Dec_124_Sales_Circuit_Sales 19/11/2014 19:09 Page 89
SALES CIRCUIT >>
Topping the leaderboard was a broodmare – Tarla, who left Willie Mullins’s care in foal to Shantou with a £170,000 price tag paid by Mick Carty on behalf of a client at his stud in County Kildare – but the mainstay of this event is foals, four sessions of them, all waiting to jump a hurdle or fence. An 81% clearance rate in this category (74% overall) and rise in turnover despite a fall in numbers were signs that pinhookers were eager to get in early and secure foals they can trade in a year or three’s time. The three- and four-yearold store market was very good this year and lightly-raced four- and five-year-olds have been making big sums at in-training sales, so it would have been a shock of grand scale had this foal superstore not been popular. Weanlings generated turnover of €10,064,900 – not far short of the turnover for foals, yearlings and mares at last year’s sale – while the average and median marks of €14,018 and €11,500 were well up. A brother of Grade 2-placed hurdler and chaser Sizing Gold topped the foal list following a €95,000 bid by bloodstock agent Aiden Murphy. A son of Flemensfirth, he was offered by Eudora O’Connor of Lough Na Sollis Stud in Tallow, County Waterford, on behalf of neighbour Martin Fleming. Tarla’s place at the head of the sale was not an indication of the demand for jumping mares, for just 58 of the 124 breeders who walked through found new homes. Buyers, of whom there were plenty of British and French in attendance, were clearly selective about taking on the additional cost of breeding a foal, but the opening-day yearling section fared better with a 70% clearance rate. Another Flemensfirth, this one a half-brother to Fred Winter Hurdle winner Dabiroun, headed this session with a €62,000 valuation.
Brightwells Cheltenham November Sale
An Indian summer and transfer of this auction’s breeze-up section to the sales company’s Cheltenham December Sale were factors in a fall in turnover at this single-session of jumping horses. The number of entries was down – 52 offered compared to 80 last year – although the average price held steady at just over £44,000. Moving the breeze-up meant avoiding another clash with the racecourse’s hugely popular Countryside Day – part of the threeday Open meeting – and, while blaming the weather might be a lame excuse on occasions, it had substance in this instance. These sales are dominated by Irish point-to-pointers and quick ground at rural tracks during the autumn had kept some of the best horses in their boxes. Talented top-of-the-ground performers may have been successful, but in November buyers are usually looking for horses that can handle THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER
Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale Top lots
Name/Sex/Breeding
Vendor
Tarla (Lavirco-Targerine)
Closutton Stables
Price (€)
C Flemensfirth-Mandys Gold (Mandalus)
Lough Na Sollis Stud
95,000
Aiden Murphy
C Martaline-Theatre Girl (King’s Theatre)
Goldford Stud
65,000
John O’Byrne
Gemini Lucy (Glacial Storm-Jodi)
Mill House Stud (Agent)
65,000
Swanbridge Bloodstock
She Ranks Me (Golan-Rosealainn)
Castledillon Stud
64,000
Clarendon Farm
170,000
Buyer Kilmoney Cottage Stud
C Flemensfirth-Dabaya (In The Wings)
Screenhill Lodge
62,000
John O’Byrne
C Robin Des Champs-Zita Hall (Saddlers’ Hall)
Ballincurrig House Stud
62,000
Aiden Murphy
C Beat Hollow-Bannow Girl (Glacial Storm)
Clonmore House Stud
62,000
John O’Byrne
Five-year tale Year
Sold
Agg (€)
Avg (€)
Mdn (€)
2014
976
13,619,550
13,992
11,000
Top Price (€) 170,000
2013
882
10,850,417
12,302
8,500
120,000
2012
679
8,064,250
11,877
8,000
110,000
2011
660
7,576,800
11,448
7,500
120,000
2010
631
6,670,557
10,571
6,000
68,000
Brightwells Cheltenham November Sale Top lots Name/Breeding
Vendor
Stilletto (Westerner-Eastertide)
Ballinakill Stables
Price (£) 130,000
Buyer R Brookhouse
Amber Gambler (Doyen-Auenglocke)
Suirview Stables
125,000
G Costelloe
For Instance (Milan-Justamemory)
Lingstown Stables
85,000
Peter & Ross Doyle
Shantou Village (Shantou-Village Queen)
Ballyboy Stables
80,000
N Mulholland
Kavanaghs Corner (Coroner-Annacarney)
Cobajay Stables
75,000
S Earle
Shotofwine (Grape Tree Road-Icy Gunner)
Downton Hall Stables
75,000
D McCain
Mr Mountain (Mountain High-Not Mine)
Monbeg Stables
60,000
G H Bloodstock
Shanroe Santos (Definite Article-Jane Hall)
Brian Smyth
50,000
Tom Malone B/s
Portrade (Trade Fair-Portorosa)
The Paddocks
50,000
M Flanagan
Alistair (Turtle Island-Woodfield Lady)
Skryne Stables
50,000
Highflyer/Paul Nicholls
Pawn Star (Beneficial-Missindependence)
Monbeg Stables
50,000
G H Bloodstock
Five-year tale Year
Sold
Agg (£)
Avg (£)
Mdn (£)
2014
33
1,459,500
44,227
40,000
130,000
2013
52
2,320,500
44,625
30,000
200,000
2012
59
3,185,000
53,983
35,000
260,000
2011
26
1,226,000
47,154
43,500
170,000
2010
20
863,000
43,150
27,750
210,000
winter conditions. You don’t have to take Brightwells’ word; the detail can be seen in a fall in registrations and runners at early autumn Irish points, and the top-ten board was dominated by horses that had run very recently following rain and an ease in the going. A number of five-year-olds were among them, suggesting four-year-olds have been kept on tick-over by Irish point-to-point trainers. They should make their presence felt at forthcoming auctions. One five-year-old who was never going to be rushed was Stilletto, a big son of Westerner who became a sales-ring high for trainer and consignor Andrew Latta, 24, from Wexford. His octogenarian grandfather, William PowellHarris, bred the gelding, who had won the previous weekend at Maralin.
Top Price (£)
Roger Brookhouse, who took the top two lots at this sale last year, headed by a £200,000 purchase, did not have to dig so deep for Stilletto, but £130,000 was a fine result for the vendors. Amber Gambler was an even bigger fouryear-old, but there was precocity in his German pedigree which was full of smart Flat horses, including top sprinter Auenklang. Pat Doyle had saddled this one to win at Kilworth five days earlier and the performance encouraged Gearoid Costelloe to invest £125,000 to take him back to Rebecca Curtis’s yard in West Wales. Harold Kirk, the ever-present face of Ireland’s champion trainer Willie Mullins at this venue, apparently left with nothing, which told its own tale.
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