Sioux Nation Filly Tops Goffs November Foal Sale

Buoyed by the resurgence in the autumn yearling market, pinhookers continued to pay chunky prices during a buzzing second session of the Goffs November Foal Sale Nov. 19. No vendor received a bigger dividend than Conor and Kathryn Quirke of Hunting Hill Stud as Paul McCartan of Ballyphilip Stud gave €185,000 (US$197,950, €1=US$1.07) for the Sioux Nation filly out of the useful producer Jolie Chanson. "There's a lot of notes there, all good!" said McCartan after rifling through his heavily annotated catalog to the page of Lot 405. "She's a filly with a proper pedigree and Sioux Nation has done very well. He has a huge crop to run for him next year, so hopefully that momentum will continue. I like what I'm seeing from him and I think everybody wants his stock. I think the best is yet to come." The filly is a sibling to three winners, most notably listed scorer Majestic Dawn and the Mill Reef Stakes runner-up Rousing Encore. There is plenty of action in the pedigree, as no fewer than 12 black-type performers appear beneath the second dam. Among the names that jump off the page is champion sprinter Starman (GB), whose second crop of foals are being offered at this year's sales. Jolie Chanson joined the Hunting Hill Stud broodmare band at a cost of just 3,500gns (US$4,795, 1 guinea= US$1.37) in December 2018, while the filly was bred when Sioux Nation stood at Coolmore at a fee of €17,500. Conor Quirke said Tuesday's transaction had not only surpassed his expectation but would prove "life-changing". He said: "We set our stall out and said we thought €50,000 was a fair price that we'd release her at, and we just left the market to value her. Thankfully she's exceeded all expectations. Earlier today I thought we might break the six figures, it's a milestone in every consignor's ambitions, but to do it in that style is something else. When we went up to the ring, one of the people interested in her told me to turn around and the whole outside ring was full. He said 'They're all here for her.' " Selling Tuesday's session topper is far from the only thing Quirke has had to celebrate this year. He is also credited with having bought Molecomb Stakes (G3) winner Big Mojo (IRE) and Big Evs (IRE), who added this year's King George Stakes (G2) to his victory in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T). Things will come full circle next year as Quirke is set to send Jolie Chanson to Big Evs as he begins his second career at Tally-Ho Stud. "The mare is in foal to Lope de Vega and she's going to go to Big Evs, which shows how strongly we feel about him," he added. "It's amazing to get that result and to have the Lope de Vega foal around the corner. Jolie Chanson's a gem. We don't just love her because she's the golden goose, she's the queen of the farm." A lively market duly produced a positive set of statistics. Aggregate sales were up 7% year-on-year at €8,200,500 (US$8,774,535, €1=US$1.07), while the average price rose by 16% and the median by 17%. The former figure stood at €42,270 and the latter at €35,000. The clearance rate was 80% as 194 foals sold from 240 offered. The November Foal Sale continues Nov. 20 at 10 a.m. local time.