WHILE Monday’s store sale at Goffs UK raised concerns over the market for unproven National Hunt stock, the ensuing Spring HIT and P2P Sale proved that demand remained high for proven and promising horses.
Trade remained solid throughout the two days, returning a healthy clearance rate of 89%. Despite the number of horses offered dropping by 18%, the aggregate fell by just 0.5%, producing an average price of £26,371 (+12%). The median – often the best reflection on the market depth – rose by 30% to £16,250.
Nicky Henderson’s Seven Barrows ended the sale as leading consignor, with 21 lots sold for £914,000 – almost three times the next best. The trainer was less successful in the role of buyer, underbidding the top two lots, one of which he also consigned. The promising horse in question, Kingston Pride, topped Thursday’s session when knocked down to Aiden and Olly Murphy for £285,000.
Henderson’s eagerness to retain the grey encouraged the successful buyers, as his new trainer later noted. “He’s a lovely individual, all quality,” Olly Murphy said. “Fingers crossed he’ll have a lovely career over fences. He looks like an out-and-out chaser, doesn’t he?
“It’s obviously a good sign that Nicky was trying hard to keep him, but then his form reads very strongly, going all the way back to when he finished a close second to Tripoli Flyer in a bumper.
“I’m chuffed to have the horse, he’s the one we really wanted for the last three days. We had to pay a lot for him, but he looks like a horse who can win graded chases down the line and we’re having to give double that for point-to-point winners first time out as well.”
Remarkably strong
Like Henderson, Murphy was also selling over the two days and, on the week’s trade, he commented: “It’s been remarkably strong, even from the point of view of selling a draft of 12 horses of our own, as they all sold really well. It’s been hard to buy this week; there’s big demand and lots of competition for the good horses.”
Aiden and Olly Murphy also came away from the preceding store sale with an exciting recruit, landing the top lot for £125,000. Their most expensive buy of the week first displayed his talented for Tom Keating, for whom he won a four-year-old maiden on debut, before selling to Alan Tobin for €200,000 at the Goffs Punchestown Sale.
The Kingston Hill gelding went on to win a bumper and maiden hurdle for Henderson, but the performance that most influenced Thursday’s price was his most recent win in a novice hurdle at Kempton.
The grey stayed on strongly to justify favouritism by five lengths, while even-money shot Quebecois finished a clear second. It was the second time the pair had run against each other, with Quebecois finishing second in a Grade 2 in which Kingston Pride was sent off favourite, but pulled up.
NICKY Henderson may be grateful that Timetoshine, who he sold for £145,000, will continue her career in the US, so that any future accomplishments are further out of sight. Her sale came as part of a regular dispersal by the Million In Mind Partnership, for whom Highflyer Bloodstock’s Anthony Bromley bought her in November for €30,000.
A three-time winner on the flat in her native France, the daughter of The Grey Gatsby went on to win her first three starts over hurdles by a combined 30 lengths. Two of those wins came on good ground, which appealed to her new trainer, Mark Beecher.
“She’s been purchased for Runnymoore Racing,” the Waterford native reported. “She’s light across the ground and, when I watched her races, she looks like she wants good ground. Nicky said that to me as well.
“I’ve got some great owners, owners who want to be very competitive, and they wanted to buy a good mare. They were willing to come over here and I felt this was the best mare in the sale. We waited for her, and thankfully we ended up getting her.”
Mix and match
On the National Hunt scene in the US, the jumps-jockey-turned-trained explained: “The prize money is very good, although the schedule isn’t as rigorous as over here. It’s usually one or two meetings a week.
“Our spring season came to an end last week, now we have a summer campaign between Saratoga in New York and Colonial Downs in Virginia, then we’ll get back into the fall campaign. There’s not as much racing [as in Britain and Ireland] but it’s just as competitive.
“Our barn has a mix of pedigrees, I’m not for having all European horses, I kind of mix and match. The breeding in America is all centred around the flat, so the horses are bred to five furlongs to a mile and nothing further. That’s why it’s nice to be able to come here.”
THE third and final six-figure horse sold by Seven Barrows will make a shorter trip to Cheshire, where he joins Donald McCain on behalf of owner Jimmy Fyffe.
