If we ever needed reminding of the Costello family’s way with horses, Doncaster has provided it this week, as Tony Costello’s Kaiser Ball topped the opening day of the Goffs UK Spring HIT/PTP Sale, two days after Tom and John Costello enjoyed notable results at the venue’s Spring Store Sale.

Tom’s Rathfolan Farm and John’s Fenloe House sold successful pinhooks for £85,000 and £82,000 respectively on Monday, but Tony stole their thunder when his promising six-year-old brought £360,000 from Tom Malone.

Kaiser Ball himself had been retained by Tony’s Treannahow Stables for €60,000 at the Goffs Arkle Sale three years ago, despite what would have been a tidy profit on the €15,000 paid for the French import two years prior.

The son of Nom De D'La – an own-brother to Nickname and half-brother to No Risk At All – vindicated Costello’s decision when striding clear in a Fairyhouse bumper on his first start for Willie Mullins last February, ridden by Costello’s son Thomas.

The form has worked out well to say the least – runner-up Eachtotheirown recently landed a Grade 1 at Punchestown, and Kaiser Ball’s sole start since, in a Limerick maiden hurdle at Christmas, has fared similarly.

By this stage trained by Costello himself, he was beaten five and three quarter lengths by King Rasko Grey –a fellow Treannahow Stables graduate who has since registered back-to-back Grade 1 wins. The Grade 1-placed Shuttle Diplomacy separated the pair.

Day to remember

“It's been a day of days, what can you say?” Costello said after the hammer fell. “I knew he’d sell well. He’s a proper Grade 1 horse with proper Grade 1 form. He ran once in a Fairyhouse bumper for Willie Mullins and he beat a Grade 1 horse by seven and a half lengths, and he ran once for me in a Limerick maiden hurdle.

“I’ve never trained a winner under rules, but he finished third behind King Rasko Grey who was also mine to begin with. We gave King Rasko Grey 8lb and we were beaten five lengths. What was a maiden hurdle has turned out to be a Grade 1. We took a gamble on bringing Kaiser Ball home and now it’s paid off.”

Looking further back through his career, the elated consignor continued: “I won a point-to-point on Best Mate, I won a point-to-point on Florida Pearl, and I missed the winning post on One Man but that’s another story.

“My father Tom won eight Gold Cups with six different horses and we've sold five or six Grand National winners, with the likes of I Am Maximus, Hedgehunter, Bindaree and Comply Or Die. Our family has a long history of selling good horses and please God these lots today are going to continue to carry our name.”

Malone, who announced his intent to buy Kaiser Ball with an opening bid of £100,000, commented: “It’s rare a horse like this comes to market. He won a bumper by over seven lengths and there were 140-rated horses everywhere around him in that race.

“He was third to a Cheltenham Festival winner on his first start over hurdles and hit the line hard that day, and all the horses around him on that day are all rated in the 140s too.

“He’s going to be a high-class black-type horse, if not better, in this country and if he stays sound, he’ll end up at Cheltenham next year. To me, considering what some point-to-pointers can make, he’s actually good value. It might sound like a silly thing to say, but he is.”

Thursday’s offering of 245 horses represented a 30% increase on last year – the sort of jump that often results in market weakness, but Goffs UK and supporting vendors were rewarded with bumper demand.

Turnover climbed by 47% to £7,879,700 – the most ever amassed in a single point-to-point session at Doncaster. As a result, the average price rose by 11% to £37,523 and while the clearance rate improved less dramatically – by one point to 86% - it was commendable considering the increase in numbers.

Seventeen horses brought six-figure sums, compared to seven last year. The median price was the only figure to suffer, dropping from £25,000 to £21,000.

A good season always helps buyers’ confidence in investing, as was the case with the father-and-son training partnership of Jonjo and AJ O’Neill, who worked with regular bloodstock agent Matt Coleman to secure two four-year-olds for a total of £420,000.

Their £280,000 spend on L’Horizon was a particularly impressive result for Peter Flood’s Grange Stables, who picked up the Capri gelding at the Goffs Arkle Sale 11 months ago for €26,000

The Capri gelding found one too good on debut at Dromahane last month, but his four-and-a-half-length defeat showed plenty of promise, AJ O’Neill explained.

“He’s a gorgeous horse, we all really liked him,” he said. “His performance in his point-to-point was very strong; he made up a lot of ground up the straight.

Sire power

“Capri is a sire that we quite like, he’s reasonably young but certainly seems to be going well. This horse moved lovely, had a lot of physical attributes we like, and just seemed to have a great attitude in the race.

“We had a good season last year and we’ll be aiming to improve and build upon that, and hopefully this fellow will help us do that.”

The promising grey was bought on spec, as was Tom Keating’s Dromahane runner-up Business Class, who brought £140,000.

“He’s by a sire I’ve got a bit of time for,” Coleman said, referring to Glenview Stud’s Old Persian.

“He had some nice stores and a couple of decent winners already this point-to-point season. There’s a bit of chat about a few of the other four-year-olds around so he’s a sire I’ve got some regard for.

“Tom Keating holds this horse in high regard and the form is quite decent. The winner, Hurricane Mick, is in Dan Skelton’s yard now having been sold privately. I think the race has some substance to it.

“He’s a big strapping horse and a good mover and I think he should improve plenty for another summer on his back.”

Derek O’Connor’s Co Galway team enjoyed a terrific result when Cool Companion, owned by the rider/handler’s team of staff, was knocked down to Ian Ferguson for £235,000.

Not unlike the session topper, things haven’t always gone according to plan for Cool Companion – the Pether’s Moon gelding went unsold as both a weanling and a store, and unseated on his sole start earlier this month.

However, the four-year-old had evidently shown something at home, as he was sent off joint-favourite at Necarne and looked to have every chance when coming with a challenge approaching the final fence, only to be hampered when the leader and fellow joint-favourite fell.

“I've known Derek O’Connor for a long time and he recommended the horse to me,” Ferguson reported. “I didn’t think he’d make that amount of money but that’s the way the market is.

“AJ [O’Neill] seemed desperate to have him and we had to dig deeper than we thought to win the battle. He’s going to Gordon Elliott for a new customer.

“He’s by Pether's Moon and I haven’t had many of them but the Twiston-Davies', who I’m very friendly with, say he's alright and I’m happy to take their word for it.”

For sale

Certain Escape will be joining Cool Companion at Gordon Elliott’s yard after the trainer bought Rob James’ four-year-old with Aidan ‘Mouse’ O’Ryan for £175,000.

It was a case of second time lucky for the Getaway gelding, who was disputing the lead when falling three out at Monksgrange in late March. The £75,000 store sale buy, a half-brother to graded hurdler Luttrell Lad, went on to justify favouritism by five lengths at Necarne.

“He’s a lovely horse who came well recommended by Rob,” O’Ryan relayed. “You’ve got to go on trust with these boys, and we’ve been very successful putting our trust in the point-to-point lads.

“I thought he was among the nicest physicals in the sale. You have to pay for the best and I thought he was among the nicest horses here.

“He’ll go to Gordon and he’s been bought on spec so he’s for sale. There’s no owner yet, but hopefully that won’t take too long. His sire Getaway speaks for himself; he gets loads of winners and loads of decent horses.”