With another two classics under his belt in 2010 and one of the year’s best
in Pour Moi to boost his impressive stud record, Montjeu (Ire) is no
stranger to the limelight. There were just five representatives of the Coolmore
resident in the Goffs Orby catalogue, and the first to come under the hammer was
Hip No. 170 from Flash Conroy’s Glenvale Stud. Several interested parties had lined
up for his entrance into the ring in late afternoon. After a high-octane round
of bidding, it was Sir Robert Ogden’s name on the docket after his Racing
Manager Barry Simpson saw off Roger Varian, Tom Goff and Charlie Gordon-Watson
to prevail at €300,000.
“He was a very attractive colt,” said
Simpson, who took instructions by telephone from Sir Robert Ogden. “We’ve spent
three days looking here, and we felt that he was the nicest Montjeu that we saw.
He’s got a good, solid pedigree.”
The bay is the first foal out of stakes-placed Mayano Sophia (Rock of
Gibraltar [Ire]) and his second dam is the 1997 Moyglare Stud S. (Ire-G1) and 1998 Irish
One Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) heroine Tarascon (Tirol), who has produced the
2010 Woodcote S. winner High Award (Holy Roman Emperor).
Kilcarn Stud’s fortunes have been intertwined with this famous auction, and Pat
O’Kelly’s success story showed no sign of abating Tuesday. Saturday’s Cheveley Park S.
(Eng-G1) success of Lightening Pearl was a fitting tribute to her
recently pensioned sire Marju, and the ongoing legacy of the Derrinstown
stalwart was in evidence in Kildare once again at the latest renewal of
Ireland’s flagship sale. Marju’s daughter, consigned as Hip 171 by the nine-times
Orby-topping nursery, was next into the ring after the aforementioned Montjeu
colt and made for an intense few minutes of action, eventually going to Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s
establishment with a bid of €260,000
“We have a huge history with Kilcarn Stud and
it’s a fantastic nursery,” Derrinstown’s Stephen Collins said. “This was a
lovely filly from a fantastic and current pedigree. This season alone, it has
produced Banimpire, and this filly is a granddaughter of Detroit. She was an
obvious one for us. Marju has been a very good servant to us and this filly was
from one of his final yearling crops.”
The filly’s half-sister My
Renee (Kris S.) raced in the O’Kelly silks and, after winning two listed
contests, rounded off her career with a second in the Princess Royal S. (Eng-G3)
at Ascot in 2004. She has gone on to produce the Jim Bolger-trained Banimpire (Holy Roman Emperor), and that star sophomore has held a virtual
stranglehold on all bar the very best distaff contests in her native Ireland
during the current season. Beaten a short head in the latest edition of the Irish Oaks
(Ire-G1), she shares with this yearling the second dam, the 1980 Prix de l’Arc
de Triomphe (Fr-G1) heroine
Detroit (Fr) (Riverman), who also has the 1994 winner Carnegie (Ire) (Sadler’s
Wells) under her auspices.
“We have a huge history with Kilcarn Stud and it’s a fantastic nursery,”
Derrinstown’s Stephen Collins said. “This was a lovely filly from a fantastic
and current pedigree. This season alone, it has produced Banimpire, and this
filly is a granddaughter of Detroit. She was an obvious one for us. Marju has
been a very good servant to us and this filly was from one of his final yearling
crops.”
Earlier, Marju’s Ballylinch Stud half-brother to this year’s Prix du
Gros-Chene (Fr-G2) heroine Wizz Kid (Whipper), consigned as Hip 149, also sold
to eventual leading buyer Shadwell for €140,000.
Now at an advanced age, Limpopo (Green Desert) has gained a reputation as a
prolific producer of class acts; heading her own hall of fame list is Pipalong (Pips Pride). Apart from being a fairytale performer on the track for
the Easterbys of Yorkshire, the champion sprinter has continued her sterling
work in the paddocks by producing the 2009 Anglesey S. (Ire-G3) winner and Phoenix
S. (Ire-G1) third Walk On Bye (Danehill Dancer). Limpopo has also produced
three other black-type runners along with Ripalong (Revoque), whose
offspring include the very smart duo of Shamwari Lodge (Hawk Wing) and
Imperial Rome (Holy Roman Emperor). Not surprisingly, Limpopo’s Hip
151, a gray daughter of the recently deceased Verglas (Ire) from Swordlestown
Stud, was in demand. She went to Oliver Cole, son of trainer Paul Cole, after a
decisive bid of €210,000 on on behalf of Prince Faisal Salman.
“She’s a very
nice filly from a great family,” said Cole. “She’s a lovely, well-balanced filly
and she has everything that you would want. She looks like she could be an
earlier sort — maybe even one for the Queen Mary. Eventually, she will be a very
nice broodmare for the Prince’s Denford Stud.”
Galileo (Ire) is always one of the main players at this sale and his top-priced
representative of the first session sold just over halfway. Churchtown House
Stud’s Hip 127 is a full-brother to Ballydoyle’s Learn, who was an
impressive five-length winner of a Leopardstown maiden early last month. The
March-foaled bay, who hails from the family of the 2005 One Thousand Guineas
(Eng-G1) heroine
Virginia Waters (Kingmambo) and Group 1 runner-up Chevalier, was bought by Stephen Hillen on behalf of Dr. Jim Hay for €205,000.
“This is the first horse that I
have bought for Dr. Hay,” Hillen explained. “I said to the breeder when I saw
him that ones like him don’t come along too often. We were delighted to get
him.”
At the close of day, the session average of €61,063 and median of €42,000 were
lagging by six and 16 percent, respectively, on their 2010 equivalents, but the
clearance rate had improved from 76 to 84 percent. Selling continues at
Wednesday.
Full results, catalogue and updates are available at
www.goffs.com.