RICHARD Hughes is hoping to win Saturday's Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes with a Tattersalls Ireland purchase and he is also set to train the top-priced lot on day one of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale.

Tuesday's session saw 223 of the 240 lots offered find buyers, an astonishing clearance rate of almost 93%. The median price of €38,000 was a staggering 55% up on the same day last year. The average price (€44,096) was up 49%.

A total of 11 lots made six-figure sums, two of them bought by agent Ted Durcan and bound for the Richard Hughes yard. Rabbah Bloodstock bought four of the €100,000-plus yearlings and were by far the day's top spender, purchasing 17 yearlings for a total outlay of just over €1 million.

Bidding was frantic all day long in front of a full sales ring. Many observers were left almost speechless when asked to comment on the strength of the market. A record 29 horses were sold for €75,000 or more.

Richard Hughes, who saddled his first Group 1 winner earlier this season, is due to saddle America Queen in Saturday's Cheveley Park Stakes. The Havana Grey filly was a €180,000 purchase at the breeze-up sale here at Fairyhouse in May.

Now Hughes is set to train a €165,000 Blackbeard colt and a €120,000 Sioux Nation colt which were among Tuesday's top lots.

The Blackbeard colt (from the first crop of the Coolmore sire) was sold by Peter Nolan Bloodstock. "He goes into training with Richard Hughes," said Ted Durcan. "We loved him, and he is for an existing client and goes to Richard, who also loved the horse.

"He is a beautiful stamp, he vetted really well, I knew he'd make money, and we hoped we'd get him for a lot less than that, but in this healthy market you have to push the boat out."

Vendor Peter Nolan said: "He was bred at home and we offered him as a foal, he was a vendor buy-back for €60,000 – we thought he was better than that and thankfully we have been proved right. We chose this sale as we thought there will be a lot by the sire to sell so we wanted to get out early.”

Sioux Nation success

Sioux Nation has been good to Tattersalls Ireland in recent years and the Coolmore sire delivered again for the sales company on Tuesday when he was responsible for three of the top seven lots. Trainer Ken Condon bought two of them.

After he signed for a €150,000 Sioux Nation colt from Weir View Stud, Condon said: "He has been bought for a US client, and I don't know plans as yet – he may be exported, he may stay here, he'll be broken and started here and then we will make a plan.

"He is a very nice colt, very well prepared, with a lovely action and disposition. The pedigree is nice, he is out of a young mare and is a full-sibling is a useful horse."

He added: "We started looking on Sunday, and he stood out then. The right guys were all on him in the ring as he sold himself. There was a lot of interest from breeze-up people, end users, Hong Kong Jockey Club, he was very appealing to a wide range of people."

Ed Ryan of Weir View Stud said: "He has been run off his feet all week and over 150 shows, he showed himself like a gentleman. He has been sold for a client – we are trying to build up a consignment. We have been very fortunate to have been sent some lovely horses. He has stood out here and has been an absolute dude – the sun today on his back has made him look even better!"

The stud has already had a good results in the ring, and Ryan said: "We have had a fantastic day so far, and the two other good prices have been €70,000 for a Naval Crown filly and €55,000 for St Mark's Basilica; it has been fantastic trade. All have been offered for clients so far, but we have a couple of our own later and tomorrow."

An hour later Condon bought a Sioux Nation filly for €115,000 from Tom Whelan's Church View Stud.

"She has plenty of depth and is strong, she's a nice filly," said Condon. "She is by a sire who is going very well; fillies, colts, it doesn't matter. She was a very attractive filly with a nice action and a good temperament. Every time we went to see her, she gave us the same show and we are delighted to get her."

Breeder Patricia Walsh, who is from Mornington, Co Louth, said: "For me this is the best result I've had at the sales – I used to sell as foals, but we changed plan and decided to hold on to them till they are yearlings. It's Sioux Nation who did the job there really," she laughed.

