Business remained brisk at day three of the November NH Sale at Tattersalls Ireland on Tuesday and, again, sire power was very much evident among the upper echelons. On a day when 19 foals sold for €50,000 or more trade took another leap forward from the previous day with 74% of lots selling for a total of €4,288,500. The average and median prices settled at €24,647 and €20,500.

Lot 509 became the first foal of the sale to make six figures when selling to Gerry Aherne and Charles Shanahan for €100,000. A son of Walk In The Park out of the very smart racemare Posh Trish, the colt was bred and offered by Oliver Loughlin.

The vendor also bred Posh Trish but sold her for small money as a foal in this ring 10 years ago. She eventually made her way to Paul Nicholls and carried the Highclere silks with distinction on the track, winning six times including two at listed level.

After retiring from racing she was re-offered at this sale three years ago when Oliver Loughlin bought her for €118,000. Her first cover was to Walk In The Park and the resulting colt foal sold to Joey Logan here last year for €85,000. Now with the sale of this foal Loughlin has more than recouped his investment.

“As soon as this colt was born I thought I might hit the jackpot as he came out looking like a star from the start,” Loughlin said. “He is the image of Posh Trish, a baby version of her. Walk In The Park is a very good stallion, she was a good mare and the plan was to bred the best to the best.

"Unfortunately she is not in foal, but is being prepared for February and, please God, we might get a filly, and we would keep her,” he added.

Coolmore’s Gerry Aherne has been on quite the mission to acquire Walk In The Park foals since last year’s sales and he said: “For us he is the best foal here. We probably will race him, but not yet decided for sure. We’ll see where we are and match them up when we have finished. But the way the stallion is going, we were anxious to get the best ones we can. The mare was very good and really good-looking. Oliver is a very good breeder and we have been lucky with him before.”

Jamie Codd buys

The only foal in the sale by Kapgarde, the sire of Gold Cup winner A Plus Tard, took silver honours on the day when selling to Jamie Codd for €92,000.

Consigned by Clonbonny Stud for Cathal Ennis of Quill Farm, the colt is the first produce out of the three-time winning Yeats mare Cushuish, who is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner My Drogo.

Codd, who was standing alongside Joey Logan when bidding, said: "We’ll keep our options open with him and he could either be kept to race or could be re-offered for sale at the Derby Sale. We had to stretch to get him, but he’s a lovely horse and is the only one by the sire in the sale. We’re delighted to get him.”

For breeder Cathal Ennis it was a sweet result having sent the mare to France for her first cover. “I love Irish sires, but I like to send maiden or barren mares to France. I think Doctor Dino, No Risk At All and Kapgarde are three phenomenal sires and they’ve been so successful. There are never too many by them here for sale and it was always going to be the plan to sell this chap as a foal,” he explained.

Ennis also hopes it’s a sign of better things to come after a trying period. “We have had a difficult year, we had an outbreak of Equine Virus Abortion and we lost some of our best pregnancies. It was a nightmare. It was a tough year and so, to get a result like this, it was badly needed. Hopefully this sale is part of a recovery.”

Ferguson on form

Ian Ferguson was underbidder on the above Kapgarde colt and he set his sights on the very next lot into the ring, eventually co-signing along with Katrina Mackie for the son of No Risk At All from Lisnagar Paddocks for €60,000.

Ferguson was back in the ring before long and he bought Lot 678 from The Beeches Stud for €62,000. This Walk In The Park colt is out of Glasgow Allen, a half-sister to eight times Grade 1 winner Envoi Allen.

It was a productive hour for Ferguson as he then successfully bid €85,000 for a Nathaniel colt, the first foal out of the French listed jumps winner Hawai Tree who was consigned by breeder Caroline Berry.

The vendor said: "I was friendly with the late David Powell who rang me from France to say there was a really nice mare that we should try and buy. I told him that, if he liked her, to go ahead and then when we brought her home. Jayne McGivern had a nomination to Nathaniel that she was not going to use so I said that we'd take it for Hawai Tree.

