Six-day extravaganza at Kildare Paddocks begins with Foal Sale on Monday Nov 17 ahead of the Breeding Stock Sale on Nov 21-22; Tattersalls Ireland hosts mixed Sapphire Sale at its Fairyhouse complex on Dec 16
Every story has to start somewhere. For so many recent G1 stars, their story began at the Goffs November Sale.
Caballo De Mar, Excellent Truth, Field Of Gold, Lush Lips, Pierre Bonnard, Power Blue and Precise have all landed top-level prizes around the world in 2025, and the November Sale at Kildare Paddocks appears in the early chapters associated with each name.
Field Of Gold joined the Juddmonte fold when the son of Kingman was purchased from Bobby and Honora Donworth’s Roundhill Stud at a cost of €530,000 during the November Foal Sale of 2022. He duly made that look like money well spent by landing the Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes in commanding fashion.
Goffs November Foal Sale (Nov 17-20)
Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale (Nov 21-22)
That six-figure transaction illustrates the sort of trade routinely witnessed at the head of the November Sale market, although as Caballo De Mar and Power Blue have shown, significant talents do not necessarily command significant sums.
The former was pinhooked for just €21,000 by Melchior Bloodstock before giving trainer George Scott a maiden G1 in the Prix du Cadran, Power Blue went for €30,000 when picked up by the Blind Leading The Blind syndicate, a group including up-and-coming trainers Harry Eustace and James Horton. The son of Space Blues ended his campaign by winning the Phoenix Stakes in the colours of Amo Racing for trainer Adrian Murray.
Pierre Bonnard heads the betting for next year’s Derby after a dominant performance in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. He was an €80,000 November Foal Sale pick-up by Camas Park Stud, who netted a tidy profit when the G1-winning son of Camelot was resold to Coolmore’s MV Magnier for €280,000 a little over ten months later.
Tip of the iceberg
Of course, the elite-level winners are merely the tip of the iceberg. Those taking a longer-term view have been equally well served by the November Breeding Stock Sale. Precise, ante-post favourite for next year’s 1,000 Guineas after G1 scores in the Moyglare Stud Stakes and Fillies’ Mile, was bred by the O’Brien family’s Whisperview Trading. They paid €57,000 to bring her dam, the Galileo mare Way To My Heart, back into the broodmare band in 2021.
The O’Briens’ involvement with this family reaches back to the 2004 November Sale, when Precise’s great granddam, Lady Icarus, was plucked from the Darley draft by Anne Marie O’Brien at a cost of just €25,000.
Moreover, results emanating from the November Sale have reverberated far and wide. The Pocock family of Stringston Farm in Somerset followed a similar trajectory to the O’Briens with Lamyaa.
They sold the daughter of Arcano to Hamdan Al Maktoum in 2012 before buying her back at the November Sale four years later at a cost of just €28,000. In turn she bred Lush Lips, winner of the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes before topping the Keeneland November Sale at $3.7m to the bid of Dixiana Farm.
Breeder Sandra Russell gave just €14,000 for Moment Of Truth in 2016. The daughter of Teofilo has gone on to produce four winners at paddocks, led by this year’s G1 Diana Stakes heroine Excellent Truth. The daughter of Cotai Glory was subsequently traded to Katsumi Yoshida for $2.5m at Fasig-Tipton.
“What’s noteworthy about the Goffs November Sale is, it’s where it all starts,” says the company’s group chief executive Henry Beeby. “This year’s cover horse is the dam of Precise, who didn’t cost a lot of money. We’ve also sold the dams of Romantic Warrior, Excellent Truth, Lush Lips, Porta Fortuna. All these mares have produced top-class, G1 champions, and they were all bought for relatively straightforward money.
Broadest range
“But this is where it all starts,” he goes on. “When you combine the foal and breeding stock catalogues together, you have the broadest range of the best Irish thoroughbred bloodlines there are.”
The six-day extravaganza begins with the November Foal Sale, which starts on Monday, November 17. Monday and Thursday sessions are billed as equal quality, Tuesday raises the bar before the premier section on Wednesday, which features the highest concentration of black type pedigrees.