Haddex des Obeaux sold without ever running for Henderson, having been previously trained by Gary Moore, for whom he finished third in the Tingle Creek Chase when last seen in December 2023.
“He’s the one we were really after today,” Fyffe revealed after securing the eight-year-old for £105,000. “We’ll give him the summer off, get him ready for next season and see what happens.
On the five-time winner’s appeal, McCain commented: “Well, he’s shown he’s a genuine Grade 1 horse, hasn’t he? Look, we probably wouldn’t have been able to afford him if he didn’t have an issue along the way, but he’s had his time off and he’s ready to come back into work.
“It’s a roll of the dice but Jimmy’s a punting man and this is the right sort of horse to take a punt on. We also said that it was better value than paying for a point-to-pointer who hasn’t proven he’s nearly as good as this horse.”
Money well spent
Mark Walford shared McCain’s view that older campaigners may be a safer bet than the headline-grabbing point-to-pointers, according to his comments after securing Push The Button for £105,000. By Kingston Hill, like the session-topper, the six-year-old was offered and underbid by Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies, who had secured three six-figure recruits the previous day.
The horse leaving their yard was sourced by owners Jimmy and Susie Wenman for £20,000 at the venue’s Spring Store Sale three years prior and proved progressive during his latest campaign, finishing second in a valuable handicap hurdle at Windsor and taking sixth in the Martin Pipe Hurdle.
On future plans for his buy, Mark Walford said: “He’ll go chasing. We’ll give him a break as he’s had some hard races this season; he’s run in a lot of handicaps at the big festivals. He’s been highly tried.
“He looks a ready-made novice chaser. I like the sire, he’s a good model and he vetted nicely. It was a good sign to me that they wanted him back. I knew they did, so we had to push a bit.
“He’s got the form in the book, but you could easily buy an Irish pointer for that sort of money that wouldn’t be as good.”
TOBY and Nicola Bulgin enjoyed their best result in the sales ring when selling smart debut winner Poetisa to Harold Kirk and Willie Mullins for a sales-topping £300,000. It marked a fine return on the £42,000 paid for the Poet’s Word filly at the venue’s Spring Store Sale, having been pinhooked as a foal by Carrigeen Bloodstock and Anthony Cahill for €26,000 at the Goffs December NH Sale.
The half-sister to Grade 2-winning hurdler Queenohearts was sent off 20/1 for a Class 2 mares’ bumper at Cheltenham last month and defied those odds by a neck under Brian Hughes.
After Harold Kirk outbid Jerry McGrath, who was standing alongside Nicky Henderson, the agent commented: “I thought she was gorgeous. As an individual she’s got loads of quality and a great mind. Everybody wants a Cheltenham winner. Okay, it wasn’t at the festival, but she can do no more than what she’s done.
“I thought she’d make between £200,000 and £250,000, but there’s always going to be somebody else on a horse like this. If you’re up against Nicky Henderson, you’re going to have to be strong. I thought she was the standout here today. I hope she’s lucky now.”
Thrill seekers
The sale came at a pivotal moment for the Bulgins, who farmed cattle and sheep up until a year ago, before purchasing a farm on the edge of Lambourn gallops. A delighted Nicola Bulgin remarked: “It was a hell of a price today. We came close to selling one for three figures before, but nothing like this.
“Nicky had been down to see her a few times and Willie had been on the phone to Toby about her, so we knew we were in the right place in the market. I have to say, the thrill of her winning still beats this, though.”
Looking back to last year, Nicola explained: “She was above budget, we weren’t really thinking of spending that sort of money, but when Toby sees a nice one he always goes for it.
“It was always the plan to race her in a bumper and then hopefully resell her. We were happy to wait with her, as she was a bit of a baby and took a while to come to hand, and it looked like she wanted better ground, so the timing of the race at Cheltenham worked in her favour.”
The couple failed to sell two at the preceding store sale, but it didn’t get in the way of reinvesting, Nicola revealed. “I’ve just told Toby off actually, as he also bought another on Monday. So, we now have eight three-year-olds at home, five of which he’ll have to break in when he gets home. The staff are already stretched and were asking who’ll be breaking them in, so I’ve told them he can. It’ll keep him busy!”
