Kevin & Anna Ross Anna and Kevin Ross with young stock on their County Antrim farm
›› publicity, but not in success, and when
they dug deep at the Goffs Punchestown Sale last year, spending €260,000 on the horse who finished second on the topten board, they were well rewarded: the horse in question is the aforementioned high-class juvenile hurdler Coeur Sublime. “It’s true, we have clients who could afford to pay top prices for stores or pointers, but they seem to enjoy finding value,” says Kevin. “At Newmarket recently a £35,000 filly we bought for Paul and Clare [Good Vibes] finished second behind a Godolphin filly who cost 750,000gns. Running so well against a horse who had cost much more gave Paul a buzz.” Flat purchases tend to be sourced as yearlings or breezers. The David Evanstrained Good Vibes, the recent winner of the Marygate Stakes at York, was sourced for £35,000 at the Goffs UK Premier Sale. Crack On Crack On was bought at Goresbridge for €70,000, won three races and was then sold to Hong Kong. That horse and Getchagetchagetcha took the Rosses to Royal Ascot last year, and now hopes run high for a bold showing by Good Vibes at the same venue this month. Anna says: “To get value we don’t tend to look at the clock, but at the more backward, less obvious type. If they have a bit of pedigree, come out of the breeze well and are a nice type, that is more important than the time of their breeze.” Kevin adds: “The Royal Ascot horses are the ones who do a quick time and are usually expensive – at the moment that’s not where we’re at, but we’d love to buy a Royal Ascot winner.”
From the sales ring to a wedding ring
Being a daughter of Arthur Moore, and grand-daughter of L’Escargot’s trainer Dan Moore, might have led Anna to a training career, but she says: “Training was never really on my agenda. When I finished an accounting degree at college I went travelling, in part to figure out whether I was going to stay in the horse world. When I came back a job came up at BBA Ireland; I went for the interview and stayed ten years.” During that time she bid on a horse who was to change the course of her life, as Kevin recalls, saying: “I was underbidder on a horse that Anna bought for Oliver Sherwood. As we passed each other in the barns later that day she said, ‘I beat ya’, which kind of stuck in my mind.” Anna interjects, saying: “He decided to get even, by marrying me!”
What’s in store for the stores?
As the twin peaks of the store sales’ season hove into view, with Goffs staging its Land Rover Sale (June 11 and 12) and Tattersalls Ireland putting on the Derby Sale (June 26 and 27), it is a busy time for the Rosses. The store market has been surfing on the popularity of jump racing’s Saturday meetings and spring festivals, plus the demand from pinhookers who buy to race horses in point-to-points before selling again. That can make it hard for buyers, but few would begrudge working in a buoyant market when the alternative is to find easier pickings in a slump.
As Kevin says: “I read a tweet by [trainer] Nick Alexander recently which reflected that jump racing is in rude health, and it is at the moment. When you see Cheveley Park and owners like that coming into jump racing it’s marvellous.” So what are they looking for in a store? Sharing their thoughts, they say: “We’re looking for correct horses that walk well and are trainable. “We’re also looking for an acceptable pedigree, but we wouldn’t put too much emphasis on the stallion. We’re relying more on the dam’s side, while the damsire and sire of the granddam can be important. Most of our store purchasers are end-users who are buying a store to race, not pinhook. If a client is buying one store a year they will probably want an established sire, but if they are buying half a dozen you would probably look for a couple by established sires, and then others by lesser-known stallions.” Tattersalls Ireland’s May Store Sale (where the Rosses bought two stores) and Goffs UK’s Spring Sale have passed, but the Land Rover auction and Derby Sale offer treasure troves. Kevin says: “It used to be the case that the Derby Sale had the bigger, chasing types, but in the past three or four years the two events have become quite similar.” They also buy at the lower-tier August Sales, where they might find a store for themselves. If that horse makes up into something special they could offer it to a client, but, as Kevin puts it: “We’ll go the long haul and race it ourselves if we are in any doubt about its ability.”
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23/05/2019 16:51