FOR the second time in a week a horse from Jim Bolger’s Glebe House Stables topped a sale when the three-year-old Teofilo colt Meagher’s Flag sold to Tom Malone at the Goffs UK September Horses In Training Sale on Wednesday.

Winner at Gowran Park over nine and a half furlongs in June, the colt will join Paul Nicholls to start racing in juvenile hurdles for a new owner in the yard.

A larger catalogue than last year led to a substantial increase in turnover, though the average and median both fell back slightly. An impressive clearance rate pleased Goffs UK managing director Tony Williams.

He said at the sale’s conclusion: “We are delighted with today’s sale. The 88% clearance rate was very good and it was particularly pleasing to see another big crowd of domestic and international buyers descend on the complex for a quality day of horses in training.

HOUSEHOLD NAMES

“The Gigginstown House Stud annual dispersal was undoubtedly a major attraction for the sale with household names such as Road To Riches [£35,000] and Thunder And Roses [£21,000] offered, and we would like to extend our thanks to the Gigginstown team, along with all our vendors and buyers, who made today a success.”

Best of the Gigginstown consignment, which consisted of 35 lots who accounted for 29% of the sale aggregate, was the Shantou nine-year-old All Hell Let Loose, a bumper, hurdle and chase winner who once chased Nichols Canyon home in the Grade 1 Royal Bond Novice Hurdle.

On his most recent start he fell in the Kerry National at Listowel. He cost Brendan Bashford £62,000 on behalf of Timmy Hyde to go point-to-pointing.

Another son of Shantou among the Gigginstown lots was the Grade 2 winner and multiple Grade 1-placed Wounded Warrior and he cost Derek O’Connor, in association with Direct Bloodstock and Long House Stables, £43,000. The nine-year-old will join Sam Curling to race for John Duggan and Fergal O’Neill.

That price was almost matched by the Grade 3 novice hurdle winner Gangster, an eight-year-old by Green Tune and the half-brother to Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup winner Rite Of Passage. Highflyer Bloodstock’s Tessa Greatrex signed for him at £42,000 and the gelding will join her husband Warren.

Completing the Gigginstown consignment among the sale’s top 10 lots was Caltex, and he cost trainer Henry Oliver £41,000. The French-bred son of Network is just six and won a novice chase at Downpatrick recently by 18 lengths before falling when in contention at Listowel on his last run. He was joined on the trip home by Oliver’s £40,000 purchase of Envol De La Cour, a four-year-old who won a pair of chases this year in France.

The Hyde family’s Camas Park Stud was among the leading vendors, selling four lots for in excess of £100,000. More than half of that came from the sale of Stacey Sue to J.D. Moore and Alex Hales for £52,000. The five-year-old daughter of Robin Des Champs gave Harry Swan, son of Charlie, his first winner this week when she won her second bumper, this time at Worcester. Prior to that she was successful in a similar event at Cork and captured a point-to-point also at Stradbally.

The Million In Mind Partnership replenished their stocks when giving £50,000 for Townshend, a six-time winning son of Lord Of England. Trained by Willie Mullins and sixth in the Kerry National a week before the sale, he will now join Nigel Twiston-Davies.

Whoshotthesheriff, placed three times in four bumper outings, returns to Gordon Elliott’s in new ownership after he sold for £40,000 to Aidan O’Ryan and Hambleton Racing. That price was equalled when Tom Malone signed for Voix D’Eau, a Grade 2 chase winner at Cheltenham two years ago and in the winners’ circle more recently at Southwell. He was sold from Harry Fry’s stables.