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The high-class Green Sense topped the Goffs London Sale in Kensington Palace Gardens on Monday evening at £700,000. The filly initially went unsold at £675,000 but a private deal was struck at the sales-topping price soon after.
The Group 2-winning two-year-old, who was offered by Joseph O’Brien’s Carriganog Racing, was signed for by Brittany Linton, chief executive of US outfit Boyd Racing.
“We’re very excited about her and looking forward to her running in the Jersey Stakes on Saturday,” said owner Randy Boyd, who credited David Redvers with helping bring the transaction together. “After that she’ll probably come back to the US and run in Saratoga and be a turf horse there. We have a trainer in mind but I’d better wait to tell him first!
“Boyd Racing’s strategy is to buy fillies who will go on to have great, successful careers and then be broodmares. Right now we have eight fillies and two colts. Most of them are up in Saratoga, and we have two older mares with Bob Baffert, Seismic Beauty and Splendora, who won the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint last year. We also bought Vahva at Keeneland in November and she was just bred to Not This Time.”
He added: “We want to keep it small and have high-quality horses. We don’t expect to be the biggest, but we want to be the best.”
Green Sense has won two of her seven starts for O’Brien and previous owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede. Her biggest triumph came when landing last year’s Group 2 Prix Robert Papin at Chantilly.
That effort came on her fourth juvenile start, and her next outing saw her add Group 1 form to her record when finishing third to Power Blue in the Phoenix Stakes. The pair were separated by subsequent 1,000 Guineas heroine True Love. Green Sense was last seen finishing sixth in the Prix de Sandringham.
Richard Ryan of Teme Valley Racing signs for Green Sovereign at £200,000
The three-year-old has been to the sales on one previous occasion when bringing €90,000 from Highflyer Bloodstock’s Anthony Bromley during the 2024 edition of the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale.
She is the eighth foal out of the Street Sense mare Big Boned. This makes her a sibling to four winners, including K Club, who struck in a Hamburg Group 3, and Back To Brussels, who reached the podium in three Listed contests.
She was not the only horse that Munir-Souede team sold on Monday, as they also saw six-length Pontefract maiden winner Green Sovereign bring £200,000 from Richard Ryan, agent for Teme Valley Racing.
The son of Lope Y Fernandez, who is due to take up an engagement in Wednesday’s Windsor Castle Stakes, was picked up for £40,000 at last year’s Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale. Green Sovereign was sold through Harry Eustace’s Highfield Stables.
“We’re thrilled with the sale,” said Bromley. “They’re both scopey horses, Green Sovereign and Green Sense, and we felt there was still plenty of racing ahead of them. They had to make their money and they have; I’m thrilled with the results.”
Asked about the decision to send Green Sense to the London Sale, Bromley said: “Joey Cullen [Goffs’ marketing director] was very persuasive! I wasn’t sure if it was the right time to sell her off her French run but we know she’s trained on, even though things didn’t quite go right in France.
“I know she’s working well so we put her in with a proper reserve, and if someone bid it, fair do’s. They didn’t bid it in the ring but we didn’t budge and they’ve given it fair do’s afterwards. We weren’t taking anything less, but we shook hands afterwards and we can’t argue with that.”
Anthony Bromley keeps a keen eye on the actionCredit: Goffs
Bromley also turned buyer late in the piece when going to £170,000 for progressive middle-distance performer Baltic Fleet, who was offered by George Boughey’s Craven House Stables.
“I bought him for Andy Bell and Fergus Lyons,” said the Highflyer Bloodstock man. “While he could make a jumper in time, we’ve bought him to be a staying Flat horse and to work through the handicaps. I think he wants a mile and six furlongs, he’s a horse for races like the Melrose and Mallard handicaps. Next year he might improve enough to sneak into the Ebor. He could end up being a jumping horse down the line. He’s going to move yards to Ian Williams.”
Coincidentally, Green Sense was bred by Nicky Hartery, chairperson of the board at Horse Racing Ireland, as was Baltic Fleet, who Boughey picked up for €75,000 at last year’s Arqana Breeze-Up Sale.
Kentucky Rain repays connections’ patience
Amo Racing will be cheering on Ghostwriter when last year’s £2,000,000 London Sale top lot lines up in Tuesday’s Wolferton Stakes. Kia Joorabchian’s outfit will also have another London Sale recruit to look forward to later in the week after going to £380,000 for the once-raced Kentucky Rain.
The filly has been something of a sales ring regular despite her relatively tender years. She first appeared at last year’s Goffs Orby Sale, where she was knocked down to Arthur Dobell, part of the Oliver St Lawrence Bloodstock team, at €18,000.
