THE buyers were present, the horses were not. That might be a simplistic summation of the Tattersalls Ireland Cheltenham April Sale on Thursday evening, but it is the truth.

The vagaries of what are termed boutique sales is that the sales company can only sell what they are offered, and that can vary from month to month, let alone year to year.

On this occasion the sale lacked firepower, with few real gems among the 36 lots offered, and that was a decrease in numbers from a year ago.

With a lesser quality on show, the clearance rate also declined, and these factors created the perfect storm, leading to a massive fall in turnover.

At the sale’s conclusion the company’s director of horses in training sales Richard Pugh was sanguine, commenting: “Whilst it has been a terrific season at the Tattersalls Ireland Cheltenham sales thus far, this evening’s April Sale is the first one to show a decrease in the key indicators. Comparing sales to previous years however will never apply to select form sales such as this one in the same way as it does to sales with more substantial catalogue quantities.

“April 2017 bounced back from a relatively low comparable turnover in 2016 to return exceptional results last year. Already the 2019 calendar seems to be strongly in favour of the April Sale in terms of likely supply, and we must accept that the factors outside of our control had an effect on this evening’s results, and look forward to what appears likely to be a very strong sale here at the end of May.”

Only a pair of lots on the night broke the six-figure barrier and champion trainer in waiting Gordon Elliott will take charge of the first to do so. He gave £130,000, through agent Aidan O’Ryan, for Donnchadh Doyle’s Martaline four-year-old Thatsy.

This was the gelding’s second visit to the venue and a sale there, being unsold a month ago after landing a Lingstown maiden for the Monbeg Stables handler. He was runner-up since in a winners’ race and Doyle was pleased that the outcome was a positive one this time. The gelding was bought as a store for €47,000.

Later in the evening Cobbler’s Way threatened to dethrone Thatsy as the top lot, but that attempt just fell short when he sold for £120,000 to Eddie O’Leary, with the docket showing the purchase in the names of Mags O’Toole and Henry de Bromhead. The four-year-old son of Oscar was trained by Colin Bowe at his Milestone Stables for the O’Connell brothers, Paul and David, and is still a maiden after finishing second in a decent field at Dromahane recently. He returned a tidy profit on the €38,000 he cost as a store at the Goffs Land Rover Sale.

The best price for a filly or mare was achieved by the four-year-old Fame And Glory filly Deja Vu, sold from Aidan Fitzgerald’s Cobajay Stables, and she advertised her handler’s acumen when winning a point-to-point at Inch and then selling for £82,000 to trainer Anthony Honeyball. This was a huge appreciation in value from the €15,000 she cost at the Derby Sale.

A trio of lots brought £80,000 each. First to that price was Redzor, a five-year-old son of Shantou, and he sold to Tom Malone who was standing with owner Bryan Drew. The gelding won at Ballyragget for Liam Kenny and was sold from his Ballydaragh Stables.

Soon afterwards Highflyer Bloodstock’s Tessa Greatrex was acting for a client of her husband Warren’s yard when she paid £80,000 for Jackson Hill, a four-year-old son of Jeremy. He came to the sale from Ellmarie Holden’s yard and was runner-up six days earlier in a bumper at Ballinrobe.

John Flavin of Lake Tour Stables sent the four-year-old Well Chosen gelding Modern Warfair to Curraghmore at the beginning of April and he finished second on his debut. That caught the eye of Welsh trainer Tim Vaughan and he signed for the new stable acquisition at £80,000, in association with Select Racing.

Tom Malone combined with Jamie Snowden to purchase Kiltealy Briggs from Colin Bowe for £70,000. The four-year-old son of Fame And Glory was bought at last year’s Derby Sale for €45,000 and was beaten a neck on his only start at Inch at the end of March. He is the first foal out of an unraced full-sister to the Grand National winner Ballabriggs and from a leading National Hunt family.