Yesterday's opening session of the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale took the unfamiliar role of opening the European yearling sales circuit for 2020 and did so in a style that was generally considered to be reassuring without being spectacular.
That reassurance came from a 83% clearance rate, a respectable figure in the current climate, notwithstanding the fact that the average and median could not keep pace with last year’s strong returns which is no surprise given the worldwide issues caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The opening session saw nine yearlings sell for six figure sums and were headed by Coulonces Sales’ Starspangledbanner colt (Lot 165) which sold to Richard Ryan for £170,000. The colt is the first foal out of Dalakania, a half-sister to the Gr.1 winner Ziyad, and will go into training with Roger Varian. Grangemore Stud achieved the second highest price of the day with their Dark Angel colt out of the multiple Stakes placed Kodiac mare Futoon (Lot 219) selling to John & Jake Warren for £140,000.
Stock by Premier graduate and proven sire Acclamation were popular throughout the day with Longview Stud’s Acclamation colt out of an own sister to the Group 1 winner and sire Slade Power (Lot 186) selling to SackvilleDonald for £120,000 while Tinnakill House's Acclamation colt out of a half-sister to the Gr.1 winner Bateel (Lot 160) was another to stand out when selling to Richard Ryan for £115,000.
Phil Cunningham purchased a total of three horses through Goffs’ online bidding system including a Kodi Bear colt (Lot 30) from Lewinstown Farm for £110,000 while Peter & Ross Doyle were also busy, securing 11 horses on the opening day, including Redpender Stud’s Acclamation colt (Lot 49) for £105,000.