She then made a swift reappearance at the BBAG October Sale just 17 days later but was bought back by her vendor at €24,000. Her next trip to the sales came at the Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale, where she went unsold at £58,000.
Owner Stephan Vogt took the decision to send the filly into training with Lemos de Souza, which she repaid in spades with a promise-filled effort on her debut in a Goodwood novice event.
She could be seen travelling consciously well as the race entered the latter stages, but had to wait until deep inside the final furlong before getting clear sailing. She flew home to be beaten just a length and a quarter, arguably rating an unlucky loser given how much running she appeared to have left.
She is set to sport the purple silks of her new owner in Wednesday’s Queen Mary Stakes, where she will line up against fellow Amo-owned runners Lover Girl and Crownbreaker.
Kia Joorabchian: set to be well represented in the Queen Mary Stakes after securing the £380,000 Kentucky Rain
“She’s a very nice filly,” said Amo talent scout Alex Elliott. “Kia’s speaking to Lemos de Souza, who he knows well, and he’d been speaking to him before the sale too, obviously. It was a very eye-catching performance on debut. I’d say she’ll get further in time and she’s potentially the kind of filly we could send to the States.
“If she doesn’t win at Ascot she’s still a maiden and she can go run in those maidens on either coast. It was Americans who were second and third to us in the bidding and she was a very obvious horse for them. She’ll be a third runner for Amo in the Queen Mary on Wednesday and we’re pleased to get her.”
Kentucky Rain’s previous connections revealed the six-figure trade might not be the only big result they enjoy this week.
Dobell said: “It’s a great result. We never expected it but it’s fantastic. Stephan had offers at the [breeze-up] sale but he was the one who believed, he kept at it and he’s been rewarded today. It’s hard to keep them and run them and pay the training fees, but I’m so glad he did. We’ve had a lot of interest after she got into the Queen Mary, so we were hopeful about today.”
Alex Elliott: “She’s potentially the kind of filly we could send to the States”
Vogt picked up the thread, saying: “We had interest, but I thought she’d either explode here and sell for a high price or we’d take her home. We wouldn’t have been unhappy with that because she’s a very good contender for the Queen Mary. She’s probably the fastest horse I’ll ever own.
“I actually backed her this morning at 80-1! I came to the sales and thought we either get the price I had in mind, which we exceeded by miles, or we take her home, we don’t cry and we go to Royal Ascot and we’ll have a cracking day out watching her perform. The speed figures she produced are fantastic and the piece of work she did on Saturday was phenomenal, unbelievable. I wish Amo the best of luck and hope she brings her home work to the track.”
Asked if he’ll still head to the track to cheer Kentucky Rain on, Vogt said: “Well I’ll probably have to go to cash out my betting slip!”
Kentucky Rain is from the third crop of Irish National Stud resident Lucky Vega and was bred by Pegasus Bloodstock from the Exceed And Excel mare Equanimity, making her a half-sister to the Listed-winning sprinter Son Of Corballis.
Shawn Duggan on Song
Naas winner Your Song is another who will be seen sporting new silks on her next outing after going the way of Shawn Duggan at £300,000. Duggan, who was working with Emmanuel de Seroux of Narvick International, said plans were still being finalised as to whether the daughter of Coulsty would line up in Wednesday’s Queen Mary Stakes.
“We’ll decide within the next 12 hours whether she’ll take up her engagement at Royal Ascot,” Duggan said. “She could, as she’s been bought for Marsha Naify, and she became a registered owner in Britain this week. Marsha is a major owner in America and is one of Emmanuel and Laura de Seroux of Narvick International’s clients, and I work closely with Emmanuel and Laura.
“Marsha is based in California but she’s here for the week, having never been before. We also bought the filly on Tattersalls Online last week [the 100,000gns River In Paradise]. We’re having fun!”
Your Song sells to Shawn Duggan for £300,000Credit: Goffs
Your Song had appreciated markedly in value since her last appearance at the sales having fetched just 32,000gns at last year’s Somerville Sale. She was trained by Robson de Aguiar for owners Kerri Radcliffe, Arthur Hoyeau and Giselle De Aguiar.
Several of the offerings failed to meet their reserves, including the Greenham Stakes winner Alparslan, who was a vendor buyback at £1 million.
All told, 11 of 19 offered lots found a buyer for a clearance rate of 57 per cent. Turnover hit £2,970,000, which was down 63 per cent compared to 12 months ago. The average price was £270,000 (down 33 per cent) and the median £250,000 (down 17 per cent).
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