NATIONAL HUNT

ON the National Hunt front the heights of the previous 12 months were out of a reach for a number of the major auctions while various sales through the second half of the year served notice that supply is outrunning demand.

The Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale was once again the market leader in the store market and it produced a top price of €320,000 in a Robin Des Champs gelding who became the highest priced store to come under the hammer for four years. The two days of the Derby Sale produced an aggregate of almost €12.3m which was a 14% decrease on 2014. The €42,893 average was just a point behind last year but the €36,000 median represented a new record in this area.

Interestingly trade at the head of the market dropped some way off 2014 and the number of six-figure transactions dropped from 27 to 16, while the number of lots making at least €50,000 dropped from 104 to 80.

The top lot, whose sire has produced a host of top notch jumpers in recent seasons was bought by Harold Kirk and is a half-brother to the useful Publican while he is also closely related to Clondaw Warrior. The three-year-old was sold by the Bleahen family’s Lakefield Farm who also received €160,000 from M.V. Magnier for a son of Mahler.

Among the other top lots was a €170,000 Big Bad Bob half-brother to Johns Spirit and The Game Changer who was showing a fine return on the €20,000 he cost as foal.

LAND ROVER SALE

Two weeks previously the Land Rover Sale couldn’t match the stunning gains of 2014 while still posting one of its strongest set of results. As was the case at Tattersalls Ireland, there was a drop in six-figure transactions, from nine to five, but the number of lots to make at least €50,000 improved from 44 to 53. The sale benefited from a major input by British based purchasers and the point-to-point fraternity.

The average of €26,825 dropped by two points and median of €20,000 fell by nine points while a bigger catalogue saw the aggregate grow to €11.7m. A €155,000 son of Arcadio took centre stage after he was bought by Mouse Morris. Also worth a mention was a €150,000 son of Getaway from Jimmy Murphy’s Redpender Stud who cost M.V. Magnier €150,000 having been picked up for €14,000 as a foal.

Away from the stores the pivotal sale for the jumping sector was last month’s Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale. The all-encompassing sale was looking to continue a run which had seen it make gains every year since 2010 but it too finished slightly down on last year. An overall average of €13,803 represented a fall of just 1%, while the median dropped to €10,500 from €11,000. In all this was a solid edition of this sale but the market was definitely more selective, as evidenced by a clearance rate of 70%, and there was evidence to show that the market is starting to get oversupplied.

The all-important four-day foal section didn’t attract the same level of end user activity as previous years but trade still held up quite well. Indeed more foals (68) made at least €30,000 than was the case in 2014. In addition the €110,000 top priced foal, a son of Flemensfirth out of a half-sister to Master Minded who was bought by owner Patrick McCann, was the highest priced lot in this category for four years.

MULLINS’ MARE

The highest price of the week came in the mares’ section and it was once again a high-class Willie Mullins inmate who took the honours. On this occasion it was the former Grade 1 scorer Adriana Des Mottes who sold to Kilmoney Cottage Stud’s Michael Carty for €145,000. It was encouraging to see that there did appear an improvement in the level of interest and demand for National Hunt mares.

Elsewhere the Tattersalls Ireland August National Hunt Sale was another auction to finish down on 2014. A relatively low key three days produced a €3.7m aggregate which was a 22% decline on last year’s figure and the number of stores making at least €25,000 dropped from 41 to 29.