Enthralling, a half sister to this year's Epsom Derby (G1) hero Lambourn, proved the headline act Nov. 21 at the opening session of Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale when she sold for €780,000 (US$898,000, €1=US$1.15).
A team from Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm had made the journey from Hokkaido, Japan, to Kildare, Ireland, but ran into a rival camp from Ace Stud when Enthralling took to the ring.
The two operations had matters between themselves from after the €500,000 mark, but it was ultimately Yoshida's men who won out.
The 4-year-old daughter of Galileo was bred and raced by Coolmore and presented on Friday evening by The Castlebridge Consignment.
She could only manage three placings from seven starts for Donnacha O'Brien but made major appeal on pedigree. She is the first foal out of Gossamer Wings, a winning daughter of Scat Daddy who was beaten just a short head by Signora Cabello in the Queen Mary Stakes (G2).
This lineage makes Enthralling a closely related sister to Lambourn, who also won the Irish Derby (G1) and is by Galileo's son Australia; and the classy 2-year-old Action, who was last seen finishing second to stablemate Hawk Mountain in the Futurity Trophy (G1).
Her appeal was further enhanced as she was offered in foal to Camelot.
"There's lots of future promise with this pedigree," said Northern Farm representative Tomo Tsuda, who was decked out in an Equinox cap. "I love the 2-year-old, he's going to be really good next year. There's a lot of speed in this bloodline and, to bring a mare like this back to Japan and cover her with our own stallions, that's our dream for the future.
"It was pretty strong competition, she was definitely the top mare in this draft. She has a very athletic walk and a strong back end. I loved her. She made a bit over my budget but we pushed hard to get her."
Tsuda added: "We haven't decided which stallion she will visit yet, we will see what the Camelot foal is like and then make a decision about who she goes to next year. We are going to travel from here to Tattersalls and then Arqana. European mares are fitting very well with Japanese stallions."
Ace Returns Serve
Ace Stud may have missed out on Enthralling but the outfit enjoyed better fortune earlier in the day when landing Liber Nauticus, the only mare to be offered in foal to Night Of Thunder, at €420,000. The 15-year-old daughter of Azamour was offered by Moyglare Stud Farm.
The mare herself only ran three times for Ballymacoll Stud and Sir Michael Stoute, but made her winning debut as a juvenile and followed that up by landing the Musidora Stakes (G3) on her 3-year-old bow.
She has already passed plenty of her talent onto her offspring, as her five winners at paddocks include the listed scorer Miss Celestial and Trevaunance, who lowered the colors of Mqse De Sevigne to win the Prix de la Nonette (G2) in 2022.
There should be plenty more to come, too, as Liber Nauticus also has a yearling colt by Siyouni and a Kingman filly foal.
"Her pedigree speaks for itself and the first thing that caught our eye was the cover," said Paul Curran, Ace Stud's racing and bloodstock manager. "We've had a lot of luck with the stallion this year. We were very happy to buy in, and we think we've got her at a price that, commercially, you could come back to the sales with a Night Of Thunder and make double a figure like that.
"Having said that, what we'll more than likely do is foal her down and race the foal ourselves. We're end-users at the end of the day, and we tried on a lot of his yearlings here and at Book 1 and Book 2. But when you can buy a mare of her quality, and with what she's producing with the likes of Trevaunance, to get a Night Of Thunder out of her, be it a colt or a filly, at that price is quite reasonable. In another year or two's time, you might be talking about astronomical figures for his stock."
The Moyglare draft also contained Terrific. The 14-year-old daughter of Galileo, who was offered in foal to Sioux Nation, went the way of Ballylinch Stud on a bid of €300,000.
Terrific is a full sister to one top-level winner in Together and is half sibling to another in Jan Vermeer. She has bred four winners, most notably the Siyouni filly Bellezza, who struck in this year's Flower Bowl Stakes (G2) for trainer Miguel Clement at Saratoga Race Course.
Terrific had been through the ring on two previous occasions, and fetched a seven-figure sum both times. She joined the Coolmore fold in 2012 when bought by Demi O'Byrne for 1.3 million guineas from Book 1 of the Tatttersalls October Yearling Sale. She later resold to Moyglare for $1.9 million at the 2015 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
On the day, Goffs reported 194 lots sold from 228 offered, for a clearance rate of 85%. That was an improvement on last year's session mark of 79%. Total sales increased 5% to €11,354,500 (US$13,072,209). Average dipped 12% to €58,529 (US$67,383) while median dropped 30% to €30,000 (US$34,538).
The second and final session of the Goffs November Breeding Stock sale is Nov. 22
