TATTERSALLS hosted an online preview on Wednesday evening which featured some well-known names.

MC Vanessa Ryle was joined by Tattersalls Ireland representatives Jamie Codd and Richard Pugh, and special guests were Paul Nicholls, Anthony Bromley, Tom Malone, John Dance and Cormac Doyle.

Bromley is no stranger to success at the Festival and is responsible for the purchase of a number of leading contenders at next week’s meeting including Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up Sale graduate Tritonic, Derby Sale purchase Altior, and Shishkin, a £170,000 purchase at the Tattersalls Cheltenham December Sale.

Paul Nicholls and part owner John Dance are looking forward to Bravemansgame taking his chance in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle next Wednesday. Bravemansgame was purchased by Tom Malone and Paul Nicholls for £370,000 at the 2019 Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival Sale.

Malone is also responsible for the purchase of Envoi Allen for owners Cheveley Park Stud, and Gold Cup hero Native River, who once again returns to the Festival at the age of 11.

The full conversation can be found on the Tattersalls’ YouTube page. Here are some of the best quotes from the event.

Anthony Bromley

Sceau Royal

Champion Chase

Two years ago, he led at the last and then got overhauled late on by Politologue and Altior – both proper horses. He’s in the form of his life. He has been running as well as he has ever done this season. It’s obviously a very strong renewal but he doesn’t owe us anything. He has won over £100,000 in prize money this season for the owners. If it comes up soft, we will take him out, but if it’s good, or good-soft, then he’ll give Daryl a real good run.

Tritonic

Triumph Hurdle

After Royal Ascot it wasn’t definite that he was going to go hurdling. They gave him a bit of a break and Alan wanted to get two runs into him for the experience before Cheltenham.

It was quite well documented that he was a bit undercooked for Ascot, and that showed when he went to Kempton the next time, he beat the horse in second by a much easier margin.

Kingy said that he would come on by a stone from the run at Ascot and he did do that at Kempton. He did it on quicker ground, but he has gone on soft. He’s got pace. He looked a stayer when he won at Ascot because he ground it out, but then looked like a horse with pace at Kempton. He has lots of assets in his armoury.

Blue Lord

Supreme Novices’ Hurdle

It sounds to me that we’ll go Supreme Novices’ with Blue Lord. He might not be able to beat Appreciate It but he’s going to be in the shake up for a place, whereas in the County Hurdle you are going to have 24 runners and every single one has got an equal chance.

Paul Nicholls

Politologue

Champion Chase

He’s consistent. He’s won the Tingle Creek and ran well at Ascot. Slightly better ground will suit him. He loves the course. It’s amazing – it is his sixth Cheltenham Festival. He is a professional. He will run his race.

Frodon

Gold Cup

I’m very happy with him. He came out of the King George well. He had a good gallop at Wincanton last week. He needs plenty of grass, he is going to have a tough week doing plenty, he thrives on that.

I think Al Boum Photo is the one we all have to beat. He is a class horse who has won it the last two years. You could argue last year’s form hasn’t worked out particularly well, but he still keeps on winning.

Native River is obviously a decent horse, but he wants the ground heavy to be at his best. Joe will argue that he can go on any ground, but from a pace angle and his utter stamina shown at Sandown, heavy ground will suit him.

I think it’s quite an open race behind Al Boom Photo.

Bravemansgame

Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle

He’s not unlike Denman. He’s a big, strong chasing horse. He actually has more boot than Denman. Denman never showed much at home but was a very strong stayer.

He is a lovely horse. He’s got loads of scope. He’s in good shape. He’ll run well and hopefully make a lovely chaser next year. Tom Malone was mad about him and kept saying we’ve got to buy this horse.

Tom Malone

Native River

Gold Cup

It’s a very open Gold Cup, you could make a case for a lot of horses. He has as big a chance as anything of being placed. He’s an 11-year-old that has risen 4lb again. Most of them decline in their ratings. They’ll all know they’ve had a race to pass him. There are not too many horses I’ve bought that are millionaires – he’s won a Hennessy, three Denman Chases – he is a phenomenal animal.

Envoi Allen

Marsh Novices’ Chase

Ballinaboola is where it started. I had bought a horse called Danny Kirwan who had won in Lisronagh by a furlong. I bought him off Pat Doyle who said that this is such a good horse I bought his brother on the strength of it, and he is going to run in a four-year-old maiden at Ballinaboola in three weeks’ time.

I got there [Ballinaboola] that Sunday and Appreciate It was the horse I wanted to buy. He’s Danny Kirwan’s half-brother and I arrived in the field to buy him that day, and Envoi Allen destroyed them.

The stupidest thing I did that day was not take Appreciate It as well. It was a six-runner race. How am I going to convince myself that there are two Cheltenham horses in one six-runner four-year-old maiden?

I was very happy to take Envoi Allen. I’ve stood in a lot of fields watching point-to-pointers and that was as impressive as I’ve ever seen. There were some lovely animals in that race.

I got in touch with Cheveley Park Stud to ask if I could buy him for them. He went to the Tattersalls Cheltenham February Sale and the rest is history.

He’s doing his job and I now need to find the next one. The one thing though you will never hear me say is ‘I have found another Envoi Allen’. I may never buy another one like him. He is different class.

If the horse turns up that we know, he wins, because nothing wants to take him on. Heart ruling head, until the horse is beaten, nothing can beat him.