Ballycahane winner Killer Kane tops Cheltenham Festival Sale

Former Gold Cup winning trainer, Colin Tizzard, has enjoyed much success with his acquisitions out of the point-to-point fields, and he returned to that trusted source on Thursday evening to buy the top three lots at the Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival Sale.

Teaming up with bloodstock agents Peter and Ross Doyle, they won the bidding battle to secure the night’s top lot, Killer Kane, with their final bid of £300,000.

The Oscar gelding, who had been purchased by Monbeg Stables for €70,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale as a half-brother to former Cheltenham Festival winner Go Native, had made his own winning debut just days earlier, having won a five-year-old geldings’ maiden at Ballycahane the previous Saturday.

Tizzard and the Doyle’s returned to the Monbeg operation for another of their big-priced purchases, having secured Shirocco’s Dream earlier in the evening’s trade for £260,000.

Donnchadh Doyle’s daughter of Shirocco’s Dream had chased home Rose Of Arcadia at Tattersalls Farm on her debut, and with that mare having won her bumper for Tizzard at the beginning of the week, he was unsurprisingly keen to secure Shirocco’s Dream after she went on to win her maiden at Borris House.

Their final six-figure purchase was another Borris House winner, when they went to £280,000 to acquire Amarillo Sky.

The Westerner gelding having made a winning debut at the Co. Carlow venue for Barry O’Neill and Colin Bowe.

Bowe’s Milestone Stables were responsible for no fewer than three Grade 1 winners at the Festival, with Ferny Hollow, Envoi Allen and Samcro and with those successes, owners and trainers were keen to snap up his latest consignment of form horses.

The four horses that he offered amassed a total sum of over £700,000 for an average of £176,250, with recent Lingstown winner, Gerri Colombe, sold to Margaret O’Toole for £240,000.

Ballycahane winner, Chosen Port, was bought by the father and son team of Aiden and Olly Murphy for £115,000, whilst Donald McCain bought Punchestown winner, Bareback Jack, for £70,000.

The sibling team of James and Ellen Doyle also enjoyed plenty of success in the sales ring, with their Hollow Games, who won his four-year-old maiden at Turtulla by a distance, bought by Bloodstock Agent Mouse O’Ryan and trainer Gordon Elliott for £255,000.

They also offered Tag Man, who had chased home Amarillo Sky at Borris House, and he was bought by owner Roger Brookhouse for £135,000.

In all, nine horses with Irish point-to-point form realised upwards of £100,000 on the evening, with the six-figure sellers completed by Patroclus, Mick Goff’s Ballycahane runner-up, bought by Highflyer Bloodstock for £150,000, whilst Gaston Phebus, who finished third in the same race, going to Ed Bailey Bloodstock for £100,000.

At the conclusion of the sale, Matt Prior, Head of Cheltenham Sales commented:
 
"So far it has been a successful week here at Cheltenham both on the track and in the sales ring. Shishkin, Envoi Allen and Ferny Hollow all won Grade 1 races and nine lots fetched £100,000 or more at this evening's sale.

“We look forward to charting their progress and hope they can add to the ever-growing list of Festival winning graduates."