Dubawi filly tops Goffs Orby sale

A filly by Dubawi out of the Sadler’s Wells mare Spirit of Tara brought $1.28 million during the second session of the Goffs Orby yearling sale in Ireland to top all horses sold at the three-day auction, one of the most prestigious in Europe.

The filly, a half-sister to the multiple group stakes-winning filly Echo of Light, was purchased by John Ferguson, the bloodstock manager for Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum, from the consignment of Kilcairn Stud.

The second-highest-priced horse, and highest-priced colt, was a $748,000 colt by Invincible Spirit out of the 2005 Irish 1000 Guineas winner, Saoire, by Pivotal. Coolmore’s Demi O’Byrne bought the colt out of the Cahermorris Stable consignment.

During the three days of selling, the average price declined slightly from the numbers posted last year, though the median was stable, indicating that the racing industry in Europe remains buffeted by the worldwide recession and banking crisis. At the top, however, the highest price for a horse sold last year was half that of the highest-priced horse sold this year.

In total, Goffs sold 467 yearlings for a gross of approximately $30.4 million and an average of about $65,100, down 3.8 percent when comparing the average during last year’s sale. Median this year was $39,500, up 3.6 percent from last year’s.

Correction: Because of a discrepancy in information posted on the Goffs website, an earlier version of this article misstated aspects of the sale's final statistics. The median price was up by 3.6 percent, not down by 3.4 percent. The average price declined by 3.8 percent, not by 4.5 percent.