THE inaugural Cheltenham November Sale held under the new Tattersalls Jockey Club Sales banner got off to a solid start, though the final figures were some way off those recorded 12 months previously.

Through the evening’s sale 31 horses sold for a turnover of £2,300,000, a substantial fall from last year’s £4,288,500. The average price declined 13% to £74,194, while the median dropped 9% to £58,000. Nine horses realised £100,000 or more, but this time the clearance rate was 76%, compared to 93% in 2022.

The leading purchasers were Lucinda Russell and Paul McIvor who bought five lots for £460,000, while the leading consignor was Colin Bowe’s Milestone Stables who sold five lots for a combined aggregate of £383,000.

The evening’s top price of £205,000 was given by trainer Tom Lacey for Piper Park, a four-year-old daughter of Walk In The Park out of the King’s Theatre mare Shannon Theatre, herself an own-sister to the Grade 3 hurdle winner Blacklough. Piper Park started favourite when a debut winner in October at Umma House, winning by two lengths and in a fast time.

“Beautiful filly”

Piper Park was sold by her handler Harley Dunne Racing, having been purchased by Dunne and Rob James at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale for €58,000 last year. “I was hopeful she’d make that as she’s a beautiful filly,” said Dunne. “I’m absolutely over the moon for everyone involved in her and all the lads in the yard. She was going down well so I was hopeful she’d get to that kind of money.”

On a night when four of the seven lots to realise £140,000 or more were fillies, Honky Tonk Highway, a four-year-old daughter of Milan consigned by Colin Bowe Racing’s Milestone Stables, sold for £165,000, and bought by Ryan Mahon and Dan Skelton Racing. On her only start she beat a field of 10 in a fast-run maiden at Tattersalls at the end of October.

Out of St Gregory, a five-time winning mare by Presenting, Honky Tonk Highway was purchased by Bowe for €55,000 as a three-year-old at the Goffs Land Rover Sale. Bloodstock agent Mahon said: “She’s a good staying mare, she jumped well on heavy ground and kept on strongly at the line. There are a few clients at Dan’s who are looking to get a few nice fillies at the moment, and this client in particular already has a few, so we are just looking to expand on that. With any luck they turn out to be good and then they’ve got some residual value for further down the line.”

Successful

Bloodstock agent Tom Malone and trainer Paul Nicholls were the successful purchasers at £155,000 of the Warren Ewing’s Bernice Stables-consigned Saint Kristobal. The French-bred four-year-old son of Jeu St Eloi was a winner at Tattersalls at the end of October, and is out of the blacktype mare Belle Josee, winner of five races and listed-placed in France. “I am a big fan of the stallion who has been purchased out of France to stand at Glenview Stud with the Cashmans,” said Malone. Ewing felt the gelding was worth more.

Saint Kristobal was marginally the best-priced gelding, a profitable pinhook considering he cost £21,000 as a store at the Goffs UK Spring Sale, and he was closely followed by the £150,000 sale of Coolbawn Stables’ Moon Phases to Lucinda Russell and owner Paul McIvor. Though the Neil Tector-trained four-year-old only finished fourth at Dromahane on his debut, he did enough to sway Russell, and she had success previously with the gelding relative Snake Roll.

Another of the major purchases by Russell and McIvor was the four-year-old Jack Hobbs filly Reflection Of You, a debut winner at Loughanmore for Warren Ewing. She was sourced at the Goffs Land Rover Sale for €38,000, and her success, with that of Intense Approach, convinced Ewing to stock up on progeny by Jack Hobbs this year.

Pauling double

Aidan Fitzgerald and his brother Barry enjoyed a coup when the €9,000 Goffs Land Rover Sale graduate Magical Annie, bought by the former and trained by the latter, won a Galway bumper in late October, and sold this time to trainer Ben Pauling for £140,000, or almost €170,000.

Also joining Pauling is the Moira point-to-point winner Handstands, and the son of Getaway returned a handsome profit for Pat Turley, being bought for €17,500 at the Goffs Land Rover Sale and selling for £135,000.

A four-year-old son of Flemensfirth, Diagon Alley was runner-up at Lisronagh this month for Jonathan Fogarty, and he went from being a €55,000 Derby Sale purchase to a £140,000 sale this time. Tom Malone signed for him on behalf of trainer Syd Hosie. Fogarty also consigned another who was runner-up at Lisronagh, the four-year-old Westerner filly Visual Impact, and she sold for £100,000 to Lucinda Russell.