The two Horse in Training sales that took place at Cheltenham in November and December yet again produced sensational prices.
The Tattersalls Ireland Cheltenham November sale which was responsible for selling the subsequent dual Grade 1 winner, Finian’s Oscar in 2016, attracted another strong catalogue of Irish point-to-pointers.
The eye-catching Ballinaboola winner, Know The Score, entered the sale with a large reputation and opened on the phenomenal bid of £300,000. The Sean Doyle-trained Flemensfirth gelding, who was bought for €55,000 at the Derby sale, was knocked down to David Pipe for £380,000 and ended up as the sales topper.
The Mick Goff-trained Good Man Jim, who put in an impressive debut performance at Dowth Hall, unsurprisingly attracted a lot of attention and was sold for £360,000 to Roger Brookhouse which was the second top priced lot of the sale.
Yet again the trade for point-to-point mares’ remained strong with the Denis Murphy-trained Lust For Glory, selling for £240,000 to Anthony Bromley. Bought by her handler for €18,500 at the Landrover sale, the daughter of Getaway was an impressive debut winner at Lisronagh in October.
Aidan Fitzgerald enjoyed a successful night in the sales ring as he sold three promising point-to-point graduates, two of which were mares’. Dromahane winner, Queens Cave, was a 10-length winner on her debut and opened on a bid of £100,000 before being eventually knocked down to David Pipe for £175,000.
The second of Fitzgerald’s mares on offer, Daylight Katie, was sold for £110,000 to David Dunsdon following her success at Lisronagh.
No fewer than nine Irish point-to-pointers were sold for at least £100,000 and up which was an increase of four on last year's corresponding sale while Irish point-to-pointers sold for a total of over £3 million.
The final sale of 2017, the Tattersalls Ireland December sale saw an incredible £2.5 million spent on horses with Irish point-to-point form.
The second highest priced paid for a point-to-pointer of £400,000 was given for the Colin Bowe-trained Trevelyn's Corn (pictured). The Oscar gelding, who won his maiden on debut at Borris, was purchased as a store at the Derby Sale by his handler for €45,000 and was signed for by Tom Malone on behalf of Paul Nicholls.
Last season’s leading handler, Bowe, also had Mainstown debut winner, Straight Red on offer who proved very popular amongst some of the leading buyers. Producing the joint fastest time of the day, the son of Westerner had been bought by his handler at the Landrover sale for €50,000 and was purchased by Jonjo O’Neill for £300,000. The Wexford handler had consigned three winning four-year-olds which gave him a sale total of £800,000.
The David Christie-trained Sometime Soon, who was an eight-length winner on his debut at Kirkistown, also highlighted himself as an impressive addition to the sale. The son of Shantou was knocked down to Mags O’Toole for £225,000.
