FIFTEEN years ago Garde Champetre lit up the sale ring at Doncaster when he sold for an incredible 530,000gns (£556,500) to J.P. McManus. While he failed to win anything like that sum back, the value of his many victories at Cheltenham and Punchestown meant that he was worth the investment, given the pleasure he brought to the McManus family.

Now all eyes will be on Interconnected, a five-year-old son of Network who set a new mark on Thursday when he was sold for £620,000 (€707,000) to owner Darren Yates and trainer Philip Kirby. Nick Nugent was taking bids on the telephone, speculated to be from J.P. McManus, but the Goffs man finally conceded defeat when Yates and Kirby answered Henry Beeby’s call for more.