Walsh bought the dam Redinha at the December Mare Sale in 2014 for 20,000gns and bred the Coventry Stakes second-placed Qaader. Her Ghaiyyath three-year-old filly Oiche Rua was third at Dundalk for Ado McGuinness last Friday night, and the Mehmas two-year-old Squadron Leader won since the catalogue was printed.

The third Sioux Nation to break six figures was a colt consigned by Paul McCartan’s Ballyphilip Stud and it was bought by Ted Durcan on behalf of trainer Richard Hughes, who later said he is looking for an owner to take the horse.

A first foal out of an unraced mare, he is closely related to Group 1 winner Red Clubs.

By the end of the session, a total of 15 yearlings by Sioux Nation had sold at an average price of over €65,000.

Rabbah spending

For the third year in a row, Rabbah Bloodstock's principal Jaber Abdullah was in attendance at the sale. He owns Richard Hughes' Cheveley Park contender but it is James Tate who will train Rabbah's top-priced purchase on Tuesday, a €120,000 filly by Night Of Thunder.

Offered by The Castlebridge Consignment, the filly is out of a placed half-sister to Group 3 winner Spectre.

Tate said: “I’ve had loads of the sire’s progeny. They have really good minds and a really good constitution. I thought this filly looked like another with a really good mind; she’s got a little bit of growing to do but she looks really strong and really quick. She reminded me of some of the best Night Of Thunder fillies I’ve trained.”

Rabbah spent €110,000 on a Kodi Bear filly, the same on a Havana Grey filly, €100,000 on a son of Mehmas and €70,000 on a Dark Angel filly.

After signing for the Kodi Bear, Rabbah representative David Ryan said: "Kodi Bear has had a good month getting the Gimcrack winner, and Our Cody was second in the Listed Harry Rosebery Stakes for Richard [Hughes]. This is his biggest crop, his best crop. He is a good stallion and this looks like a very racy filly. Richard saw her and loved her."

It was no surprise that Rabbah also took away the Havana Grey filly, as she is by the same sire as America Queen. She will be trained by Jack Channon. Ryan added: "Every day lately we have had a winner, and we are looking forward to the Cheveley Park Stakes on Saturday with America Queen."

American buyers

It was noted before the sale that, for the first time, there were some American buyers on the sales grounds and they made their presence felt on Tuesday. US bloodstock agent Justin Casse bought a Starman colt from Eddie O’Leary’s Lynn Lodge Stud for €135,000. The colt will be trained by Joseph O'Brien, who won this year's Group 2 Prix Robert Papin with the Starman colt, Green Sense. Agent Brendan Heeney, who has been in the States since 2007, spent €120,000 on two yearlings for Coast Racing.

Pinhooking touch

Luke Bleahen of Lakefield Farm in Galway turned a $3,000 foal into a €90,000 yearling on Tuesday. The colt is by the little-known sire Highly Motivated, a Grade 3 winner who set a couple of track record times in his career in the US. This yearling's dam Moral Clarity is by Siyouni out of Ceisteach, a daughter of New Approach who gained blacktype for Jim Bolger before being sold to America where she won at Grade 3 level.

The buyer on Tuesday was agent Barry Lynch, acting on behalf of owner Bill Durkan.

Gary Bannon, assistant trainer to Bill Durkan, said: "We mainly have National Hunt horses, but we bought two yearlings last year for around €6,000 each, and they have both done well, so Bill thought we'd step things up a bit this year and dip our toes in a bit more."

Lynch added: "Highly Motivated was a very good two-year-old, was very sharp, and is a son of Into Mischief, one of the best stallions in the US. He is also out of a Siyouni mare, which is a positive. We liked this horse; he is very simple sort and he has a great temperament; he walked around here and did not bat an eyelid. Hopefully, he will be a horse who can take us to the big days next year as a nice sharp type; by the make-up of him he looks quite mature. He is very powerful and, if he can be as good as his father as a two-year-old, we will be okay."

Part I of the sale continues on Wednesday. Part II is on Thursday.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE SALE RESULTS