THE best advertisement for any sale is its graduates and while the Goffs UK Aintree Sale is only in its third year, it has already produced the hugely talented Samcro as a poster boy for the quality of the offerings to date.

On Thursday evening all the leading buyers gathered at Aintree to see 24 lots come under the hammer, and an hour or so later 21 of them had changed hands for a record £2,417,000, yielding a median of £100,000 and an average of £115,095. No fewer than 13 lots realised £100,000 or more.

Jane Buchanan’s homebred Malone Road, a son of Kalanisi trained by Stuart Crawford, won a four-year-old maiden point-to-point at Loughanmore two weeks ago with authority from Soldier At War, the pair finishing 10 lengths clear of the rest. This half-brother to two winners, out of the four-time hurdle winner Zaffarella, fell to the winning £325,000 bid of Tom Malone and the agent’s purchase will race in the colours of Cheveley Park Stud owners David and Patricia Thompson. He will be trained in Ireland by Gordon Elliott.

The runner-up that day, Soldier At War, was also sold and he will join Malone Road at the Co Meath stables of Elliott. Aiden O’Ryan had the final say for this German-bred four-year-old son of Soldier Hollow, whose winning siblings include Sang Tiger who was a smart hurdler in Ireland a few seasons ago. He cost O’Ryan £140,000 and was sold by Warren Ewing.

Ewing was also on the mark with the sale of Blazer’s Mill for £160,000. Tessa Greatrex signed for the four-year-old son of Westerner. Like his stable companion Soldier At War, he too was runner-up on his only start, beaten a length at Tyrella. He comes from the family of Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Coneygree.

Champagne Platinum won at Easter on his debut in a four-year-old maiden at Quakerstown and his effort was appreciated by Kieran McManus who had the final say for him at £250,000. The son of Stowaway was sold by Roisin Hickey and the price was an exceptional return on his €35,000 purchase at last year’s Derby Sale.

The increased interest in fillies was most evident in the sale of Little Light from Denis Murphy’s Ballyboy Stables. A promising debut ended with a fall at the last at Horse and Jockey in early March. Three weeks later she was beaten in a four-year-old mares’ race at Loughanmore, but this was not off-putting to agent Aiden Murphy, acting on behalf of JP Magnier to secure the daughter of Walk In The Park.

Intriguingly, the filly who beat Little Light was Tara West, a daughter of Kayf Tara, and she was the first lot sold on the night, making half the amount that Little Light did later. Consigned by Donnchadh Doyle, Tara West joins Anthony Honeyball who intends to syndicate his £100,000 purchase.

Doyle sold two other six-figure lots, Gaelik Coast and Jillythejet realising £110,000 and £100,000 respectively. Donald McCain will train the Castletown maiden winner Gaelik Coast, a French-bred son of Coastal Path, while the four-year-old Jeremy filly Jillythejet cost Highflyer Bloodstock £100,000. She won a four-runner mares’ maiden at Ballyarthur on her only start.

Ellmarie Holden’s Faustinovick was runner-up to Andy Dufresne on his debut in early March and the winner subsequently sold at the Tattersalls Ireland Cheltenham Sale for £330,000. Holden’s son of Black Sam Bellamy will join Colin Tizzard after the trainer paid £200,000 for the relation to Inglis Drever who cost just €26,000 at the Goffs Land Rover Sale.

Denis Fitzgerald’s five-year-old Lisnegar Oscar was led out unsold at £95,000 but he sold privately to Rebecca Curtis for £10,000 more. The Liscarroll debut winner is out of an own-sister to dual Grade 1 Silver Cross Stayers’ Hurdle winner Whisper. Curtis also paid £100,000 for John Nallen’s Minella Bobo.

The English point-to-point winner Eurobot, a 20-length victor at Andoversford, is heading to Noel Meade after Mags O’Toole won the battle for the son of Malinas at £105,000. The gelding is out of the Welsh Grand National winner L’Aventure.

Colin Bowe sent the Court Cave five-year-old Hill Sixteen to Dromahane for his debut and the gelding beat 13 rivals to land the Coolmore-sponsored prize. He was another on the Highflyer buying list, costing the agency £100,000.

Goffs UK managing director Tony Williams was understandably happy after the sale, saying: “The results from this sale have been outstanding and, now in its third year, the Aintree Sale has cemented its place as a leading outlet for top-class pointers and form horses, with significant rises in every statistic.

“Graduates such as Samcro, Black Op, Topofthegame and Blackbow have driven all the leading National Hunt buyers to Aintree’s winners’ enclosure and we wish them all the very best with their purchases.”