HORSES in training sales can prove just as unpredictable as those for unraced stock, with buyers looking beyond the bare form.
A point-to-point bumper at Aintree five days ago was a perfect example, as the winner Rebel Tribesman sold to Tom Malone for £55,000, while the third horse, Low Kick, brought £170,000 from Mags O’Toole.
Trained and ridden by Jack Teal for Roger Marley, Low Kick had just two rivals behind him turning for home, but the joint-favourite stayed on strongly inside the final furlong to get within a length and three-quarters of the prominently-ridden winner.
Another notable detail was that Teal chose to ride the Montmartre gelding over unbeaten stablemate Lets Go Harry, despite Low Kick finishing third on his only previous start.
Teal’s confidence remained high right up until the fall of the hammer, if his post-sale comments are anything to go by. “We chose the wrong track to give a young horse his first run,” the Yorkshire handler explained. “Garthorpe is a tricky track, very undulating, and it caught him out.
“It was probably jockey error when he ran third at Aintree the other night, I was a bit too cool on him, but we’ve always held him in very high regard. He’s so easy to do at home. He jumps, gallops, does it all for me.
“I was expecting good money for him and we weren’t afraid to bring him home even though he was third twice. We were mad keen on him.”
Highflyer Bloodstock bought Low Kick at Arqana as a yearling for €28,000, the same price he was retained at by Castledillon Stud at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale.
THE third highest-priced lot on the opening day was another promising maiden, whose price bettered a winning rival. Daylatedollarshort was an ironic name for the debut winner of a four-year-old maiden at Loughrea, given that Colin Bowe’s charge sold to Aiden and Olly Murphy for £34,000, compared to the £160,000 paid for runner-up Leader Crik.
Ian Ferguson combined with Willy and Nigel Twiston-Davies to secure the more expensive of the two, seeing promise in how Matty Flynn O’Connor’s bay battled back to be beaten a neck.
Willy Twiston-Davies, who recently joined his father on the licence, commented: “He’s a lovely big horse who should stay – just our type. He ran well in his point. He was green enough, but still showed plenty of ability. The winner was sold privately and obviously looked very good, so hopefully the race works out well.
“We’ve only got one Beaumec De Houelle at home, and he’s taken a bit of time to come to hand, but this horse was just a standout. To be honest with you, he’s such a lovely horse we thought he might go for a little more money.”
Beaumec De Houelle, a Grade 1-winning son of Martaline, has made a promising start at Haras de Montaigu, where his oldest crop are now five-year-olds. They include a Grade 2 winner and a listed winner, as well as four graded-placed horses.
On target
The father-and-son training partnership came close to matching that price a few lots later when securing Shotgun Rider for £155,000. Once again, their purchase’s attitude was crucial to their selection, according to the young trainer.
“I thought he was very willing in his point, he stuck his neck out and ground it out well,” he said. “I think a summer is going to do him the world of good. He could be a very smart animal.
“We’ve had one Diamond Boy in the yard before - that was Lord Of Cheshire and he was a good horse. Hopefully, like him, this one will jump a fence.” Colin Bowe’s four-year-old made an impressive return on the £12,000 Cobajay Stables paid for him at the venue’s Spring Store Sale 12 months earlier.
Big Ticket was another who experienced a dramatic increase in value, as Jonathan Fogarty’s impressive debut winner fetched £155,000, having been unsold at €24,000 as a store and cost €14,500 as a foal.
The Soldier Of Fortune gelding was the third and final purchase made by the Twiston-Davies team, this time bought with Ian Ferguson on behalf of Richard and Kate Tredwin. His handler will have been buoyed by the result, having bought back Storm Queen for £150,000 earlier that day.
The title of highest-priced point-to-point mare of the sale went to Sam Curling’s smart debut winner Trinity Street, who brought £115,000 from Ed Bailey and Henry Daly. Owned by Timmy Hyde and ridden by grandson Josh Williamson, the Mahler mare justified strong market support in a four-year-old mares’ maiden at Ballindenisk earlier this month.