FEATURE
France
Germany
Italy
GAVIN HERNON Gavin Hernon is the most recent addition to the team, joining Goffs as French agent in 2016. Gavin has a wealth of contacts that will assist vendors and purchasers in France where his experience includes roles as pupil assistant to trainers Andre Fabre and Nicolas Clement as well as working with Jean Pierre Deroubaix of the French Bloodstock Agency (FBA). He says: “The quality of French stallions continues to improve and the home market is well supplied, therefore it has never been as attractive to sell premium-eligible yearlings in Ireland at the Orby Sale. The introduction of the Goffs London Sale has also seen fantastic results for French Horses In Training with Pornichet and Smoking Sun going on to Group 1 success”
MATTHIAS SEEBER A successful breeder and vendor with no family background in racing Matthias Seeber joined Goffs three years ago. Hooked on racing from the age of 11 his broodmare successes include Stravina who has bred five winners, including two Listed winners. Her Listed-winning daughter Scoville provides a link between his passion and his profession - he was previously manager of a pharmaceutical company, as she is named after Dr Wilbur Scoville, whose Scoville Scale is the measurement of the heat in chilli peppers. Her Zoffany foal sold at Goffs last year and she has a Casamento foal going to the sale this year.
ANGELO ROBIATI Angelo has represented Goffs for 18 years. His job is to travel to every major sale and push people to sell and buy at Goffs but his client role extends beyond the sales. “In helping people at the sales, whether they are buying or selling, you participate in a very small way. It makes me really happy when you see a horse win and bring success for its owners,” he says. Before joining Goffs he was commercial director of JAL Airlines and split managing and marketing the airline with his breeding operation. He has bred and owned some very good horses in Italy including Group 3-winning juvenile Dessertoflife. Her fullbrother sold at Goffs as a foal.
CHRISTIAN VON DER RECKE GOFFS UK GERMAN AGENT Christian has been an agent with Goffs UK since 2010. He is a top Flat and NH trainer in Germany and has won numerous big races throughout Europe. He made history by becoming the first German trainer to win a NH race in England when Eluna won at Warwick in 2002 and he also produced Fiepes Shuffle to win the Grade 2 Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton Park in 2008.
GIANLUCA DI CASTELNUOVO GOFFS UK ITALIAN AGENT As a jockey’s agent Gianluca spent vast amounts of time on racecourses around Italy and built a large network of contacts. He has been an agent for DBS, now Goffs UK, since 2003 and has purchased around 150 horses from Doncaster and Goffs under his company, New Racing Factory, including the Stakes winners Pablosky, and Val Nanda, who won a Listed 2YO race in June this year.
USA GATEWOOD BELL (USA) Gatewood Bell owns Cromwell Bloodstock and his grandparents founded Jonabell Farm in Kentucky, where his father is president of Darley America. “I grew up on the farm and worked with consignors while I was still at school,” he explains. He has also worked for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. By his own admission he’s a racetrack rat. “Some people get so caught up in the sales business they forget what it’s really all about – who can get to the winning post first.” He has already enjoyed big race wins through such notable past purchases as Undrafted, No Nay Never and Hootenanny and is looking forward to his first connections hitting the track this year.
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Japan TAKAYA KIMURA Takaya Kimura has been a Goffs agent in Japan since 2014. A long-established owner in Ireland he is well placed to communicate the quality of Irish bloodstock and Irish racing to potential purchasers in Japan. He is also a jockey’s agent to several high profile international riders, when in Japan, including Oliver Peslier, Christophe Soumillon, Douglas Whyte, Craig Williams and William Buick and has been the official interpreter for overseas jockeys for the Japan Race Association for a decade. As President of Dainihon Tsusho Ltd since 1988, an importer of saddlery and equine products, Takaya’s clients include many of Japan’s leading horse breeders, vets and trainers, while he also represents Foran Chemicals Ireland as an agent and distributor to the Japanese market.
Goffs Magazine
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