THE French-bred four-year-old Ginto, a son of Walk In The Park, returns to Gordon Elliott’s Cullentra Stables following his sale yesterday for €470,000 at the Tattersalls Cheltenham November Sale which was held at Fairyhouse. The price is a record for a point-to-pointer sold in Ireland.
Simon Kerins, the recently appointed incoming chief executive of Tattersalls Ireland, was on the rostrum for just over an hour as all but one of the 25 lots catalogued were put through the ring, though buyers were online or on their telephones to sales company representatives.
Eye-catching
Ginto created a huge impression when he was a most eye-catching winner of a four-year-old maiden at Tattersalls last month. Bought for €60,000 last year at the Goffs Land Rover Sale, he won under Jamie Codd and the winning rider was underbidder as the hammer fell in favour of Noel and Valerie Moran’s Bective Stud. After his victory he was given an exceptional rating of 95+ for the win which puts him on the same level at this stage of his career as Envoi Allen, Ballyadam and Malone Road. Bidding opened at €200,000 after Kerins asked for €400,000 to start.
Bidding through Harry Fowler on the telephone, the Morans also spent €270,000 on another French-bred, and this was Saddler Maker’s four-year-old son Gringo D’Aubrelle. The €68,000 Derby Sale purchase made a winning debut at Loughanmore a fortnight ago for his handler Donnchadh Doyle of Monbeg Stables. That day he beat another making his debut, the Brian Hamilton-trained Free Handshake. That son of Zambezi Sun also came under the hammer and sold online to Gavin Cromwell for €95,000.
Leading consignor
Donnchadh Doyle sold three lots to emerge as the leading consignor and he received €250,000 from Mags O’Toole, relaying her bids through Jamie Codd in the ring at Fairyhouse, for the Curraghmore maiden winner Gentlemansgame. This four-year-old son of Gentlewave won by five lengths on his debut and comes from the top-class family of Celtic Ryde and Teeton Mill.
Owner Basil Holian’s colours will be carried by Percy Warner, a son of Ocovango who won at the second time of asking at Umma House in Co Westmeath. The half-brother to four winners, from the family of Firions Law, was consigned by Gordon Elliott on behalf of the Crocodile Pockets Syndicate and they also raced and sold the sale-topping Ginto. Holian, bidding through Jamie Codd, paid €100,000 for Percy Warner.
Mags O’Toole bought the only filly sold in the ring at the sale, splashing out €92,000 for Magic Daze. This homebred won for Sheelagh Hickey of Sunnyhill Stud and the four-year-old daughter of the stud’s Doyen was successful at Curraghmore. She is the first foal of an unraced Gamut mare and her third dam bred the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Kicking King and is grandam of Grade 1 winning chaser Kalashnikov.
Though toppling over at the last when holding a two-length advantage at Rathcannon on Sunday, His Oscar did enough to impress Rebecca Curtis and the trainer paid €75,000 for the five-year-old Oscar gelding who comes from the family of the great Altior.
Tom Malone bought a couple of lots and he was acting for Nick Mitchell when giving €70,000 for the six-length Damma House winner Promising Milan.
The five-year-old, out of a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Thyne Again, was another from Donnchadh Doyle’s Monbeg Stables.
With a much smaller catalogue this year, and given the circumstances under which the sale was held, the average for 13 lots was £113,929, up 22% on a much larger number sold in 2019.