One of eight six-figure lots on the day, Oak Grove (Ire) (Soldier Of Fortune {Ire}) (lot 13) took pride of place when selling for £250,000 to Fergal O'Brien Racing during the Tattersalls Cheltenham April Sale on Thursday evening.
O'Brien was buying the relative of Grade 1 winner Voler La Vedette (Ire) (King's Theatre {Ire}) for Chris and Deborah Giles, who already have a half-share in another O'Brien runner, Crambo (GB) (Saddler Maker {Ire}).
“We have no plans as yet,” reported O'Brien of the Rob James Racing-consigned 4-year-old who captured an Oldcastle point-to-point earlier this month. “He needs bit of time and from here will probably go to Jason Maguire's for some R and R through the summer.
“Sally [Randell] and I watched his video and thought he won a very competitive point-to-point–he was the one we came for and we loved him when we saw him.
“We are very grateful for the opportunity to come and buy a horse such as this. He is the most expensive horse we have bought in the ring–usually we buy four for this sort of money!”
The gelding Grand Albert (Ire) (Jet Away {GB}) (lot 27) and the mare Florencethemachine (Ire) (Malinas {Ger}) shared the next most expensive tag at £120,000 apiece. The former was consigned by Virginia Considine and caught the eye of Anthony Bromley of Highflyer Bloodstock. Tom Malone secured the latter from Treehouse Stables. The pair have each won a point-to-point, with the 5-year-old mare taking a Monksgrange affair on debut at the end of March.
The one-day sale concluded with 49 sold of 59 offered (83%) for a gross of £2,969,000. The average was £60,592 (-10%) and the median was £50,000 (-7%).
Matt Prior, Head of Sales at Tattersalls, said, “The Tattersalls Cheltenham April Sale has enjoyed a fabulous spring season on the racecourse through the exploits of Apple Way (Fr) (Diamond Green {Fr}), purchased for just £35,000 at the Cheltenham April Sale last year, winner of last week's G1 Sefton Novices' Hurdle for trainer Lucinda Russell.
“This year has also seen Tattersalls Cheltenham graduates Envoi Allen (Fr) (Muhtathir {GB}), Gerri Colombe (Fr) (Saddler Maker {Ire}), Shishkin (Ire) (Sholokhov {Ire}), Stay Away Fay (Ire) (Shantou), Tahmuras (Fr) (Falco), and Inthepocket (GB) (Blue Bresil {Fr}) all add new Grade 1 wins to their resumes, proving that the Tattersalls Cheltenham sales really are the prime source of top level NH horses in training and point-to-pointers.
“Today's broad buying bench reflected the strong demand for the 'Tattersalls Cheltenham horse' with 49 lots sold at a healthy 83% clearance rate, eight fetching £100,000 and over, a top price of £250,000 and a turnover just shy of £3 million.”
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