THE £33,000 and patience invested by Donnchadh Doyle in the French-bred Dlauro paid off in spectacular fashion at Ascot on Thursday when the now five-year-old sold to Joseph O’Brien for a record £410,000. The price narrowly eclipsed the £400,000 mark set about an hour earlier following the sale of another French-bred, Envoi Allen, from Colin Bowe’s yard to Tom Malone, and represents the highest price ever for a five-year-old point-to-pointer.

The aggregate, average and median figures at the Tattersalls Ireland Cheltenham February Sale all advanced strongly.

Dlauro was a pillar-to-post winner of a maiden point-to-point at Belharbour 11 days prior to entering the ring at Cheltenham, and such was the impression he created that his price quickly rose to its final mark, the Piltown trainer seeing off all challengers to secure the gelding. The son of Lauro is out of a winning mare who has already had three successful progeny on the racecourse.

Colin Bowe’s Envoi Allen won on the same day as Dlauro, but he was successful at Ballinaboola by an eye-catching 10 lengths. He fell to Tom Malone’s winning bid and afterwards the agent revealed that he was bought for David and Patricia Thompson of Cheveley Park Stud and will be trained in Ireland by Gordon Elliott.

The four-year-old son of Muhtathir raced for owner Walter Connors and was offered from the same academy that the unbeaten Samcro emerged. Envoi Allen is the first foal for his Saint Des Saints dam Reaction and she won a couple of times over jumps in France. Malone was well acquainted with the gelding before he went under the hammer. He said: “I loved him – I saw him privately in the yard and I was there standing in the field when he won his point-to-point effortlessly.”

Envoi Allen’s price was the third best ever for a point-to-pointer and the second best for a four-year-old. The record was set last year when the ill-fated Flemenshill sold for £480,000 after winning his maiden at Oldtown.

French-breds completed the exacta when Asterion Forlonge sold for £290,000 and was another to provide a rich return for the original investment made in him. Bought at the Derby Sale eight months ago for €60,000 by Pat Doyle’s Suirview Stables, he won his maiden point-to-point at Oldtown by six lengths, running over two and a half miles. He will now join the stable of champion trainer Willie Mullins after Harold Kirk secured him. The four-year-old son of Coastal Path is a half-brother to a couple of winners and from the family of Grade 1 winning chaser Ice Mood.

The sale topper Dlauro was purchased as a store at the Goffs Land Rover Sale and so too was the Jeremy four-year-old Bold Plan, a smooth winner at Kirkistown for Warren Ewing last weekend. This €28,000 buy last June soared in value to £195,000, falling to the bid of Evan Williams.

Bold Plan’s sale came shortly after another four-year-old sold to Kate Harrington for the same amount. The first runner and winner for his Monsun sire Aizavoski, who stands at Arctic Tack Stud, Envious Editor won his four-year-old maiden at Belharbour at the start of February and the Nicky Stokes-trained runner is the first foal of his Beneficial dam. He now heads to Commonstown Stables near Moone. The first six-figure lot came early in proceedings, courtesy of the sale of the home-bred Malinas Jack to Henry de Bromhead’s Knockeen Racing for £160,000. The four-year-old son of Malinas has been placed on both his starts to date for Scott Smithurst and trainer John Mackie, most recently on New Year’s Day when he was runner-up to Acey Milan in a listed bumper at Cheltenham. The winner that day went on to land another listed bumper at Newbury last weekend.

The top price for a mare on Thursday was £110,000 and this was paid by Tom Malone, acting for Paul Nicholls, for John O’Callaghan’s Danse Idol. Catalogued for sale in December after winning her debut point-to-point, the daughter of Dansant bypassed the sale and instead went to the track where she was runner-up in a mares’ bumper at Punchestown to Relegate. The latter boosted the form when she won a Grade 2 bumper at Leopardstown on Dublin Racing Festival weekend.

Olly Murphy has made an explosive start to his training career and joining his yard now will be Seemingly So, a £100,000 purchase from Johnny Hurley. This sale came shortly after Dlauro went through at more than four times the price, and Seemingly So was runner-up to the sale topper on his only outing. The son of Dubai Destination is a half-brother to the Grade 3-placed chaser Shanroe Santos.

Completing the list of six-figure lots was Nearly Perfect, offered from James Doyle’s yard. He cost Stroud Coleman Bloodstock, acting for Neil King, £100,000 in a private deal. This four-year-old son of Malinas was another to finish second to one of the sale stars, this time being runner-up to Envoi Allen.

As the sale finished, Richard Pugh was not mincing his words when summing up the day’s business. “The trade experienced here today has been phenomenal,” he said, adding “In the last year 53 horses sold here have experienced blacktype success and this has certainly contributed to the high level of trade experienced here in the sales arena.”