With the Arqana yearling sale behind and the Galileo colt I purchased settling into some quiet time at Park Wood Stud, Leighterton the attention turned to the Goffs UK premier sale in Doncaster. The sale has been lucky for me in the past with horses including Group 3 winner Lady Macapa, black-type performer Pixeleen and 100-plus rated performer Solar Flair – all three purchased for under £50,000 total !

This time I was able to purchase 6 yearlings on behalf of 4 different clients. The purchases ranged from £15,000 to £150,000 and the horses in question will be trained by William Knight, John Quinn, Richard Hannon & William Haggas.

The first purchase was Lot 62 – Night Of Thunder filly (pictured below) ex Many Colours (Green Desert). This filly is from the first crop of 2000 Guineas winner Night Of Thunder who is a son of Darley’s flagship stallion Dubawi. Many Colours was 106 rated herself and won at Listed level and was placed 2nd in a Group 3. At stud Many Colours is the dam of 2 winners from 4 runners (both by Dubawi so 3-parts related to this filly). The filly cost £38,000 and no trainer has been decided at this stage.

The 2nd purchase was Lot 92 – Acclamation colt (pictured below) ex Miss Gibraltar (Rock Of Gibraltar). This colt was one of my picks of the sale so I was delighted to purchase him. He had cost 150,000gns as a foal and was a stunning, athletic colt out of a mare who has produced 4 winners from 5 runners to date. And of those 4 winners, 3 have been rated 98, 98 and 90 which gives this colt a great chance of success. Bidding in the ring I gave way having bid £175,000 and the horse was knocked down at £180,000. However, it transpired that the vendors were looking for £200,000 for the horse (remember they purchased him for 150,000gns) but no-one else matched their valuation. After the sale the vendors came back to me to see if I was still interested and having discussed it with my client we offered them a take it or leave it £150,000 – they accepted and the sale was concluded. It’s often strange how these things transpire and just possibly he will be the one ! He will be trained by William Haggas in Newmarket.

The next purchase was Lot 142 – Kodiac colt (pictured below) ex Open Verse (Black Minnaloushe) – this colt was a very strong, well muscled colt who looks every inch the early (& hopefully fast !) 2-year-old. By top 2yo sire Kodiac and out of a mare who has produced 3 winners from 4 runners including 2 Group placed performers this February born colt will hopefully take his new owner Sheikh Abdullah Al-Malek Al-Sabah to Royal Ascot in 2019. He cost £120,000 and will be trained by Richard Hannon.

The fourth purchase was Lot 238 – Heeraat colt ex Skylla (Kyllachy) – this colt is the brother to Skeetah who I purchased from the Goffs UK breeze-up sale this year. That filly ran just the once for John Quinn when beaten a head at Nottingham and unfortunately hurt herself in the process and has not been seen again – she did show plenty of ability in her training beforehand and in her race to make this colt very interesting. He was also bigger and more correct than Skeetah so we hope he will be a good performer. He cost £36,000 will be trained by John & Sean Quinn.

The fifth purchase was Lot 401 – Camacho filly ex Cross Section (Cape Cross) – this filly is by the same sire as Signora Cabello in Camacho and is also a sister to Captain Jameson who has been a good performer for the Quinn yard. The filly cost £20,000 and will be trained by John & Sean Quinn.

The sixth purchase was Lot 464 – Bated Breath colt ex Foxtrot Alpha (Desert Prince) – this colt is a brother to the William Knight trained Progressive Dawn who won recently and was a nice, scopey colt who will make into a smart Summer 2yo and likely to be at his best as a 3-year-old. He cost £15,000 and will be trained by William Knight.

All six of these horses were either purchased to order or have already been sold to interested parties. If you are interested in purchasing a yearling at any of the forthcoming yearling sales then please make contact on +447769349240 or email richard@richardknightbloodstockagent.com