THE Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training Sale was once the preserve of National Hunt trainers seeking recruits to the jumping game, but that all changed some years ago with the increasing globalisation of racing, and sustained demand from all over the world for horses that had won in Britain and Ireland.

Nevertheless, a number of Irish trainers were on the lookout for new inmates and among these were Noel Meade and Willie Mullins.

Mags O’Toole, paid 160,000gns for Coolongolook, a two-time winning three-year-old son of Invincible Spirit. Successful over a mile and a half and 14 furlongs, he was trained by the soon-to-retire Luca Cumani and raced for his breeder Stuart Stuckey. He will be trained in Ireland, and it is believed he will join Gordon Elliott.

Andrew Balding saddled the Sir Percy three-year-old gelding Berkshire Royal to win three times, up to a mile and a half, and Harold Kirk secured him for 130,000gns to move to the Mullins yard at Closutton. There he will be joined by the stakes-placed M C Muldoon who cost Kirk 100,000gns from the stables of Peter Chapple-Hyam.

“This sale has been lucky for me,” Kirk explained after signing for M C Muldoon. “In 2016 I bought Low Sun, winner of this year’s Cesarewitch, and Stratum, a good handicapper owned by Tony Bloom and winner of the JLT Cup at Newbury. This horse is very good – he is bred to stay and looks the right sort. He’ll go jumping and then come back to the flat.”

Mags O’Toole combined with Noel Meade to make a couple of purchases, notably Davy’s Dilemma for 110,000gns. The four-year-old son of Sixties Icon will hopefully be seen out soon. “He is going jumping,” said Meade. “He is a lovely horse and [trainer] Michael [Dods] told us he wasn’t going to let him go unless he fetched over 100,000gns. There are no ifs or buts with him, he is already gelded and he goes on soft ground. I am very pleased to have bought him. He is for an existing client.”

Co Meath-based trainer John O’Connell paid 105,000gns for the winning Maxios three-year-old Construct from the Juddmonte draft. He was bought on behalf of Derek Kierans whose Teofilo filly Pearl Of The West won at Cheltenham last weekend. “He is a lovely horse and he should go on winter ground,” O’Connell said. “He has only really run on good ground, but that is all there has been this year! We’ll get him home and cut him, and then see where we are. We’d love to have a juvenile hurdle campaign with him, but he’ll tell us what to do.”

Luke Comer spent more than half a million guineas on eight lots during the week, ranging in value from 14,000gns to 10 times that amount. They included a pair from Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle Stables. His two six-figure purchases were Zonderland for 140,000gns and Wee Jim for 105,000gns.

The Group 3 winning five-year-old entire Zonderland will continue to race according to Comer’s assistant trainer Jim Gorman and the son of Dutch Art won three times for owners Cheveley Park Stud and trainer Clive Cox. He recently ran second in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes.

Wee Jim is a two-year-old son of Canford Cliffs and is twice a winner this year from his first three starts.