Palace Pier filly provides profit aplenty as bargain buy mare breeds €220,000 top lot
The Irish National Stud was rewarded for some savvy purchasing at last year’s mare sales when a Palace Pier (Kingman) filly out of the Juddmonte-bred Big Break (Dansili) brought €220,000 (approx. AU$392,830) from Paul McCartan, who signed at CBS Bloodstock, during day two of the Goffs November Foal Sale on Tuesday.
Twelve months ago Big Break was catalogued as the dam of two winners at paddocks, including the Listed scorer Georgeville. The daughter of Dansili (Danehill), a sister to Famous Name, was duly picked up with the Palace Pier filly in utero for just 30,000gns.
But by the time her daughter hit the ring in Goffs on Tuesday, her breeding record had expanded to five winners, a roll of honour that includes the highly rated Frankel (Galileo) three-year-old Gran Descans and the Lope De Vega (Shamardal) two-year-old Pacific Mission.
The latter has developed into a high-class juvenile, which in turn has added further black type to an already deep page. Pacific Mission finished runner-up in the May Hill (Gr 2, 1m) Stakes in September and was last seen running on into second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (Gr 1, 8f).
Cathal Beale, the Irish National Stud chief executive, said good fortune, rather than good foresight, was the main factor at play.
“It was a great bit of luck really,” he said. “Ninety-nine times out of 100 you buy these mares and nothing bounces your way, but on this occasion everything that could’ve gone right, went right. We’re extraordinarily lucky that Palace Pier has had such a good season.
“The mare herself always had lots of residual value, but the two-year-old and the three-year-old have turned out to be very good. The Frankel horse has been good all season and then the two-year-old got her black type and was unlucky at the Breeders’ Cup. There’s a helluva lot of luck attached to it, more than anything else though.”
McCartan said the filly represented the complete package, with an improving pedigree as well as an eye-catching physique.
“She has a beautiful Juddmonte pedigree, and the update with Pacific Mission was a big factor,” he said. “We’ll hopefully get more black type there. A beautifully balanced filly, all quality, and we all liked her. These are the ones that you need to be buying. As I said about a filly I bought last year, if the pinhook didn’t work out, I’d be very, very happy to keep her and race her.”
Palace Pier has made a promising start to his stallion career, with his nine European winners featuring six black-type performers.
“Palace Pier has made a great start, and that was a big factor too,” added McCartan. “He’s a very admired stallion now, and sought after. The whole package was great. The dam’s full-brother Famous Name was as tough a horse as you could imagine.”
Another lively day of selling yielded yet more year-on-year increases across the key market indices.
Turnover reached €8,720,500 (approx. AU$15,571,193), which was a four per cent gain, the average was €42,960 (approx. AU$76,700), also a four per cent increase, while the median went up six per cent to €35,000 (approx. AU$62,495). The clearance rate was 83 per cent as 203 foals sold from 246 offered.