A son of Hernando topped an upbeat Goffs Sportsman's yearling sale, bringing €75,000 ($97,169) Oct. 5 in Ireland. Stephen Hillen purchased the bay yearling from Staffordstown.
Produced from the winning Pursuit of Love mare Oval Office, the colt is a half brother to Glass Office (by Verglas), who won this year's Betfred The Bonus King Sirenia Stakes (Eng-III). The yearling was bred in Great Britain.
The results for the auction included a gross of €2,372,700 ($3,074,020) for the 138 yearlings that were sold. The average price was €17,193 ($22,275) and the median price was €14,000 ($18,138). Compared to last year, when 157 horses were sold, the gross and average grew 17% and 30.5%, respectively. The median rose 40%.
The clearance rate increased to 81.2% from 78.5% in 2011.
"Today's Sportsman's sale has continued the very positive trends of the wonderful two-day Orby Sale," said Goffs chief executive Henry Beeby. "It is no secret that there was some internal debate about the best date for this sale and I am glad that we listened to the feedback from the industry, which unequivocally told us that the day immediately following the Orby was the preferred slot.
"That has certainly proved to be the case and the vibrancy of the last two days has continued today with another excellent session of trading that absolutely confirms the Sportsman's sale as second only to the Orby in terms of all measures relating to an Irish yearling sale. That trade flowed from another diverse and deep buying bench from home and abroad."
