(Edited Goffs press release)
The trade was lively at the Goffs horses in training sale, with the median price increasing 12.5% from last year Nov. 16 in Ireland. The clearance rate was 74.5%.
The Michael Halford-trained Shalambar from The Aga Khan Studs draft fetched €80,000 ($119,284 in U.S. funds) to top the auction. The 3-year-old son of Dalakhani was a winner at Leopardstown in August. Brian Millen purchased him to go jumping. Shalambar will be trained by Tony Carroll.
"Our decision to hold the horses in training sale in tandem with our November sale was certainly justified today with a broad buyer base active from Greece, Italy, Scandinavia, the Czech Republic, Belgium as well as the UK and Ireland, and has received universal praise from our clients,” said Goffs chief executive Henry Beeby. “We are more than happy with today's lively trade and, once again, must thank His Highness, The Aga Khan, for his tremendous support of this sale. Horses in training sales are totally dependent on the entries available each year which are less consistent than other categories. Today's trade certainly matched last year’s overall as the median demonstrates and the average has purely fallen due to the lack of six-figure lots this year".
The 114 horses that sold grossed €886,300 ($1,321,518) and averaged €7,775 ($11,593). The median was €4,500 ($6,710). Last year, the 77 horses that sold grossed €988,600 and averaged €12,839. The median was €4,000.