Montjeu yearling colt tops Goffs opener

Goffs launched their two-day February Sale Tuesday, and it was a yearling son

of Montjeu (Ire) who stole the show when selling for €100,000. Coolmore's star

resident had been responsible for the sale of the subsequent Irish Derby

(Ire-G1) hero Frozen Fire for €250,000 at this auction four years ago, and

Tuesday's offering from Abbeville & Meadow Court Studs is bred to make a splash.

Out of a full sister to the 2006 Dahlia H. (G2) winner Grande Melody (Ire)

(Grand Lodge), Hip No. 229 hails from the high-class family of the 2000 Fillies'

Mile (Eng-G1) winner and 2001 Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) and Coronation

S. (Eng-G1) runner-up Crystal Music (Nureyev) and Michael Poland's top-class

Solar Crystal (Alzao) and State Crystal (High Estate [Ire]). He was snapped up

by Hugo Merry Bloodstock and will be re-offered later this year.

Yearlings dominated the top lots. Thistle Farm later paid €75,000 for Hip

265, a son of Dalakhani from the Moyglare family of the classic heroine Trusted

Partner (Affirmed) from the draft of Jockey Hall Stud. Earlier in the afternoon,

a pair of colts from the consignment of Honeypound Stud fetched €48,000 apiece.

The first was Hip 129, a son of High Chaparral (Ire) from the immediate family

of stakes winner Driving Snow (GB) (Verglas [Ire]) who sold to Camas Park Stud.

Later, BBA Ireland stepped in for Hip 204, an Acclamation colt whose dam is a

half-sister to Group 1 winner Linda's Lad (GB) (Sadler's Wells).

Of the other horses on offer, a two-year-old filly from the Moorpark Stud

consignment was in demand before being knocked down to Martin Cullinane for

€22,000. Hip 82, by Green Desert, is a half-sister to last year's E.P. Taylor S.

(Can-G1) heroine Folk Opera (Ire) (Singspiel [Ire]).

At the end of the first session, the statistics told their own story, with

the gross, average and median making significant jumps on the 2009 equivalent.

Selling continues Wednesday. Full results are available at goffs.com.