"The mare was only in England for 24 days and came home in foal. This colt can be quite cheeky but has been perfect here, he just gets on with life.”

French buyer strikes

Having bought the session-topping Blue Bresil colt on Monday, Coolmara Stables returned as vendor of a Blue Bresil filly on Tuesday who is destined for France after being bought by Nicolas Bertran de Balanda for €85,000. Lot 618 is out of the French-bred mare Buck’s Bee who is a half-sister to four-time Stayers’ Hurdle winner Big Buck’s.

“She is a very good-looking filly with a very good pedigree and by a very good stallion,” Bertran de Balanda said. “She has been bought for a client to race in France and to hopefully be a long-term breeding prospect,” he added.

The French agent made another significant contribution to the sale when he purchased a colt by Nathaniel out of the former high-class Willie Mullins trained racemare Limini for €90,000.

The colt was offered by Will Kinsey’s Peel Hall Stables and the mare was very well-bought by Kinsey for €75,000 in this ring in 2019, when offered with her first cover by Australia.

Kinsey has since sold this foal’s year elder brother for €75,000 last year and Tuesday’s transaction puts his Future Bloodstock syndicate well ahead with their investment.

“She [Limini] certainly owes us nothing but, most importantly, she looks like she is producing athletes like herself,” Kinsey said. “We’ve had a few by Nathaniel and absolutely love them. We think he is a very good stallion and will continue to support him. Limini is now carrying to Golden Horn,” he added.

Also involved in the purchase was Joey Logan. On future plans Nicolas Bertran de Balanda said: “He is going to Joey's initially but will then go to France and has been bought as a racing prospect. Hopefully he’ll become a good juvenile. He is very racy and correct.”

Impervious sibling

Impervious was one of last season’s jumps stars, going unbeaten in five chase starts culminating in victories at both the Cheltenham and Punchestown festivals, and her half-brother by Crystal Ocean proved one of the stars on Tuesday when selling to Kevin Ross and Ben Case for €65,000.

Lot 610 was consigned by Burgage Stud on behalf of Creedons Lodge and the son of Blodge and grandson of the high class-Bilbao was bought as a pinhooking prospect.

“He has been bought for resale," Ross said. "We just loved the individual and the pedigree. I think the four-year-old It's A Breeze (unraced Walk In The Park half-brother) with Paul Nicholls is highly regarded,” Kevin Ross said. "Hopefully he might improve the pedigree further before we come to sell again, but it’s a good page anyway. He is a lovely-moving type of colt and we have plenty of faith in the sire,” he added.

The colt’s breeder Tom O’Doherty was visibly emotional after the sale and said: “I bought Blodge for €16,000 when she was carrying Impervious. We only got €4,000 for Impervious as a foal but the mare has done us proud since. She is back in foal to Blue Bresil. We are delighted with that price as I was hoping for €40,000. I am delighted for my daughter Helena also as she puts in all the work. She is 13, she is really interested and has skipped a day from school to be here, but I think this is the better education!”

Kevin Ross and Ben Case combined later on in the sale for another big purchase when going to €88,000 to acquire Lot 663 from Yellowford and Drumlin. Again bought on behalf of Lady Jane Grosvenor the colt by Blue Bresil is from the deep Yellowford family of Bellshill and his half-brother Unionhill made a successful point to point debut at Loughanmore last month.

Frank Motherway and his team at Yellowford Farm sold five lots for €50,000 or more on Monday and they picked up where they left off early on Tuesday morning when selling a Crystal Ocean colt to Timmy Hillman for €55,000. Lot 497 out of Park The Jet has an illustrious third dam in La Noire whose brilliant offspring include Champion Hurdle winner Jezki along with fellow Grade 1 winners Jered and Jetson.

The Motherways had another good result with Lot 609, a Walk In The Park filly who sold to online bidder Holloway Equine for €58,000. This foal is out of the dual hurdles winner Blixt who is half-sister to the brilliant Hurricane Fly as well as a half-sister to the dam of King George winner Tornado Flyer.

The five-day sale continues on Wednesday.