Night of Thunder Colt Tops Final Session of Goffs Sale

A three-way tussle saw a well-related son (Lot 362) of champion sire Night of Thunder (IRE) top the second session of the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale Aug. 26. Agent Ed Sackville was involved at the business end of the bidding, as was Alex Elliott, who was standing just behind his rival in his ringside office. However, neither party had any answer when a representative of Bond Thoroughbred, taking instructions on the phone on the top deck of the auditorium, entered the fray with an increase to £210,000 (US$285,428, £1=US$1.36). The colt, who was offered by Longview Stud, doesn't have far to travel, as the operation's Charlie Bond said the six-figure youngster will head to the North Yorkshire stable of Geoff Oldroyd. "Being by Night of Thunder, who's on fire, he obviously stood out in the catalog, and when Geoff and PJ (McDonald) came up the other day to look at the horses, he was their star pick," Bond said, speaking by phone shortly after the session-topping transaction. "After Geoff trained another winner for us at York last week (Air Force One), we decided we'd buy the colt for him. We've invested a lot in the facilities at Geoff's, so we need the horses to back the team up. Hopefully this colt will turn up in the sales race at York next year." On landing the session topper on a single bid, Bond added: "It was always the plan to play late. I was there myself yesterday and didn't manage to get a bid in on one. The good horses are making really good money; the market for those seems quite strong." The youngster is the first foal out of Snow Empress, a daughter of Kingman (GB) who won two races in France. In turn, she is a sibling of the group 3-winning Chilean. The colt was bred under the Ed's Stud banner. The same breeder was also responsible for a son of Frankel (GB) who fetched €2.3 million from Godolphin at the record-breaking Arqana August Sale. All told, the two-day sale produced trade that was solid, if somewhat unspectacular. Turnover was close to last year's total at £14,247,500 (US$19,364,917), although the average and median prices both dipped below the level of 12 months ago. The former indices closed at £40,020 (US$54,394), a 7% year-on-year slide, while the latter fell by 14% to £30,000 (US$40,775). Those metrics, in part, reflected 20 lots selling for a six-figure sum, six fewer than last year. The clearance rate was 85% as 356 lots sold from 419 offered.