01 Nov

October swung around in a flash and Goffs Orby was the first sale of the month to attend. Two purchases were made at Ireland’s premier sale, firstly a daughter of Kodiac out of a Mastercrafstman mare, Woodland Maiden, she is an own sister to Group and Listed placed Iveagh Gardens – she was knocked down for €115,000 and will head into training will Ollie Sangster for owner partnership Michael Blencowe and Valmont. Secondly a son of Night of Thunder out of the Listed and Group placed American Apples from the family of Pomology, the strapping colt was purchased for Victorious Racing to head into training with George Scott, knocked down for half a million euros the colt is an exciting acquisition for the owner and trainer duo. All roads then led to Newmarket for the heavily anticipated Book 1 where trade was at an all-time high....

30 Sep

It was at last year’s Goffs Orby Sale that bloodstock agent Billy Jackson-Stops and trainer George Scott unearthed the unbeaten Champagne Stakes winner Bay City Roller, with a bid of €320,000 required to bring the hammer down. The pair are hoping for a similarly successful outcome after returning to the exact same spot on the top tier of the auditorium and bidding €500,000 for a striking Night Of Thunder colt offered by Forenaghts Stud. Bay City Roller was initially bought for Clive Washbourn but transferred to the ownership of Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa’s Victorious Racing after a taking debut success. After signing the docket on Tuesday Scott revealed his latest purchase was set to join the Victorious Racing string that also includes his stable's Hardwicke Stakes winner Isle Of Jura. “He showed himself better and better over the last couple of days,” said Scott. “Night...

30 Sep

The hunt for the next Bay City Roller (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) is on at this year's Goffs Orby Sale, with Henry Beeby saying that he is convinced the sales house has never assembled such a strong group of yearlings to be offered at Ireland's premier yearling sale this week. Trained by George Scott, Bay City Roller stretched his unbeaten record to three in the G2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster, and his connections harbour genuine Classic aspirations heading into the winter. Stakes winners Beechwood (Ire) (Le Havre {Ire}), She's Quality (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), One Look (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), Apples And Bananas (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB})–who added to his tally in the Goffs Million on Saturday–along with German St Leger scorer Prydwen (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) have flown the flag for the Orby Sale this season but Beeby says he is convinced that the quality on offer throughout the whole this week...

25 Sep

"I love it when a plan comes together," the immortal words of John 'Hannibal' Smith uttered with regularity in The A-Team and probably echoed by Bill Dwan of the Castlebridge Consignment and Ling Tsui, and her bloodstock team, when the ploy to send her homebred handsome Sea The Stars colt to the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale yielded a €130,000 dividend. One of only two sons of the brilliant racehorse, whose Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris and Prix Niel victor Sosie heads many ante-post lists for the upcoming Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, catalogued in Fairyhouse, his sire power and pedigree drew plenty of lookers to the door of his Barn J stable and they were not disappointed by what they encountered. With the bids raining down on the ring, there was heated competition for the colt whose roots are in Ballymacoll Stud, just a couple...

25 Sep

Quality came to the fore on day one of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale when one of only two Sea The Stars (Ire) colts on offer this week went the way of agent Billy Jackson-Stops and trainer George Scott for i130,000. The Castlebridge-consigned colt was one of five yearlings to break the six-figure mark on a day where an 86% [down 2% on 2023] clearance rate provided some encouragement to middle to lower tier operators. However, many of the key metrics dipped further, most notably the 17% drop in the median to i25,000. Despite 24 more lots on offer for the corresponding day's trade, turnover also dropped by 4% while the average was down 8% to i29,906. The sale of the Sea The Stars colt at i130,000 carried on from a familiar theme to the bloodstock market in recent times where the quality offerings...

14 Sep

Prydwen features in early Welsh poem Preiddeu Annwfn as King Arthur's trusted ship, and connections of the equine namesake have been on quite the voyage themselves, one which takes in Sunday's Deutsches St Leger at Dortmund. The Camelot gelding may be a six-year-old, but he notched a career-high Racing Post Rating of 114 when winning at Killarney last month for Newmarket trainer George Scott and the Blue Starr Racing syndicate, the ninth success of his career and one which took his earnings towards £250,000. In the Killarney Gold Cup last month he lugged 9st 11lb to victory, with Wayne Hassett reducing the burden from 10st 2lb, scoring by two and three-quarter lengths and up. Another nice win this year came on Good Friday at Newcastle on All-Weather Championships finals day, when he ran away with the Marathon by three and a half lengths.  Prydwen was bought by Billy Jackson-Stops and Scott for €30,000...

01 Sep

August brings with it the beginning of the yearling sales, and to kick off a return to France for their V1 August Yearling Sale in the delight town of Deauville on the Normandy coast. Billy secured two lots throughout the sale, an impressive son of Teofilo out of a Fastnet Rock mare, the colt is own sister to multiple black type winning mare Tres Valentine, he was purchased for €320,000 and will head into training with George Scott. The second, a filly by the great Sottsass from the family of Chriselliam, Very Special and Janicellaine, the filly is out of a winning Lope De Vega mare and she cost connections €180,000 to head into training with French 2000 Guineas winner Mario Barratti. The sales circus then headed back to the UK for the Goffs Premier Yearling Sale held in Doncaster where Billy purchased two colts. Firstly, a...

01 Aug

July Arqana Summer Sale kicked off the month, two purchases were made, both two-year-olds that have gone into training with Tom Clover. A smart Zarak colt out of a Kingman mare for €40,00 and a Shalaa filly from the French black-type family of Wheels On Fire, bought for €10,000. Tattersalls July Sale rolled around quickly bringing with it a catalogue of a whopping 923 lots. JS Bloodstock secured four lots, Juneberry a Night Of Thunder filly from Godolphin that will head to France and to the stable of Mario Barrati in Chantilly. Harvard Sound, a gelding with one start and one win purchased for 50,000 Guineas will go back to trainer Tom Clover. City House, a son of Night Of Thunder from the Stable of James Fanshawe will head to George Scott and will hopefully be destined for a winter campaign in Bahrain, the colt was...

30 Jun

Debate in the lead up to Royal Ascot was the lack of international runners, but that didn’t stop the only Australian horse of the week Asfoora from making the locally trained sprinters all look distinctly average. What was more disconcerting for our sprinters, was that Asfoora hasn’t ever managed to win a Group 1 in Australia - she came down and put a length on, what is considered to be our best in division, is a mild wake up call regarding the depth of our sprinters. Asfoora was even described by record breaking trainer Chris Waller as  ‘Just a B grade filly in Australia’. It was a superb effort from Ballarat handler Henry Dwyer to get her primed for the big day after a long year in training in Oz, a fully deserved victory for one of the industry’s nice guys. Let’s hope that her...