The Hong Kong Jockey Club purchased four colts last week at Ireland’s premier yearling auction, the two-day Goffs Orby Sale, for a total of €785,000.
Lot 169 proved popular and the Club had to go to €325,000 to secure the youngster, who is from a G1 family and is by the in-demand stallion Kodiac (Danehill), currently Europe’s leading sire of two-year-olds thanks largely to the G1-winning exploits of his speedy daughter Tiggy Wiggy.
That purchase came on the sale’s first day (30 September) as did a pair of €180,000 buys. Lot 135 is by Fastnet Rock (Danehill) from a strong black type family, while Lot 172 is a Footstepsinthesand (Giant’s Causeway) full-brother to G3 winner Arnold Lane from the same family as G1 heroine Hibaayeb (Singspiel).
Day two brought a bay colt by Iffraaj (Zafonic), at a cost of €100,000, from the family of Endeavour (Try My Best), a five-time winner in Hong Kong and third to River Verdon (Be My Native) in the 1992 QEII Cup.
“I’m pleased that we have been able to come away from a very competitive sale with four really nice individuals. As a group, there is a lot to like; they are athletic types from good families with the right mix of class and speed needed to succeed in Hong Kong,” said Mark Richards, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Executive Manager, International Sale.
“I’m particularly pleased that we were able to secure the Kodiac colt,” he added. “His sire is proving his merit with some very talented individuals and this youngster is from a Juddmonte family with plenty of class.”
Purchase details
Lot 135 b c Fastnet Rock ex Amenixa (Linamix) €180,000 (approximately HK$1.77 million)
Lot 169 b c Kodiac ex Call Later (Gone West) €325,000 (approx. HK$3.2 million)
Lot 172 br c Footstepsinthesand ex Capriole (Noverre) €180,000 (approx. HK$1.77 million
Lot 285 b c Iffraaj Ex Homegrown (Mujadil) €100,000 (approx. HK$986,000)
Selected pedigree notes:
A smart sprinter in his racing days, Kodiac is very closely-related to another successful stallion, Invincible Spirit, and this year the son of Danehill has made a breakthrough with his first G1 winner, the speedy two-year-old Tiggy Wiggy. Lot 169 is out of the unraced Call Later, whose three previous foals have all won including the Listed winner Be Ready. The dam is a three-parts sister to the multiple US G1 winner Ventura, from a Juddmonte family that has produced Pattern race winners such as Vortex, Prove, Erudite, Danefair and Trade Fair.
Lot 135 is by the popular Australian champion sprinter Fastnet Rock. The youngster’s dam, a minor mile winner in England, is from a Lagardere family of some quality being a full-sister to the G1 winning stayer Amilynx and Amie De Mix, a Listed winner at a mile, as well a half-sister to the 1400m G2 victor Amiwain. This colt has plenty of speed in his family, being a sibling to six winners including the G2-winning juvenile Zinziberine (successful from 900m to 1200m in France), who is in turn the dam of G3 Prix de Cabourg (1200m) victor Zanzibari, and the French Listed winners Zelimir and Zenji.
