‘The stuff of dreams’ – unique Night Of Thunder colt brings €1,900,000 as Coolmore and Godolphin clash at Arqana
“Surreal, just ridiculous,” was how Cormac Farrell summed up his well-bred Night Of Thunder (Dubawi) colt selling for €1,900,000 (approx. AU$3,333,000) in Deauville on Saturday. His comments were equally applicable to the entirety of the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale, which was capped by a sensational quartet of seven-figure lots after a host of the sport’s major players showed a seemingly insatiable appetite for the most choice offerings.
Not only is the sales-topping youngster by Darley’s young stallion Night Of Thunder, sire of 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) heroine Desert Flower, he is out of Date With Destiny, the only offspring of Coolmore colour bearer George Washington (Danehill).
The rival powerhouses duly clashed over the colt, but it was Godolphin who won out as Anthony Stroud, standing with David Loder and Charlie Appleby in the corridor directly beneath the Coolmore crew, struck his third successful seven-figure bid of the day.
The colt landed connections a monster pinhooking profit as he was sourced from Book 1 of last year’s Tattersalls October Yearling Sale at a cost of 90,000gns.
“Never could we have ever seen the horse making that sort of money,” said a flabbergasted Farrell, who trades under the banner of CF Bloodstock. “We absolutely loved him and thought he’d be very popular, and then he breezed very well, but where he’s ended up is the stuff of dreams.
“You never know if it’s all going to happen, but it has and I couldn’t be more thankful to Godolphin, Anthony Stroud, David Loder and Charlie Appleby, and to the lads who underbid him so strongly as well. Fair play to them. I can’t believe it, it’s amazing. I just want to thank all the team and everyone around me.”
As the only foal sired by infertile superstar George Washington, Date With Destiny is no stranger to the headlines. She changed hands twice as a youngster, first when pinhooked by Gildawn Stud for €280,000 at Goffs in 2008 before being resold to Peter and Ross Doyle for 320,000gns as a yearling.
She showed she had inherited a share of her sire’s immense talent when she carried Julie Woods’s silks to a debut success at two. She gained valuable black type the following year when third in the Lingfield Oaks Trial (Listed, 1m 3f).
After her racing career she joined the Newsells Park Stud broodmare band when bought by John Warren for 185,000gns in 2011. She has bred four winners, including the Group 3 scorer Beautiful Morning (Galileo). Date With Destiny died aged 16 in May last year.
Reflecting on finding the Date With Destiny colt last October, Farrell added: “He was just a very nice yearling. We never imagined we’d be able to afford him, to be honest. The stallion is exceptional and couldn’t be going any better. They all seem to breeze very fast and then go on to be very good racehorses. It was all there for everyone to see. Will I ever sell a horse for that sort of money again? It’s highly unlikely, so we’ll enjoy it. We’ll really enjoy it.”
Stroud said of the headline recruit: “He’s by Night Of Thunder who stands at Kildangan and we’ve had a 1,000 Guineas winner by him. He’s doing very well as a stallion, he’s on the ascendancy. This horse is very nice conformationally and he did a very good breeze. He had all the credentials that we look for.”
On the seven-figure outcome of the clash with Coolmore, Stroud said: “You have two very professional outfits who are bidding. The really good horses like him, and others, are what people focus on. The valuations are, at times, difficult, but when you really like one you’ve got to go for it.”