THERE was no great surprise when the purchaser of the top lot at the 50th anniversary Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale was named in front of a packed arena. The son of Doctor Dino and the Laveron mare Matnie had all the credentials, and the auctioneer, Tattersalls Ireland CEO Simon Kerins, suggested that he was as rare as a Penny Black.

Bred and consigned by Sluggara Farm and Walter Connors, the gelding is the sixth offspring of his dam, and he has much to live up to. His five older siblings are Grade 1 winners Mighty Potter, Brighterdaysahead and Caldwell Potter, and the Grade 3 winners and Grade 1-placed duo of French Dynamite and Indiana Jones.