There are 998 foals entered across the four days, with highlights including: a Gleneagles half-brother to Gimcrack Stakes scorer Lifeplan (Lot 553); a Naval Crown half-brother to Criterium de Saint-Cloud winner Gear Up (612); a Mehmas colt whose half-sister, Garden Of Eden, won this year’s Ribblesdale Stakes (636); a New Bay filly whose siblings include two-time G1 winner Dreamloper and Park Hill Stakes heroine Santorini Star (644); and a half-sister to Grand Prix de Paris winner Onesto from the debut crop of Ace Impact (675), to name but a few.
The pedigree of Lot 678 from Stanley Lodge has also received the sort of update every breeder dreams of, as the Awtaad colt is a full-brother to Breeders’ Cup Turf hero Ethical Diamond.
Other stallions represented include blue-chip names such as Blue Point, Camelot, Dark Angel, Lope De Vega, Night Of Thunder, Sea The Stars and the late, great Wootton Bassett.
“This is the most important sale for the category in Ireland, and clearly one of the most important in Europe,” says Beeby. “The foals are absolutely the cream of the Irish crop, and we all know about the Irish thoroughbred’s reputation around the world. They’re obviously the raw product at this stage, still being little foals, but any sire you could want is represented.
“There are seriously deep bloodlines, and the catalogue caters to every level of the market, from the more commercial end right up to the high hundreds of thousands, and on occasion seven figures.”
Younger generations
It is not only equine stories that start at the November Sale, as the event, particularly the foal section, is being increasingly seen as a chance for the younger generations to get a foot on the bloodstock ladder. This is a USP that Beeby and his team are only too happy to lean into.
“One of the great joys of the November Sale at Goffs, and this does set it apart from all others, is the youth that we see,” he says. “People often ask what the future is in this industry, and I said to someone earlier this year, ‘If you want to see the future of the bloodstock industry, come to the Goffs November Foal Sale.’
“The groups of the youngsters who are now investing – and some of them investing big – is heartwarming and very encouraging to see, especially for somebody who’s been around for a bit of time like me.
“It’s very important and we go out of our way to make sure they’re looked after, helped, accommodated. Our customer care with them is as important as it is with MV Magnier or Kia Joorabchian when they want to come and buy at the top of the market.
“They put vitality into the market, both generally and into the actual auction process. They’ve got great enthusiasm and optimism, and it’s great to see.”
As well as the younger generation, a whole host of major players routinely shop big at this event. The most expensive of the seven-figure foals sold at this sale is La Figlia, a member of Frankel’s debut crop who fetched €1.8m from Dermot Farrington, agent for the charismatic Australian owner Paul Makin, in 2014.
History maker
Makin also had a hand in another piece of Goffs November history, as he sold Irish Oaks heroine Chicquita for an Irish auction record of 
during the Paulyn dispersal at the 2023 Breeding Stock Sale. The Classic-winning daughter of Montjeu was bought by the Coolmore partners through agents Peter and Ross Doyle.
Remarkably, that price has been matched twice since, with G1-winning half-sisters Alpha Centauri and Alpine Star fetching the same seven-figure sum from Coolmore’s MV Magnier during the Niarchos dispersal in 2023.
There are 401 fillies and mares entered across this year’s November Breeding Stock Sale, which begins its two-day run on Friday, November 21.
The catalogue contains offerings from major owner-breeders such as Godolphin, Moyglare Stud Farm and Shadwell. Clare Manning’s Boherguy Stud presents arguably the most eye-catching lot in Ceistiu (1,183), dam of this year’s Gordon Stakes winner Merchant. The nine-year-old sister to Steip Amach is being presented in-foal to Mehmas.
“The breeding stock catalogue is a very good representation of what’s available on the market,” says Beeby. “It’s noteworthy that we’ve increased our breeding stock catalogue this year, where others haven’t. We have some very well-bred mares, and obviously the one that stands out most is Jim Bolger’s Ceistiu, but there are plenty of others and some good, strong drafts.”
