Godolphin spending spree Godolphin fought back against Coolmore at the second and final session of the Keeneland July sale in Kentucky last night. Having failed to secure a single lot at the prestigious auction on Monday while their Irish rivals - buoyed by the exploits of Galileo, Mozart and the like - bought three choice yearlings, the Maktoum family made nine purchases to emerge as the sale`s top buyers. Their agent John Ferguson went to 3.6million dollars (Stg£2.56m) for a colt from the last crop of champion sire Mr Prospector and 3m dollars (Stg£2.14m) for a Storm Cat filly. Speaking of the former, Ferguson said: 'He`s a lovely colt with an outstanding pedigree. We really thought he was one of the best in the sale. 'He can stay here or race in Europe. The final decision will be up to Sheikh Mohammed. We`ll wait until the end of the year to make that decision. We really liked this one. He has an exceptional pedigree.' Godolphin`s total outlay on the nine yearlings, which also included a 2.4m dollar (Stg£1.71m) Seeking The Gold colt, was 16.325m dollars (Stg£11.63m) - over a quarter of the sale`s total turnover. But they lost out in a duel for the night`s most top lot which went to Reynolds Bell for 3.7m dollars (Stg£2.64m) - the highest paid for a filly at the sale since 1984.
