$408,000 Montjeu colt tops first day at Goffs Orby sale

Robert Ogden paid 300,000 euros, or about $408,000, for a Montjeu colt to kick off the opening day of the Goffs Orby sale in County Kildare, Ireland, on Tuesday.

The first of three days sold 175 yearlings for about $14,532,960, yielding an average price of $83,046 and a $57,120 median. Compared year-to-year in the local auction currency of euros, the average was down 6 percent from last year’s opener, but the buyback rate improved significantly, dropping from 24 percent to 16 percent.

The session-topping Montjeu colt is out of stakes-placed Mayano Sophia, by Rock of Gibraltar. Glenvale Stud was the consignor.

The sale was to continue at the Goffs auction house in Kill, County Kildare, through Sept. 29.