IN the lead-up to last Saturday’s Cheltenham Sale it was clear that half a dozen of the horses catalogued were really capturing the imagination and that is what drove the sale to record levels.

Topping the sale at £200,000 was Boulta winner Hawkhurst, trained by my first cousin Denis Leahy and bought as a foal by my brother-in-law Richard Rohan for owner Nigel Collison. This was a €40,000 foal, so it is important to realise that these investors are entitled to hit the jackpot every now and then.

Last Saturday’s result was like a Cheltenham Festival winner for connections. Huge satisfaction all round and a bit of emotion too. You had an owner of David Pipe’s, Bryan Drew, going head-to-head with Kieran McManus and there is no doubt that the duel added a few notches to the eventual sale price.

Without doubt the public auction route is the right way to go with these horses, in particular I am talking about the top horse with a good pedigree and conformation, one who looks like it has potential to go all the way.

Looking back to the autumn sales, that kind of horse was hard to find. The points season had been dogged by small fields and unsuitable ground. Buyers didn’t have confidence in the market and, to tell the truth, neither did many of the vendors. What a difference it makes to the entire sale when you have five or six top prospects.

Last Saturday evening the buzz filtered right through the market and quite a few horses made more than their vendors had ever expected. Coole Charmer came to the sale having fallen at the final fence on his only start. The winner of that race made £33,000 at the Brightwells December Sale but Coole Charmer, admittedly a smashing looker, made £70,000 last weekend.

Michael Moore is the owner of Ballincurrig House Stud, a leading sales consignor. He is also the Irish agent for Brightwells and can be contacted on 087 6481949.