A €52,000 son of Walk In The Park held sway on the opening day of foals at the Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale as trade moved up several gears from Saturday’s opening session.

The prices for the best foals on offer on Sunday didn’t quite reach last year’s levels but trade was broadly comparable to 12 months ago which would bode well for the rest of the sale. The turnover dropped from just under €2.8 million to short of €2.4 million while the median progressed by 18% to €11,750 and the average dropped by 4% to €13,805. The clearance rate dropped marginally to 73% on what represented a solid start to the foal section of the sale.

The session topper was sold by Jimmy and Eileen Furlong’s Thistletown Stud and he was snapped up by Franny Woods who came out on the right side of a lengthy battle with Kieran Shields. This colt is the first produce of the very useful listed-winning hurdler Poppy Kay and he will be returning for resale as a three-year-old. The theme of big-priced Walk In The Park foals is certain to be one of the week’s constant themes especially after the sire supplied further evidence of his prowess with two promising first-time-out maiden hurdle winners at Cork earlier in the day.

Another red-hot stallion is Constitution Hill’s sire Blue Bresil and he is another likely to make plenty of headlines over the coming days. On this occasion his representatives were headed by a €50,000 colt who was snapped up by Ian Ferguson. This gelding is out of a half-sister to the Galway Plate runner-up Patricks Park.

“He is a lovely foal, I thought the nicest here today and he is by a very popular sire. He has been bought for a client and will come back to me. I doubt he will see a sale ring until he has done something on the track,” stated Ferguson.

Also slated to return for sale as a three-year-old is a €47,000 Walk In The Park colt who was offered from the tremendous Cork-based nursery that is Yellowford Farm. Kieran Shields signed for this relation to the Willie Mullins-trained Coral Coral Cup winner Blue Berry.

The first of just four foals on offer this week by the elite French-based sire No Risk At All found plenty of favour in the sales ring before eventually being snapped up by Peter Nolan for €44,000. This colt is a half-brother to the Italian 1000 Guineas winner Swipe Up and the Cheltenham Festival-placed Rayna’s World.

A member of the third crop sired by Order Of St George caught the eye of leading buyer Aiden Murphy who forked out €40,000 for the Ballincurrig House Stud representative. This grandson of Galileo is a half-brother to Thunder Rock who is under the care of Murphy’s son, Olly, and has won six of his 10 starts.

“Thunder Rock is a fine horse and was impressive (on his chasing debut) last week. I think Olly is planning to tip away quietly with him. This foal will come back to me and there are no plans as yet. He’s a very nice colt,” reported Murphy.

Dick Frisby spent €39,000 on a son of Walk In The Park from Coolcormack Stud from the family of the Ebor Handicap winner Sesenta while Johnny Collins gave €36,000 for a Crystal Ocean half-brother to the Grand National Trial heroine Ifyoucatchmenow.

Brendan Bashford spent €35,000 on a son of Vadamos related to Party Central while Mulryan Bloodstock matched this price for a daughter of the Boardsmill Stud resident Sumbal.

The sale continues on Monday.

COMPARATIVE FIGURES FOR DAY TWO

YEAR CAT OFF SOLD AGGREGATE AVERAGE MEDIAN

2022 260 233 170 €2,346,800 €13,805 €11,750

2021 279 258 191 €2,749,400 €14,395 €10,000