Records tumbled at Goffs on Friday evening when a son of Dubawi set a new high price for a colt foal sold at public auction in Ireland when purchased for €1.1m.
John Ferguson made the winning bid for the superbly-bred colt, consigned by The Castlebridge Consignment, seeing off fierce competition from underbidder Ibrahim Araci and others including Peter and Ross Doyle.
The colt is out of the Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Nightime, trained by Dermot Weld to win for his mother Marguerite, who died last year. The April-born colt, a half-brother to the Listed winner Zhukova, is bred on the same cross as the dual G1 winner and new Darley stallion Night Of Thunder, being by Dubawi out of a Galileo mare.
The record price marked the third seven-figure sale this autumn for Dubawi, who will stand at Dalham Hall next year for a fee of £225,000. It was also the fourth time this year that one of his progeny has topped a major European sale, following on from Arqana August and Tattersalls Books 1 and 2.
Dawn Approach also enjoyed an excellent sale, headed by a colt out of a Stakes-placed half-sister to the dam of the G1 winner and sire Intense Focus. Offered by Esker Lodge Stud, the colt was purchased by John Ferguson for €300,000. Other members of Dawn Approach’s first crop also found favour with Shadwell paying €180,000 for a half-brother to two Stakes winners, and We Bloodstock securing a half-brother to four Italian Stakes performers for €160,000.
Epaulette’s first northern hemisphere crop also made a real splash, headed by a colt from the family of the G1 winner Bianca Nera for €130,000. Just one lot earlier, a colt out of a half-sister to two Stakes performers in France was purchased for €65,000.
Dawn Approach will stand at Kildangan for €35,000 Oct 1 SLF in 2016, while Epaulette will command a fee of €7,000 Oct 1 SLF, also at Kildangan.
