FRANCE’S newest bloodstock auction house, Aktem, staged its first physical sale last Friday and the inaugural Grand Steeple-Chase Selected Sale proved a roaring success, with 10 of the 75 lots offered selling for between €100,000 and €510,000.

British and Irish named appeared alongside the majority of the highest-priced horses, but the €510,000 top lot is set to remain in France, according to Kieran Mariga of Coolmara Stables, who signed alongside agent Hamish Macauley for beautifully-bred three-year-old Mahadevi.