IT’S not unusual for Gordon Elliott to come away with the top lot from a Tattersalls Cheltenham sale and he did it again last Friday when, acting on the trainer’s behalf, agent Mouse O’Ryan paid £410,000 for high-class bumper horse El Cairos.

The five-year-old No Risk At All gelding was trained by Gary and Josh Moore when winning a Newbury bumper a year ago and when finishing fifth in the Grade 1 Cheltenham Festival Bumper. His final start for the Moores saw him finish second in a Punchestown Festival bumper last May.

On each of those occasions El Cairos was ridden by owner David Maxwell who recently announced his decision to step away from racing. Maxwell commissioned Tattersalls Cheltenham to sell all 17 of his horses in training last Friday and they realised a total of £2.25 million.

El Cairos will now race in the colours of KTDA Racing, who have enjoyed big race success in the past with the Elliott-trained Romeo Coolio and Mount Ida.

“He is the standout of the place today,” said O’Ryan. “He is for David Rabson of KTDA, and goes to Gordon’s. We will get him home and make a plan, but he looks a racy sort of horse – he should be a two miler and we need a couple of those. Hopefully, he will be one to come back here next spring, but we will have some good days in Ireland, too. We have been chatting about this for a couple of weeks.”

Returning home

Just Ennemi, a five-year-old by Kamsin and a two-time winner in France but who has yet to run in Britain, has been in training with Harry Derham for the past year and returned to Derham’s Berkshire yard, bought by the trainer for £320,000.

“I am relieved!” said Derham, adding: “Horses of his potential and talent are not commonplace in a young trainer’s yard or, in fact, in many yards. We did not run him last season and it has all been about waiting for this one.

“It has been a bit of stressful old time to get him today, but I am delighted he is coming back. He is for some existing owners, a group I have put together for him and I am very grateful to them. It is a lot of money, but his French form is pretty strong, and he is good-looking horse.”

Fantastic job

Of plans he said: “He has been at Noel Fehily’s for the last three weeks, and they have done a fantastic job – the horses looked amazing. We will get him back to mine now, I can’t wait to run him in a novice chase in six weeks’ time, but I am not going to rush him. The physical development this horse has gone through in the last year is massive, so I hope his new owners will reap the benefit of David’s patience.”

Off The Jury, runner-up in the Grade 3 EBF Final at Sandown last time out, was successfully bought by bloodstock agent Dan Astbury at £250,000.

“He is going into training with Mickey Bowen,” reported Astbury after signing the docket for the six-year-old son of Jukebox Jury on behalf owner Martin Gowing and Bowen. “Hopefully, this horse will take them on some big days. He can go for a maiden hurdle and then go straight for a graded novice. Obviously being a maiden over hurdles he is battle hardened and has got some big days ahead that we can look forward to – I love his profile.

“It is the type of horse you can’t normally buy, horses with such a high level of form and who could give owners big days out so quickly, they don’t normally come about.”

Spinal injury

After the last of the 17-strong draft went through the ring, Maxwell, who rode 75 winners and was champion amateur twice but who has had to retire from race riding on medical advice, said of his emotions: “I did my grieving for the riding six or eight weeks ago when I had to make the decision to stop. I wrestled with the decision all summer, but, right on cue, the tingling in my left arm from the spinal injury started again this evening!”

He added: “What I really felt for today was the lads and the lasses who look after these horses; if you could ask the horses who owns them, it is not the lunatic in red and brown who rides them a few times but the person who feeds them every day, so I am really happy to see, for instance, Just Ennemi go back to Harry Derham.

“This has never been about the money and never in my entire time of looking through the ears of a horse has this been about the money. I genuinely believe it is about the horses and the sport.”

He concluded: “I am off to have my cold turkey now and I fly to Kenya on Sunday; I am going to do something different for a bit.

“Tattersalls has done a magnificent job, it is all part of the theatre of this sport, I am really pleased with this evening.”