Another major draw is the draft from the Aga Khan Studs, who don’t sell anywhere else in Britain or Ireland. The operation has sold the dams of G1 winners such as Almanzor, Balantina, Capri and Zavateri, and this year brings 21 fillies and mares to the Goffs ring.
“The Aga Khan draft is one of the backbones of this category of sale for Goffs,” says Beeby. “The support of the Aga Khan Studs, his late highness and now Princess Zahra, is immeasurable for Goffs. The Aga Khan Studs have been vital to us down the years and we’re beyond grateful for their continued support.”
Reflecting on the November Sale’s highlights, Beeby says: “There’s been Chicquita, the Wildenstein dispersal, the Niarchos dispersal, selling Ghaiyyath [to Godolphin for €1.1m] and the first foals by Frankel and Sea The Stars, both of which broke records, those are the standout moments. But seeing these horses go on, Field Of Gold most recently, perform at the highest level on the track, that completes the circle.”
Tattersalls Ireland Sapphire Sale
The November Sale is not the only option for buying a Flat-bred foal in Ireland. On December 16, Tattersalls Ireland hosts the mixed Sapphire Sale at its Fairyhouse complex. Although this event is smaller than other sales in this category, it can still boast graduates whose talents have far outshone their humble price tags.
Tattersalls Ireland Sapphire Sale (Dec 16)
Red Lion, who began his racing career in Ireland as Fiach McHugh, claimed this year’s G1 Champions Mile at Sha Tin. The son of Belardo first changed hands as a yearling at Fairyhouse, where a bid of €7,000 was all it took for Athnid Stud to bring the hammer down.
Closer to home, Champers Elysees passed through the sale before going on to land the Matron Stakes. Despite being pinhooked by Aughamore Stud for just €12,500, she later transferred to the ownership of Teruya Yoshida after her G1 triumph.
Tattersalls Ireland have enjoyed a remarkably buoyant year with their Flat sales, with the Breeze-Up date in May and the September Yearling Sale both witnessing record-breaking trade. The team are hopeful that momentum will carry forward into the Sapphire Sale.
“We’re heading into this on the back of a very good Breeze-Up Sale and September Yearling Sale, so we’re really trying to continue the momentum of the Flat sales here,” says Orla McKenna, head of bloodstock at Tattersalls Ireland. “It’s been an amazing year and hopefully we can finish on a high.”
Entries to this sale are still being taken up to November 21, but McKenna says the early signs are encouraging. “I genuinely feel the sire profile among the foals is better than last year,” she says.
“The breeze-up vendors and foal pinhookers all show up but sometimes we’ve felt as if we haven’t had enough to offer them. But this year, if we keep the momentum going, we’ll have a very decent catalogue to offer these buyers.”
Among the offering is a Persian Force full-brother to last year’s €50,000 top lot, while the likes of Lucky Vega, Mehmas, Minzaal, Nando Parrado, Phoenix Of Spain, Starman and The Antarctic are also represented among a cross-section of proven and up-and-coming commercial options.
Vendors bringing their stock to market include: Adam Morgan’s AM Thoroughbreds, the Irish National Stud, Grangemore Stud, Meadowlands Stud, Mountarmstrong Stud, Olive O’Connor and Oran Hill Stud.
Tattersalls Ireland are hoping to maintain the upward trajectory by moving the sale to a later position in the calendar, as well as introducing a range of incentives aimed at benefitting buyers and sellers alike.
“The new date seems to have gone down well,” says McKenna. “We’d expect something similar to last year in terms of numbers but we’ll definitely get more foals, and we’re really trying to build this as more of a Flat foal sale rather than a mixed auction.
“Also, if you buy a foal, we’ll guarantee you a place in at least part two of the September Yearling Sale next year. People seem to have latched onto that initiative, so we’re hoping that’ll encourage a few more foal vendors and purchasers as well.
“On top of that, any of the yearlings in the sale qualify for next year’s Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sales Stakes at the Curragh.”
All in all, there are plenty of reasons to add the Sapphire Sale to your breeding stock schedule.
• Visit the Goffs website and the Tattersalls Ireland website
• Visit the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing website
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