GOFFS IRELAND SALES NEWS
THE LION IN WINTER WINS 50K BONUS AT THE CURRAGH
The Lion In Winter became the latest winner of the Goffs €50,000 Bonus Series by recording a stylish two-and-a-quarter-length victory on debut in the Juddmonte Chaldean Irish EBF Maiden over seven furlongs at the Curragh on Saturday.
The colt, trained by Aidan O’Brien for Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Susan Magnier, was so impressive in the race, won by future Group 1 winners Henry Longfellow and Mac Swiney in recent years, that he is now the clear ante-post favourite for next year’s Derby.
"He's a lovely horse and had been working well; he'll have no problem going up in trip and he has plenty of class," reported O’Brien after the race.
The Lion In Winter, who holds an entry in the Group 2 Futurity Stakes at the Curragh next month, was bred by Sunderland Holding and is by Sea The Stars out of the Group 3-placed Lope De Vega mare What A Home, a half-sister to dual Group 3 winner and Irish Oaks runner-up Venus De Milo from the family of champions Harbour Law and Poet's Word.
He was bought by MV Magnier for €375,000 from The Castlebridge Consignment draft at the Goffs Orby Sale Book 1 last year.
The Goffs €50,000 Bonuses are part of the Goffs Two Million Series, which is headed by Europe's richest juvenile race The Goffs Million (7F) which, along with the Goffs 500 (6F), takes place on Goffs Millions Day at the Curragh on Saturday 28 September.
The incentive scheme is open to two-year-olds who were catalogued in the 2023 Goffs Orby Book 1 and Orby Book 2 Sales and have been declared eligible by Goffs by payment of the qualification fee. All yearlings offered at this year's Orby Books 1 and 2 will be eligible for the series in 2025.
There are still seven Goffs €50,000 Bonuses to be won.
The full list of nominated races is available on the Goffs website.