Goff’s November Sale contained just one foal from the second crop of Sea The Stars and he topped Day 4 trade on Thursday when making 310,000 euros.
Blandford Bloodstock’s Tom Goff bought the youngster who was catalogued by Jockey Hall Stud. He saw off an agent acting for the Tsui family who raced Sea The Stars. The colt is related to G3 winners Grand Ducal and Azmeel.
“I think that he’s one of the nicest foals that we’ve seen by the sire and he looks especially like his father,” Goff said. “He’s a terrific individual from an excellent family and the mare has an excellent record at stud.”
Raven’s Pass (Elusive Quality) was also popular during the final foal session. Darley agent John Ferguson took a shine to his half-brother to G2 Railway Stakes winner Lilbourne Lad that cost 280,000 euros.
And his colt from G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes winner Chelsea Rose made 220,000 euros to the bid of agent Stephen Collins who was bidding on behalf of Sheikh Hamdan.
Raven’s Pass defeated Henrythenavigator in the G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (1600m) at Ascot and the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic (2000m) at Santa Anita. He stands for a 30,000 euros fee at Kildangan Stud in Ireland and his first crop includes Sheikh Hamdan’s colt Steeler who won the G2 Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket.
The four-day Goffs Foal Sale grossed 14,74 million euros. The average dropped 11% to 25,873 euros and the median declined 6% to 15,000.
“Last year we witnessed some truly incredible scenes with the first foals by Sea The Stars so it was always unlikely that such prices would be matched this year,” Goffs CEO Henry Beeby said. “If you extract the top three prices of 850,000 euros and 800,000 euros (twice) from 2011, then this week’s statistics all show improvement.
“It should also be remembered that the Goffs November Foal Sale has enjoyed a trade that has been described as extraordinary for each of the last three years. And it has been noteworthy to see the middle market make significant advances again which is of great relevance to the commercial breeder whilst a four day clearance rate of 75% is certainly remarkable.”
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