Mehmas Colt Sparks Bidding War, Sells for £880,000 at Goffs UK Breeze-Up

The £880,000 Mehmas colt sent the clearest signal of the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale: buyers are still willing to spend aggressively for speed, polish and a Royal Ascot-looking two-year-old, even if the wider market has softened. Anthony Stroud won a prolonged bidding war for Lot 197 after Richard Brown, Kia Joorabchian and others helped drive the price upward, and the final figure made the colt the second-highest-priced juvenile ever sold at Doncaster.

The colt’s appeal was not hard to parse. He was a half-brother to Listed winner Hastalavistababy and the Listed-placed Mia Mento, bred by Con, Amy and Olivia Marnane out of the Exceed And Excel mare Mia Divina. Tally-Ho Stud pinhooked him from the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale for €65,000, then turned him into a six-figure breeze-up horse with the kind of profile that routinely draws attention from major buyers. Stroud said the colt had “a very good breeze,” “a good pedigree” and looked like “a Royal Ascot two-year-old.”

That level of spending sat firmly at the top end of a sale that still showed depth. Goffs said the auction produced 24 six-figure transactions, with 233 catalogued, 175 offered, 147 sold and an 84% clearance rate. Turnover reached £8,389,250, with an average of £57,070 and a median of £35,000, figures that show a market where elite lots are still clearing strongly while the middle remains more measured. The sale was also framed by Goffs’ reminder that its Doncaster breeze-up has delivered 11 Royal Ascot winners in the last 10 years, a record that keeps top-class juvenile buyers coming back.

The result also sharpened the historical backdrop. Rapid Force, another Mehmas colt bought by Stroud for Godolphin for £1 million in 2025, still holds the Doncaster record, while the previous mark before that had been the £500,000 paid for a Harry Angel colt in 2023. This year’s £880,000 transaction was the second-largest sum ever paid at the venue, confirming that the premium end remains very healthy even as the market recalibrates.

Michael O’Callaghan called the softer overall tone “refreshing” for buyers, while Roger O’Callaghan credited Tally-Ho’s preparation and riders for helping produce the result. Tim Kent said global economic uncertainty had affected trade and that some pullback from last year’s highs was expected. Even so, the bidding for this Mehmas colt suggested the right horse, with the right breeze and the right page, still brings out the biggest names and the biggest money.