Two sale prospects to savour

LOT 111, an easy number to remember, at next month’s Tattersalls Ireland November Sale is a yearling gelding by Soldier Of Fortune (Galileo). He is the 10th foal from the Italian listed hurdle winner A Plus Ma Puce (Turgeon), and what a servant she has been for Cyril O’Hara of Ennel Bloodstock.

The breeder of Monkfish must have been thrilled to watch the Tom Lacey-trained Tea Clipper (Stowaway) so impressively win the Listed Dunraven Windows Novices’ Chase on his chasing debut at Chepstow at the weekend. This race has been won in the past few years by such as Finian’s Oscar, Rock The Kasbah and Fingal Bay.

A winning graduate of the Irish point-to-point scene, Tea Clipper was a Grade 3 hurdle winner at Chepstow previously, and he was placed at the Cheltenham Festival. It will be no surprise if Tea Clipper goes all the way to the top of the chasing tree, and someone buying his yearling half-brother next month could be making a sound investment.

Tea Clipper is not the only blacktype progeny of A Plus Ma Puce. She is also responsible for Takeittothelimits (Stowaway), a dual winner who was runner-up in a listed bumper at Gowran Park. She and Tea Clipper have a number of prolific winning siblings, notably Rathlin Rose (Bonbon Rose), successful twice over hurdles, six times over fences and once between the flags.

Orbys Legend

The aforementioned Grade 3 race at Chepstow was won by Tea Clipper and was taken this time by Orbys Legend (Milan). Bred by Michael Dillon and sold as a foal for €30,000, he resold as a placed point-to-pointer (runner-up on his only outing) for £80,000 to Tom Malone and now races for Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, trained by Philip Hobbs.

For new connections he was placed in his sole bumper and is winner of three of his four starts over hurdles, being placed on the other occasion. All of this success is again good news for breeder Michael Dillon who is set to sell a filly foal by Milan (Sadler’s Wells), an own-sister to Orbys Legend, at Fairyhouse next month.