Babola heads final Goffs' November session

A strong week's trade at Goffs' November Sale drew to a close at the auction

house's Kill base on Sunday with final figures showing the second highest set of

results in the sale's history. However, the eight-day sale closed as it began,

with a low clearance rate of under 42 percent blighting final-day trade.

The top lot during the final session was Skehanagh Bloodstock's Hip No. 1925,

BABOLA (Grand Lodge), who sold to Agence FIPS for 62,000. Offered in foal to

Aussie Rules, the four-year-old is out of Princesse Bilbao (Highest Honor [Fr]),

making her a half-sister to Group 3 winner and Grand Criterium (Fr-G1) second

Bernebeau (Green Tune).

"The oft-quoted (soccer) cliche, "a game of two halves," is quite apt when

summing up the last eight days trade at Goffs' largest ever sale, both in terms

of numbers and sales days," Chief Executive Henry Beeby said. "One half could be

defined as the quality end of the market, which was intensely strong for both

mares and foals, with the other consisting of the lesser lights that did not

catch the imagination of the buyers to the same degree.

"The beginning and end of the sale illustrated the stark reality of the

increasing numbers of Thoroughbreds being born year on year and many breeders

have really felt the effects for the first time," Beeby continued. "The contrast

in the central five days of the sale was palpable as we enjoyed a trade of

consistent strength, with bids flying for those that appealed. The foal market

got better and better culminating in a truly spectacular session of trading on

Thursday, whilst the mares' trade set off at a cracking pace on Friday,

continued through Saturday before slowing somewhat today. However the enduring

appeal of Goffs meant we were able to welcome huge numbers of overseas buyers to

Kildare Paddocks headed by significant buying groups from both India and Turkey.

Our heartfelt thanks to them for their perennial support and also to Irish

Thoroughbred Marketing for their invaluable assistance in all the organization

that goes in to such visits.

"Our sale totals may have fallen short of the records set last year, but we

are far from despondent as they represent the second-best figures in the sale's

history and are the result of sustained interest over the last eight days," he

concluded. "Our thanks, as ever, for the wonderful support from our vendors and

the participation of the many, many purchasers we have been privileged to

welcome from home and abroad."

This year's three-day renewal of the broodmares and fillies section failed to

surpass last year's two-day equivalent, falling 5.5 percent short of last year's

gross. Overall, the sale median increased by more than 5 percent to 19,000 as

the sale aggregate reached 33,143,500.

For complete results, please visit www.goffs.com.