Willmount (GB) (Blue Bresil {Fr}) (lot 8) and Shannon Royale (Ire) (Walk In The Park {Ire}) (lot 12) finished one-two in a 4-year-old maiden point-to-point at Comea in Ireland on Feb. 13, and that is also the order they finished in at the top of the leaderboard at the Tattersalls Cheltenham February Sale on Thursday. Willmount was sold to British-based trainer Neil Mulholland, who saw off the likes of Harold Kirk, Gerry Hogan and Eddie O'Leary to secure him for £340,000, while Shannon Royale was bought by Mags O'Toole to go to Gordon Elliott for £300,000.
Mulholland said of Willmount, “He is for owner Oliver Harris who has a few horses with us. The horse was one of the standout horses at the sale, and when I mentioned him to Oliver he said that number eight is his lucky number. The horse came highly recommended and I am delighted to have him on board. The sire is going places, and Oliver was keen to get him and stuck his neck out. We'll get him home, we'll treat him as a good horse, see if we can win a bumper.”
O'Toole said of Shannon Royale, “He is a fine big horse, the sire is on fire, he had a lovely run against the top lot, he is a horse for the future, he won't be rushed and goes into training with Gordon Elliot for an existing client. I loved the way the winner and this horse got away from the others, they quickened well. He is gorgeous, he has a lovely head on him.”
A total of 33 horses were sold on the day (clearance rate of 89%) for an aggregate of £2,718,000. The average was £82,364 and the median £60,000.
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