DAI Walters spent £230,000 on five lots at the inaugural Goffs UK Yorton Sale on Thursday, almost a third of the sale turnover. This initiative, the brainchild of David Futter, was a great success and looks set fair to become an important date in the annual sales calendar.

With over 90% of the lots offered being sold, and all the leading National Hunt personalities present, the catalogue proved to be hugely attractive. Buyers from Ireland, France and a strong home bench were in attendance.

Ffos Las founder and leading owner Walters paid £105,000 for the top lot, a successful pinhook who cost €50,000 last year in France. The two-year-old son of No Risk At All is just the second foal from the good racemare Princesse Kap whose nine wins were capped by her success in the Grade 2 Prix des Drags Chase. Walters had to see off the strong challenge of Stuart Parkin to secure the colt.

A little later Walters was again on the mark when his bid of £60,000 was enough to secure a two-year-old gelded son of Fame And Glory. Out of a Presenting mare, the gelding’s third dam bred Grade 1 winners Denman and Silverburn.

The more expensive of Donnchadh Doyle’s two purchases was a two-year-old Blue Bresil gelding out of an own-sister to Grade 1 Cheltenham bumper winner Cheltenian, subsequently successful in the Grade 2 Scottish Champion Hurdle. Doyle paid £40,000 for the gelding and he will be hoping for lightening to strike again, as he sold the new purchase’s four-year-old full-brother for £170,000 at the Goffs UK Aintree Sale in April after he ran second in a point-to-point.

There must be a fair chance of the two-year-old Masterstroke gelding Pikar being successful as seven of his siblings are already winners. Bought for €6,000 last autumn at Arqana, this time he cost Dan Skelton £28,000.

The sale got off to a great stat when the first lot up, a two-year-old son of Scalo, the first foal of a placed half-sister to smart French hurdler Adagio Des Bordes, sold to Angers trainer Gabriel Leenders for £26,000. That price was matched by the most expensive yearling on the day, a Blue Bresil half-brother to two winners and from a family that has been very successful in France and England. Hamish Macauley said afterwards that he would be resold in time.