Cheltenham sales toppers
THERE WAS the usual good demand for Wexford horses at the Tattersalls Ireland April sale of point-to-pointers, with two of them topping the bestsellers’ list, and five of the top-ten prices coming to the county.
Ten of the 25 sold were sent from the county and the Wexford horses got a total of £613,000, half the total proceeds of the sale.
Donnchadh Doyle sent out the top seller, Thatsy, a four-yearold gelding by Martaline, which fetched £130,000. This one won at his maiden at Lingstown and was only beaten a head in a hot Winners of Two at Loughanmore. He will be trained by Gordon Elliott.
Doyle sold two others - Executive Capilano, a five-year-old bay mare by Milan for £40,000, and Holy Motivation, a five-year-old mare by Kalanisi which won at Tinahely, for a modest £12,000 to Gordon Elliott’s yard.
He brought home King of the Sharks, a five-year-old Flemensfirth gelding that won at Oldtown and also at Lingstown on March 11, turning down £58,000.
His brother, Seán Thomas Doyle, sold the Monbeg Syndicate’s Etincelle Lioterie, a fouryear-old filly by Saddler Maker, to Mags O’Toole for £50,000.
Colin Bowe was the top seller of the day, getting £195,000 for his two, though both had finished second on their only outings.
He got second top price of £120,000 for Cobblers Way, a four-year-old bay by Oscar owned by David O’Connell, from Mags O’Toole for Henry De Bromhead, and £70,000 from trainer Jamie Snowdon for Kiltealy Briggs, a four-year-old gelding by Fame and Glory, barely beaten into second at Inch on March 28.
Liam Kenny from Ballydarragh, Craanford, did well with Pat Redmond’s Redzor, getting £80,000 for the five-year-old son of Shantou which won at the third attempt in Ballyraggett on March 25.
Liz Doyle, more noted these days on the track, got £60,000 for Spyglass Hill, a five-year-old gelding by Morosov that was second to Colin Bowe’s Hill Sixteen in a good race at Dromahane a couple of weeks ago. She brought home Enzo Barbieri, a five-year-old Milan gelding that had a couple of good runs, after refusing £44,000.
Denis Murphy, Ballyboy Stables, The Ballagh, got £40,000 from trainer Tim Vaughan for Norwegian Woods, a five-year-old gelding by Arcadio, but he turned down good money for three recent impressive runners, Dramatic Approach, Lough Derg Rose and Collooney.
Just for Tara, a five-year-old mare by Malinas, was second on debut at Curraghmore, and Vincent and Jimmy Devereux let her go to Christian Williams for £11,000.
Meanwhile, five Wexford point-- to-point horses were sold at the Goffs Sale after racing at Punchestown on Thursday evening and made €450,000 in total.
Donnchadh Doyle’s Monbeg Stables, Ballindaggin, sold Needham’s Gap, a four-year-old gelding by Flemensfirth which won at Courtown under Rob James the previous Saturday, to Gary Moore Racing for €120,000. He was bought at the derby sale last June for €68,000.
Colin Bowe sold Danny Whizzbang, a five-year-old gelding by Getaway, to agent Tom Malone for €115,000 after his win under Barry O’Neill at Ballysteen. He had been bought for €40,000 at the Goff’s Landrover Sale.
He sold Southern Sam, a fouryear-old gelding by Black Sam Bellamy, to agent Gerry Hogan for €105,000. Owned by Seán Wickham, he was second to Needham’s Gap at Courtown.
Ashleigh and Michael Murphy from Redbridge Stables, Duncormick, sold Wild Polly, a fouryear-old mare by Mahler which won at Largy on April 22 under Seán O’Keeffe, to Gerry Hogan for €60,000.
Denis Murphy sold Serious Ego, a five-year-old gelding by Hurricane Run owned by Alan Harte, to Gordon Elliott for €50,000. He won at Ballysteen in Limerick on April 22 under Luke Murphy. He had been bought at the 2016 Tattersalls Derby sale for €20,000.