Strong chance that Willie Browne leaves his Christmas shopping until the last minute. Why? The legendary breeze-up handler played a leading role at this week's Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale – one of the last yearling sales of the year – by spending €160,500 on four horses, which included the top lot by Sioux Nation at €88,000.Peter Nolan and Noel Meade, Spanish bloodstock agent Francisco Bernal along with BBA Ireland agents Mick Donohoe and Adam Potts could well be in a similar boat, as they also contributed to what turned out to be booming trade at Kildare Paddocks this week.Any softening to the horses-in-training market of late bore little or no consequence to the yearling section of this sale with a strong domestic and foreign buying bench contributing to a 15% rise in turnover to €4,372,900. The average and median also went north, with a 15% bump to €10,053 and 20% jump to €6,000 respectively. Meanwhile, an 82% clearance rate, which was up by 5% on last year's sale, illustrates just how high the demand was for untried horses at Goffs this week. The recent horses-in-training sales at Tattersalls and Goffs were by no means weak but the general consensus among consignors – and even bloodstock agents – is that yearlings are becoming a much easier sell than the form horses are. And when it comes to selling the dream of an unraced animal, few do it better than Browne, who had two different millionaire breezers through his hands in 2025. If the Old Carhue Stud-consigned Sioux Nation colt, who is the first produce out of an American Pharoah mare, can chart a similarly profitable path next spring, Browne might make a habit of playing his cards late at the yearling sales. He said, “Some of the Sioux Nations are quite coarse-looking but he looked sharp. He looks like he'll make up into a two-year-old whereas some of them can be a bit plain and timely. He vetted and x-rayed well. Listen, he cost maybe €15,000 more than I wanted to give for him, but I needed a few more numbers.”It's been a while since we've heard that buzzword 'polarisation'. The general consensus now is that the nicest horses have never been harder to buy and getting involved at the top end is becoming more and more difficult. This was something that was acknowledged by Tally-Ho Stud's Roger O'Callaghan a number of weeks ago at the Orby Sale when he simply said, 'it's getting harder and harder for people to compete'. O'Callaghan has a canny knack of summing up situations with just a sentance or two and it seems as though the proverbial nail hasn't just been hit on the head here, it's been smashed into oblivion. Don't forget that Browne came into this year's yearling sale market with more money than he has had to spend for many years as a result of that bountiful breeze-up season – remember he jokingly said that this would be the first year in many that he would have to give the tax man 'a few quid!' Yet, here we are in November, and the Mocklershill maestro admitted to being well down on numbers ahead of next year's breeze-up season.Browne continued, “We've been struggling all year and, even here this week, it has been very hard to buy the ones you want to buy. The competition for the good horses is unbelievable. We're going to be well down on numbers this year. Between buying a few and getting a few to breeze off people, we've got about a half a dozen added to the team, but we'll only have around 40 horses for the breeze-ups next year. That's the least I've ever had. There were some very nice horses here this week, to be fair to Goffs, but, as I said, anything that was half nice made a few quid.”Goffs chief Henry Beeby had ample reason to be chirpy as the curtain came down on the yearling sale season proper in Europe on Wednesday. The Autumn Yearling Sale came off the back of what was respectable Orby trade and Beeby took the opportunity in his closing statements on Wednesday to praise the high volume of foreign buyers who made the trip to Kildare Paddocks this week. He said, “Following record-breaking results at Orby Book 1 and Orby Book 2, we are pleased to have continued the positive trends with a vibrant renewal of the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale. Whilst our Orby results may grab the headlines with seven-figure sale-toppers and Classic-winning graduates, this week is every bit as important to Irish breeders as the catalogue is truly commercial in nature. So it is crucial that we deliver the whole Goffs package over the three days and the team certainly views each lot to be as significant as any we offer in the year.“'Goffs is the gateway to the world for Irish Breeders,' is a phrase we use but it is more than a marketing line as Kildare Paddocks clearly showed with buyers from Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Libya, Mongolia, Morocco, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, and the UK descending in huge numbers from Sunday giving the sale a truly international flavour. Chief among them was the massive group of over 85 from Eastern Europe all organised by our agent Kishore Mirpuri, who continues to raise the bar each year with an ever-bigger team of enthusiastic participants who accounted for over 140 lots.”He added, “Our Italian friends are always a welcome and sometimes flamboyant addition to the crowd so another 50-plus added further colour to proceedings and take home in excess of 50 yearlings. In their regard we are indebted to Angelo Robiati, “Mr Goffs” in Italy for over a quarter of a century. Angelo steps down from his role with our supreme thanks and appreciation, and we were pleased to acknowledge his immeasurable contribution to our fortunes at a dinner last night.“Kishore and Angleo embody so much that is good about the Goffs service and it is to our enormous benefit that we also have the help and assistance of Irish Thoroughbred Marketing whose hard work is every bit as contributory to this sale as any other in the year. How blessed we are to have such an entity to work alongside our own excellent Purchaser Attraction Team and their importance should never be underestimated or taken for granted. For our part we will continue to be major contributors to ITM as our clients reap the dividend at each of our sales but none more than this week.“Whereas the overseas element of this sale is vital, it should also be noted that all bar one of the top 10 lots have been bought to stay in Ireland and continue to demonstrate the value and quality that is on offer at each Goffs sale. That gives us purpose and continues to drive us forward at each sale. And so on to the market-leading Goffs November Foal Sale which has catalogued a mouthwatering selection of the best Irish foals to be offered anywhere this year. There really is nothing like it and we can't wait.”Buy of the dayA heavy dollop of bias is attached to this selection but there are many reasons to suggest that, at €58,000, the Sands Of Mali filly BBA Ireland bought on behalf of breeze-up handler Cormac Farrell could be deemed value in time. For starters, Sands Of Mali is arguably one of the most exciting young stallions in Europe, but he only has 24 yearlings on the ground. At a quick glance, only three other yearlings by Sands Of Mali were bought to go breezing next year, so straight away this filly has an opportunity to stand out. On top of that, she is out of a highly-rated Elusive Quality mare and from a good Aga Khan family. She was one of the bigger fish in what was a smaller pond this week but she could well hold her own in a Craven Sale, or possibly even at Arqana next spring. She looks well bought. Thought for the dayCiaran Murphy: has shopped all of the major yearling sales in Europe hard this year | GoffsThere is a direct correlation between the trainers who shop the yearling sales hard and the ones who enjoy success on the track. Therefore, you can expect Ciaran Murphy to have a big year next year. He may have cut his teeth in the National Hunt sphere, and notably pre-trained the lion's share of the horses owned by Gigginstown House Stud for many years, but Murphy has proved himself a dab hand with his Flat runners in recent years. Don't forget Murphy sent out Dupont Law to win a Curragh maiden before selling the Le Havre gelding for an eye-watering sum to America earlier in the year. Off the back of that success, Murphy has reinvested heavily – bought 10 yearlings this year compared to only a couple last year – at all of the major yearling sales in Europe, and added a King Of Change colt to his team at €25,000 on Wednesday. That took his total spend this week to €84,000 on four yearlings, some of which were bought on spec. There is no doubt that Murphy is a man who is not content with standing still and chances are he could be in for a big year on the level in 2026. He's definitely one to watch.The post Sioux Nation Colt Heads Breeze-Up King Willie Browne’s Last-Minute Shopping Spree At Goffs appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.