There’s nowhere like Cheltenham to stoke dreams of big-race success, as was apparent at Thursday’s Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival Sale, which saw four horses reach the £400,000 mark, one of which set a new record price of £530,000.

Determined buyers drove turnover to an all-time high of £4,425,000 – a huge jump of 21% from last year’s previous record of £3,650,000. Of the 28 lots offered, 26 sold, with 18 of those fetching six-figure prices.