There was a case of deja vu on the opening day of Goffs Orby Sale Book 2, Sept. 30, as owner Montgomery Motto was at the end of the winning bid for the €210,000 (US$237,977, €1=US$1.13) top lot, a filly by Cotai Glory.
Motto knows plenty about the now Turkey-based sire, having bought the stallion's United States grade 1 winner Excellent Truth for €52,000 at the 2021 Orby Sale.
She sported the international owner's silks to a win in the 2023 Prix de Psyche (G3) and then the following year's listed Prix Goldikova, both of those victories coming at Deauville Racecourse. Excellent Truth was also denied by a nose when second in the Prix Rothschild (G1) of 2024 to Mqse De Sevigne.
Excellent Truth was then sold for €1.6 million at the 2024 Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale and she sported John Stewart's Resolute Racing silks to victory in last year's Diana Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course. The now 6-year-old was transferred once more to Katsumi Yoshida for US$2.5 million at Fasig-Tipton's The November Sale in 2025.
Motto, who said this filly is likely to stay in Europe, said: "I'm very happy to have got her. This filly's very similar to Excellent Truth—nearly a spitting image, in fact.
"There was a lot of genuine competition for her. The market here is very strong; there's good quality throughout both the Book 1 and Book 2 catalogs. There's something for everyone.
"I used to train for myself in Florida for many years, then I came to Europe and now I'm based between Italy and the U.K. I have horses with two different trainers—Andrea Marcialis in Italy and Mauricio Delcher Sanchez in Chantilly, who trained Excellent Truth."
Consigned by the Irish National Stud, the filly is a half sister to 2024 Mercury Stakes (G3) winner Ostraka, herself a €95,000 Goffs graduate at the 2021 Autumn Sale. The pair's dam, the Amadeus Wolf-sired Ostatnia, picked up black type when third in the listed Abergwaun Stakes in 2016 at Tipperary.
Renowned breeder and Goffs chairman Eimear Mulhern, who looks after breeder Michael Rosenfeld's bloodstock interests, said: "Mr Rosenfeld is probably the only Austrian owner in Ireland. He's a great enthusiast; he's raced all the family, all from that mare who came from Austria all those years ago, and she has made her own family here in Ireland. So we're absolutely delighted.
"Mr Rosenfeld couldn't be here, but we had him on the phone. That was way beyond our expectations. I told him she'd probably make €40,000, so I couldn't believe it. She's a princess, absolutely gorgeous. Her sister (Osterode) was just beaten a nose in a maiden (at Bellewstown) half an hour ago, and Mr Rosenfeld still owns her."
Turnover for the first session reached €5,286,000 (US$5,990,209) from 192 horses sold. The average price was €27,532 (US$31,120), with a median of €20,000 (US$22,664). The clearance rate was 87.3%.
The second and final session of Book 2 takes place from 10 a.m. local time Oct. 1.
