NOT many people know more about winning sales races than bloodstock agent Peter Doyle.

He and his son Ross sourced countless sales race winners for Richard Hannon Snr, and that trend has continued since Richard Jnr took over the licence.

Their latest big winner is Happy Romance, a filly by Dandy Man who was bought at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale by Peter and Richard Jnr for just £25,000. She was bred and sold by Jimmy Murphy’s Redpender Stud in Gowran, Co Kilkenny.

She won a Sandown maiden on her second start and two weeks ago she won the valuable Weatherbys Super Sales Sprint at Newbury. That was over five furlongs but she is expected to take her chance in the €320,000 Irish EBF Ballyhane Stakes at Naas on August 23rd.

“Richard had four in the Newbury race and we had bought three of them,” Peter reported. “We have been very lucky with horses bought from Jimmy. Canford Cliffs came from Redpender, as did a couple of very nice horses who raced for Sheikh Hamdan.”

Happy Romance is the first horse owned by Ray McMurray but, as the trainer quipped on ITV Racing, “he’s definitely getting another one this year!”

Peter is optimistic that the yearling sales season will go ahead without too much further interruption. “I think the sales companies have done very well so far. When Goffs and Arqana got together it gave everything a good start, and then you had Goffs and Tattersalls working together on the store horse sales. That was good to see.

“The Land Rover Sale will be my first sale since Covid struck. Ross has been to the breeze-ups in Newmarket and Doncaster, and he is back in Doncaster this week for the stores. He will quarantine then before the Land Rover. Hopefully the sales companies will find a way to get the overseas buyers here.

“They can stay in nominated hotels, that’s what they are doing in Doncaster. And hopefully these second spikes in the virus we keep reading about will fizzle out. We’ll just have to be careful and abide by the rules.”

Peter is also looking forward to getting back racing, hopefully in time to see one of his purchases win the first running of the Irish EBF Balyhane Stakes in person. Rumour has it that Joe Foley of Ballyhane Stud texted congratulations to Richard Hannon after Happy Romance won at Newbury race and the trainer shot back the reply: “Get the money ready!”