Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale graduate Laws Of Indices won a thrilling renewal of the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat at Deauville on Sunday.
The three-year-old son of Power provided trainer Ken Condon with the third Group 1 win of his career, and the second on the Normandy coast, when holding off the challenge of Thunder Moon by a head in a protracted duel that set pulses racing in Deauville and Fairyhouse, where the delighted trainer was watching on.
Bought by Dermot Farrington for just €8,000 as a yearling, the son of Power has brought his owners, a group of friends headed by Middleham Park Racing’s Charlotte Holmes, immeasurable joy. He gave a hint of what was to come early in his two-year-old career with a late lunge for victory in a Naas maiden before an impressive success in the Group 2 Railway Stakes at the Curragh. He finished the season with third place in the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere over the 7f trip which is ideal for him.
Laws Of Indices is a perfect example of the value to be found at the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale, where he was spotted by Farrington amongst the Rathasker Stud draft.
Maurice Burns of Rathasker Stud explained how the colt, bred by Nicky Hartery, was always a standout.
“I help Nicky out sometimes by consigning his stock and this colt was a big, strong, good-looking horse as a yearling out of a mare who had ability. He always had the stamp of a racehorse, but Power had gone out of fashion by then. Dermot Farrington came to look at him and really liked him, so bought him and he’s done fantastically well for them.”
Burns was quick to point to the success of the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale as a proven source of winners, including last month’s Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes winner Quick Suzy,
“The Autumn Sale has thrown up a lot of very good horses over the years, with plenty of good winners sold there. They may not have the pedigrees for Orby or Sportsmans but, like Laws Of Indices, they go on to make their own pedigrees,” he added.
The 2021 Autumn Yearling Sale is scheduled to take place in Kildare Paddocks on 3 and 4 November and entries are open.
The yearling half-brother to Laws Of Indices, by Starspangledbanner, is entered in this year's Orby Sale.