Over €2m for Wexford horses at Cheltenham sale

FIVE four-year-old Irish point-topointers topped the £200,000 mark at a record-breaking final sale of the season by Tattersalls Ireland at Cheltenham at the end of May, and three of them were from Wexford yards, with 25 local horses selling for a total of €2.10 million.

Cormac Doyle, the youngest of the three brothers in the Monbeg Syndicate, had the second-highest seller, a Stowaway gelding called Monkfish, a winner at Stowlin in April which went to Harold Kirk and Willie Mullins for £235,000.

The unrelated James Doyle from the Baltimore Stables, Monageer, got £225,000 for his debutant winner, Run Wild Fred. He also got £40,000 for One More Fleurie (by Mustameet), second at Taylorstown on April 28.

Colin Bowe had another very successful sale, six horses going for more than £600,000 Stg. His twelve lengths Dawstown winner, Lock’s Corner, was sold to J.P. McManus’s son, Kieran, for £215,000; his Paxman (by Jeremy, of course!) was a good debut winner at Inchydoney, and was sold to trainer Evan Williams for £110,000.

Easyrun de Vassy (by Muhtathir), a head winner at Oldcastle on May 20, went to Tom Malone and Paul Nicholls for £105,000, and Pogue, a five-year-old Stowaway gelding owned by Larry Dunne which won at the same meeting, was sold to Duncan McCain for £100,000.

Bowe’s Port Stanley (by Papal Bull), owned by M. Cave and Steven Lanigan-O’Keeffe, won at Portrush on May 26, and was sold to Jessica Harrington for £65,000, while his Dalkingstown, owned by Seán O’Neill, went for £20,000.

Donnchadh Doyle’s Jasmin Des Bordes (a son of Great Pretender) was second in a hotly-contested maiden at Loughanmore and went to Malone and Nicholls for £145,000.

His two debut winners at Tralee on May 26 were both sold, the French-bred First Lord de Cuet to David Pipe for £85,000, and his San Frontieres gelding, Silent Assistant, made £50,000.

He sold Cage of Fear by Milan, second of twelve at Largy on April 21, to Fergal O’ Brien for £50,000, and his brother, Seán, made the same for Solid Display (by Fame and Glory), third to Easyrun de Vassy at Oldcastle.

Donnchadh got £40,000 for Falco Blitz (by Falco), second to Port Stanley at Portrush, and £20,000 for Diomede Des Mottes (by Kapgarde), a five-year-old winner at Loughanmore.

Seán Doyle picked up £25,000 for Golden Taipan, third at Loughanmore, and £20,000 for J.J. Kavanagh’s mare, Annie Mc, twice placed second.

Denis Murphy’s Ballyboy, The Ballagh, stables sold Maypole Class (by Gold Well) which was second of 15 to Thunderstruck at Loughanmore on May 12, to Johnjo O’Neill for £90,000; his Young Lieutenant, owned by Alan Harte, second to Easyrun de Vassy at Oldcastle, sold to Highflyer Bloodstock for £60,000.

He got £37,000 for Checkitout, third of 13 at Loughanmore on May 12, and £20,000 for Our Bubba (by Scorpion), second to Howling Milan at Necarne.

Illuminated Beauty, a five-yearold mare by Flemensfirth, owned and handled by Patrick O’Rourke at his Belmont, Wexford, stable, and ridden to victory by his son, Jimmy, at Oldcastle on May 20, fetched £55,000.

Michael Goff’s Moate Stable at Clondaw, Ferns, got £40,000 from Mag O’Toole and Noel Meade for Cenotice (by Phoenix Reach) which won at Oldcastle on May 20.

Ivan Walker from his Drumderry Stables, Bunclody, got £20,000 for P.J. O’Hara’s five-year-old mare, Leverock Lass (by Olden Times), first of 17 on debut at Bartlemy.

There was a much lower-key Tattersalls sale at Ascot on Tuesday where the prices were more in the reach of the ordinary punters. The best price achieved was £28,000 as many of the big British stables were off-loading stock. Colin Bowe and Denis Murphy did make a number of sales.

Bowe got £17,000 for Do You Know What, a five-year-old mare by Dubai Destination; £15,000 for a five-year-old Court Cave mare, Queen of the Court; £10,000 each for Morraman (by Gold Well) and Legend of Zorro (by Touch of Land), both five-year-old geldings; £5,000 for Hadmeathello, a five-year-old Milan gelding, and £4,000 for Gottagottagetaway, a six-year-old gelding by Getaway.

Denis Murphy sold two, Chasing Highs, a five-year-old gelding by September Storm (£15,000), and Whatmeanttobe, a four-yearold by Fair Mix (£10,000) to Philip Hobbs.