Classy handicapper Indianapolis was the star turn at the Goffs UK December Sale on Friday, the final auction of 2020 to be held at the company’s Doncaster sales complex.
With a bid of £52,000, Richard Ryan was able to secure the well-bred son of Galileo to continue his career with trainer Ian Williams. Most recently trained by James Given, after having begun his career with Aidan O’Brien, Indianapolis is the winner of three races and although a non-winner during the past campaign, he did turn in several creditable efforts in defeat, including when third in a competitive 1m6f handicap at the Qatar Goodwood Festival.
Although Indianapolis’s valuation was the highest price ever achieved at this sale, overall it was a low-key day of trading that saw 104 horses sell for a total of £694,500.
However, the average rose marginally to £6,678 while the median grew by 7% to £4,000. The fact that 82% of horses sent through the ring were listed as sold was also a statistic that the team at Goffs UK were understandably satisfied with.
“Whilst we are not going to pretend that today’s sale is the highlight of our year, we are very proud of the trade that has been achieved throughout the day and we would like to thank all vendors and purchasers for their participation,” said Tim Kent, Goffs UK’s managing director. “We saw some spirited bidding throughout the day, with those present competing with a strong online buying bench, and this has helped to produce a very satisfactory end to the sales in Doncaster for 2020.”
Another quality handicapper, Dash Of Spice, was also in demand, selling for £29,000 to Ontoawinner. The six-year-old gelding won three times for David Elsworth, most notably the 2018 Duke Of Edinburgh Handicap at Royal Ascot.
His price was later matched by the Group 2-placed Saeiqa, who was snapped up out of John Gosden’s yard by Irish trainer Denis Hogan. Although still a maiden, the son of Shalaa was highly tried this season and showed a high degree of ability when third to Nando Parrado in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The final auction of the Goffs UK season is the December P2P Sale at Yorton Farm on December 17.
“The December Sale is normally the last fixture in the Goffs UK calendar,” said Kent, “but we have an additional date in 2020 which will see us return to Yorton Farm Stud for the new December P2P Sale on Thursday 17 December. We have already announced some very smart pointers for this sale, and we will be adding to the catalogue in the coming weeks to ensure that the Goffs UK year finishes in style at Yorton Farm.”
