Galileo Filly Out Of Green Room Tops Orby Sale At €3,000,000

For the second year in succession a magnificent daughter of Galileo out of Green Room, an own-sister to 2018 Epsom Oaks winner Forever Together and Group 1 Fillies Mile winner Together Forever, was the star of the show at the Goffs Orby Sale.  Bred by Gill and Vimal Khosla and consigned by Ballylinch Stud, the regally bred filly (Lot 262) was bought by MV Magnier and Westerberg for a sale topping €3 million. 

The own-sister to last year’s €3.2 million Orby top lot was one of four seven figure sales that headlined a vibrant two days at the Orby, following prices of €2.2 million, €1.1 million and €1 million during yesterday’s opening session. 

Among the other highlights on Day 2 was Jacqueline Norris’ exceptional Sea The Stars colt, Lot 408 consigned under Edie Murray-Hayden’s Gormanstown Stud, who sold for €550,000 to Demi O’Byrne on behalf of Aquis Farm.  It was also another good day at the Orby for Glenvale Stud, following yesterday’s €2.2 million achieved for the own sister to Alice Springs, as their Australia half-brother to Group 2 winner Mystery Power (Lot 255) sold early today for €525,000 to MV Magnier. 

 

Godolphin went to €500,000 for the Kilcarn Stud-bred Sea The Stars colt out of a Stakes placed sister to Banimpire, Lot 391 offered by The Castlebridge Consignment, while Shadwell Estate Company added Tally Ho Stud’s Awtaad half-brother to 2019 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain to their eight Orby purchases, going to €400,000 for the colt (Lot 345).

Full results for the Orby Sale can be viewed here.

At the conclusion of the two-day Orby Sale, Goffs Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby commented:

“A superb top price of €3 million heading a quartet of millionaires clearly shows that the Orby Sale sits at the top table of the international yearling market and is the measure of any sale anywhere for the best.

We remain eternally grateful that the breeders/vendors of such blue bloods are prepared to place their trust in the Goffs service and delighted when those decisions are vindicated with such good results.

Orby 18 was a record breaker and ultimately proved to be the best performing European yearling sale of the year from a statistical viewpoint. From a smaller catalogue demand grew and vendors were very happy. That success drove an increased application for places this year and the 2019 catalogue returned to previous year’s numbers which has probably resulted in a small drop in clearance rate although we would submit that 85% is still a figure that reads well. Our average and median have not quite kept pace with last year but the average is still 8% ahead of the 2017 level (the median is the same) so we are quite satisfied our trade has proved in line with the year to date whether we are looking at results from Kentucky, France or the UK in that the market became stronger the higher the prices climbed. It will be interesting to see whether these trends continue and how the market finishes up later in the autumn.

One of the real stories of Orby 19 has been the huge international interest and we have welcomed buyers from across the globe following our increased investment in buyer recruitment and the hard work of the Goffs team working in tandem with Irish Thoroughbred Marketing. It was wonderful to welcome HH Sheikh Mohammed back to Goffs along with his brother HH Sheikh Hamdan as well as several new faces of note whilst we remain indebted to MV Magnier and the Coolmore Partners for their tremendous support year in, year out.

Those big names naturally garner headlines but we are extremely grateful to every buyer at every level of the market and to each vendor for allowing us to handle their yearlings. As ever we are nothing without the horses and appreciate every one along with each bid they attract”.
 

Comparative Figures