A €220,000 son of Kapgarde, who was bought on behalf of Alan and Ann Potts, emerged as the star of the show on a strong opening session of the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale earlier today.
Following on from strong trade at the other major store sales, this flagship auction duly lived up to expectations by returning a strong set of figures that readily surpassed those from 12 months ago.
The aggregate for the day grew by an impressive 35% to come at just under €9.7m. The average of €53,448 finished 13 points up on last year and the €45,000 median grew by some 25%.
On a day when there were a total of 16 six-figure transactions, centre stage went to the aforementioned son of Kapgarde who was sold by Norman and Janet Williamson’s Oak Tree Farm. The three-year-old is the first produce of a listed-winning jumper in France and he captured the imagination of both Ross Doyle and Aiden Murphy, but neither could live with a determined Tom Malone who eventually carried the day at €220,000.
“He’s a special type of horse and I’ve been thinking about him since I first saw him. He’s been bought for Mr and Mrs Potts,” reported Malone. “I’m a big fan of the sire and he’s the first produce of a very useful race mare and he comes from a lovely French family. There’s just a lot to like about him.”
NO SURPRISE
An excellent day for the Oak Tree Farm draft continued with the €150,000 sale of an Al Namix gelding. The top-class two-mile hurdler Petit Mouchoir is Al Namix’s most notable representative in these parts so it was no surprise to see that one’s trainer, Henry de Bromhead, fend off all challengers for this gelding.
“He’s just a very good looking horse and I’m delighted to get him for an existing owner of the yard. The sire has been very lucky for me already and this horse’s own-sister was placed in a Grade 3 at Auteuil recently while the dam has produced another listed-placed jumper,” reported de Bromhead.
Earlier, de Bromhead made a strong play for a €205,000 son of Stowaway but he had to settle for the role of underbidder behind Aidan O’Ryan. This gelding is a half-brother to Gordon Elliott’s unbeaten triple bumper winner Monbeg Worldwide and was sold by the famed nursery that is Ken Parkhill’s Castletown Quarry Stud. O’Ryan confirmed that the gelding would be staying in Ireland.
TOP FILLY
The standout filly on day one was a €155,000 daughter of Shirocco and she will carry the colours of Long Run’s owner Robert Waley-Cohen after being knocked down to Highflyer Bloodstock’s David Minton. This filly is out of a French Grade 1 winner whose career at stud has already yielded three blacktype winners.
“She’s got a fabulous pedigree and she’s a lovely individual,” reflected Waley-Cohen on the relation to Nickname. “It’s not often that you get the chance to buy into a family like this. It’s possible she might go to France for a year but we’ll see.
"I have had a few Shirocco’s already and we have a lovely four-year-old out of Stravinsky’s Dance who will shortly be going into training with Nicky Henderson.”
The first horse to reach six figures at this year’s sale was a €150,000 son of Doyen and he went to Gordon Elliott after he outlasted the effort of Kevin Ross. The gelding was sold by Cavan-based Glen Erne Stud and he is a half-brother to the decent handicap hurdler Sir Scorpion.
Elliott already has a promising Doyen on his hands in the Land Rover bumper fifth Rapid Escape.
Meanwhile, Irish Grand National-winning trainer James Motherway forked out €140,000 for a Beneficial half-brother to last season’s Grade 1-winning novice hurdler Death Duty. Motherway then added to his tally with a €125,000 Presenting gelding who was showing a good return on the €30,000 he cost as a foal.
Aiden Murphy missed out on the session topper but he did secure a pair of €140,000 sons of Douvan’s sire Walk In The Park. The first of these is a half-brother to the classy French jumper Argentique and the other hails from the family of the cross country kingpin Garde Champetre.
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Day 1
YEAR CAT OFF SOLD AGG AV Med
2017 230 210 181 9,674,000 53,448 45,000
2016 213 186 152 7,175,000 47,207 36,000