lots later Julie Wood went to €300,000 to purchase another daughter of Sea The Stars out of an own sister to Teofilo, also consigned by Redmondstown Stud ().  Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock meanwhile signed for The Castlebridge Consignment’s Sea The Stars colt out of the Stakes winning Sadler’s Wells mare Humilis () at €110,000. 

Foals by Teofilo also proved popular with several six figures secured, including Rockfield Farm’s half sister to Group 2 Doncaster Cup winner Saddler’s Rock () who was purchased by Derrinstown Stud for €200,000 as well as John Ferguson’s purchase ofCastlemartin Stud’s half brother to Group 3 winner Brazilian Bride () for €150,000. 

Reflecting on the three day November Foal Sale, Goffs Chief Executive Henry Beeby said: 

“Sea The Stars is an Irish legend like no other so it is fitting he should dominate proceedings at today’s Goffs November Foal Sale.  However I think even the most seasoned bloodstock observers have been taken aback by the unprecedented interest in his first crop of foals.  We have beaten our highest foal price on three separate occasions and are truly delighted that the faith placed in the Goffs November Sale by both Jim Bolger and Michael Ryan has been repaid aplenty. Our sincere thanks go to both of them and all our other vendors who have helped us put on some show over the last three days. We have always said that the Goffs November Sale is about the best of Irish and Irish breeders have responded to our efforts with a catalogue of real quality that has clearly appealed to the massive crowd that has attended this sale on all three days. 

Indeed, the Sea The Stars foals have been sold to buyers from Hong Kong, Turkey, America and England and the three top prices comfortably surpass the Goffs foal record set back in 1984 when a daughter of Golden Fleece realised IR500,000 guineas.

But the three days have been about more than just five foals as we have witnessed a sustained demand from start to finish.  In fact day 1 really set the tone with turnover, average and median jumping by 122%, 51% and 80% respectively.  The momentum continued on Wednesday with more impressive gains and today has been on fire with pinhookers and end users battling for a catalogue of real quality and depth.  That buoyancy has resulted in impressive gains on all three days and another 14 % rise in average (the average rose by the same amount last year) for the whole sale endorsing our consistent cry that the best sell better at Goffs. Our fervent hope is that these results will continue to convince more and more Irish breeders that they can and will achieve the very best results in the Goffs sales ring; all we need are their best and we will return the best. 

For now we thank vendors and purchasers alike and really look forward to the next two days of Breeding Stock headed, of course, by another “best of Irish” Banimpire”.

 Comparative Figures (3 day Foal Sale)