DAVID Thompson, owner with his wife Patricia of Cheveley Park Stud, made a rare foray to the sales at Tattersalls on Thursday with the stud’s director Chris Richardson. The occasion was the unusual staging of the Cheltenham December Sale at the company’s headquarters.

The change of venue and the protocols pertaining to the Covid pandemic necessitated the move, resulting in a smaller catalogue than might have been assembled in normal times. Nonetheless there was solid demand for stock and a couple of major standouts, both of the latter being supplied by Thompson and Richardson.