IN the lead-up to last Saturday’s Cheltenham Sale it was clear that half a dozen of the horses catalogued were really capturing the imagination and that is what drove the sale to record levels.

Topping the sale at £200,000 was Boulta winner Hawkhurst, trained by my first cousin Denis Leahy and bought as a foal by my brother-in-law Richard Rohan for owner Nigel Collison. This was a €40,000 foal, so it is important to realise that these investors are entitled to hit the jackpot every now and then.