JONJO O'Neill is set to train recent Irish point-to-point winner Rockstown Native, who topped Wednesday's session of the Goffs UK January Sale when selling for £82,000.

The Califet gelding was owned by Peter Molony of Rathmore Stud in Co Limerick when he won at Turtulla earlier this month, trained by Paurick O'Connor and ridden by the handler's brother, Derek. He was bought at Doncaster by O'Neill and the Stroud Coleman agency.

Rockstown Native is one of three horses sold on Wednesday who are eligible for the new £100,000 January Bonus Session which will pay £100,000 to the connections of the first eligible horse who wins any race at the 2023 or 2024 Cheltenham Festival.

Also eligible for the bonus are the bumper placed Fashionelle, who was purchased by Fergal O'Brien from the Jamie Railton Sale Agency for £42,000, and the winning British pointer Taita Hills, who was offered by Dalmer Lodge Stables and knocked down to Gary Moore Racing for £35,000.

Referring to Tuesday's session, Goffs UK managing director Tim Kent commented: "A £75,000 record price for a NH foal is a fantastic way to start the new sales year and we’re delighted with the results that have been achieved at the top of end of the market including The Glancing Queen selling for £150,000 and Rockstown Native realising £82,000. These were the obvious highlights and they proved yet again that when we’re given the best horses, we can achieve the best prices in any category, and we will continue to work with British breeders to encourage them to offer their very best for sale in the UK.

“Having said all that, it would be remiss of us not to acknowledge the selective nature of the foal market which was very similar to that shown at the same sales in Ireland last year. The difference between the UK and Ireland was the greater number of Irish animals by stallions deemed to be ‘in fashion’ which can present a different picture to that shown in the UK. We will obviously work with the TBA and breeders to try and address a challenge which applies to us all rather than being specific to one side of the Irish Sea.

“We will start our inspections for the Spring Store Sale over the coming weeks and our Aintree Sale is just around the corner, so it gives us plenty of opportunity to discuss the market with breeders and enable us to react in a positive manner to ensure that we continue to offer the best service to breeders at all levels of the market.”

DAY 2 STATISTICS

Offered: 57

Sold: 43 (75%)

Aggregate: £434,500 (+4%)

Average: £10,105 (+26%)

Median: £5,500 (+16%)

FULL SALE STATISTICS

Offered: 281

Sold: 158 (56%)

Aggregate: £2,019,000 (+10%)

Average: £12,778 (+24%)

Median: £6,500 (-7%)