A joint-record sale price was created in Thursday's session of the Tattersalls Ireland July Store Sale when lot 388A, a gelded son of Order Of St George (Ire), brought €65,000 from Ballycrystal Stud's Matthew Flynn O'Connor.
The point-to-point trainer snapped up the wildcard entry from Mount Eaton Stud. He was originally a €21,000 November National Hunt Sale pinhook as a foal and is a half-brother to two winners. His dam, the Shernazar (Ire) mare Miss Cilla (Ire), is a half-sister to the three-time Grade 1-winning hurdler Peddlers Cross (Ire) (Oscar {Ire}).
“He was our pick over the two days, and it seems a lot of others thought so, too,” said O'Connor, who stood alongside Ger O'Connor. It was the fourth lot purchased as a whole or in partnership by Ballycrystal over the two-day sale.
O'Connor added of the point-to-point prospect, “He is a big, scopey stamp of a horse and he just missed his slot at an earlier store sale. I have not had any by the sire before but have three for this season. All in, I shall have about 50 or 60 pointers for the next season with around 15 for the autumn.”
Cooladurragh House's lot 510 brought €45,000 from trainer Steven Crawford. The 3-year-old Wings Of Eagles (Fr) gelding is related to dual graded hurdler winner Gray Steel (Fr) (Turgeon). A gelded son of Telescope (Ire) and Indian Stream (GB) (Generous {Ire}) (lot 287) caught the eye of Terence Thomas Steele to the tune of €38,000. He hailed from the draft of Ballincurrig House Stud and his dam won a listed chase at Cheltenham.
Of the 439 lots offered, 266 lots sold (61%) for a gross of €2,399,150. The average was €9,019 and the median was €6,500. Unlike its previous three editions, the catalogue format for this year's July Store Sale was set alphabetically by dam over two days, rather than a select day one, with wildcards placed across both days.
Tattersalls Ireland CEO Simon Kerins said, “It has been a mixed summer of store sales, culminating with this week's July Store Sale. The July Store Sale provided National Hunt purchasers with a final opportunity of the year to enter the market, and it was encouraging to see lots of new faces on the ground and on the final purchaser list.
“We recognise the current selective nature of the National Hunt market, in particular over the last two days. This selectiveness has presented challenges, especially at the lower end of the market. However, it is very encouraging to see that purchasers in Ireland and the UK retain faith in Irish stores. We are also deeply appreciative of the unwavering support and loyalty of our vendors.
“We would like to thank Irish Thoroughbred Marketing for their dedicated efforts in promoting the Tattersalls Ireland Store sales to the UK market.”
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