A SMALLER catalogue than 12 months ago resulted in some intense competition for the better lots at the one-day Tattersalls Cheltenham December Sale on Friday last. It was a fitting conclusion to the European sale year, and the headlines included the facts that 15 lots sold for over £100,000, and two lots for more than £300,000.

Such was the demand that it resulted in the best-ever average for the sale of £104,485, the first time it has reached a six-figure sum, while the median of £85,000 was also a record. The session contributed to a new record annual aggregate, with the seven Tattersalls Jockey Club Sales held this year grossing £20,965,500.

An impressive winner on his debut at Lingstown, Tumuch was widely anticipated to be one of the sale’s highlights, and the four-year-old French-bred by Buck’s Boum did not disappoint. Bidding opened at £100,000 and those involved included Robbie Power, Tom Malone and Gordon Elliott, standing with Mouse O’Ryan. It was the last-named duo who were successful at £335,000.

“He is a lovely horse, a well-made horse who won well,” said O’Ryan. “We had seen him in January, and we were waiting for him to run. We are building up a big team of young horses and they are starting to come to fruition. We have bought a Gold Cup horse out of the point-to-point field; we have only had one, but we’d like another!”

Ballycrystal

Tumuch is out of the dual-winning mare Pistol Girl, a half-sister to the dam of the Grade 2 winner and Grade 1-placed Sir Valentino. He was sold by Matthew Flynn O’Connor’s Ballycrystal Stables, also the vendor of the subsequent Grade 1 winner Stay Away Fay for £305,000 in 2021. O’Connor purchased Tumuch for £65,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale and said: “All his work had been very good, we had him in a couple of schooling hurdles and everything he had done was nice. It is great to see them back up when they get to the point-to-point. I think there’s loads of improvement in him.”

This was not the only good result on the day for Flynn O’Connor. Both of the other lots he brought to the sale also made six-figure sums. It was at the third time of asking that Going Live, a four-year-old son of Doyen, got his head in front, but the half-brother to James’s Gate now heads to Cullentra after his sale for £150,000 to Aidan ‘Mouse’ O’Ryan for Gordon Elliott. He cost €70,000 last year at the Goffs Land Rover Sale.

A wildcard entry from Ballycrystal Stables, the €90,000 store purchase Malfoy Manor, a four-year-old Blue Bresil gelding out of Presenting half-sister to the Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Sir Rembrandt, was runner-up on his second start between the flags at Boulta, and he may yet prove to be a value purchase by JP McGrath Bloodstock for £100,000.

McGrath was also on the mark when he gave £145,000 for Califet En Vol, Sean Doyle’s four-year-old son of Califet and Grade 3 winner Mallards In Flight who was runner-up at Lingstown first time out, while the Turtulla winner Star Walking, a daughter of Jukebox Jury from Colin Bowe’s Milestone Stables, set the agent back £115,000.

Wildcard star

The wildcard entry Port Joulain, a four-year-old son of Cokoriko and two-time winner Apple’s Noa, a half-sister to the dam of the former Willie Mullins-trained 11-time Grade 1 winner Apple’s Jade, was bought by Harold Kirk for £300,000. He had been bought at the Derby Sale for €78,000 by consignor Denis Murphy of Ballyboy Stables, and the debut winner at Borris House now joins Mullins.

Kirk said: “He was my pick of the sale. I love the sire, he gets the most winners in France. We have a very good horse by him who won in Navan last week called Indiana Dream. I love this horse as an individual. I think he has got loads of class.”

The four-year-old Black Sam Bellamy gelding Belliano was bought by Tom Malone and Paul Nicholls for £255,000. The Boulta debut winner is a half-brother to five winners, out of a Group 3 winner who is a half-sister to the Galway Hurdle-placed Mirpour and the Grade 3 Swinton Hurdle winner Mirjan. Malone said: “It was a strong maiden, he got left out of his ground three out and then circumnavigated the whole field and quickened well. It takes a lot to do that at Boulta – to go that wide and quicken like that was impressive.”

The gelding was bought for just €25,000 at the Derby Sale by the Co Cork-based Terence O’Brien, who said: “You dream about these things. He performed well on the day, and we got a bit excited then that the dream was alive. It is amazing.”

Malone and Nicholls also combined to secure the top filly in the sale, Just A Rose. The four-year-old daughter of Saint Des Saints equalled the record for a British point-to-point filly, realising £175,000. She won on her only start at Chaddesley Corbett in the hands of Jack Andrews, trained by Tom Ellis.

Fine reflection

Matthew Prior, Tattersalls’ head of sales, commented: “The Cheltenham December Sale has, as always, delivered and is a fine reflection of the quality offered at the Tattersalls Jockey Club Sales. The impressive session has concluded a superb year at Cheltenham racecourse and has produced a record annual turnover touching £21 million for the first time.

“We would like to thank our consignors for bringing such a fine selection of point-to-pointers and bumper horses to us to offer on their behalf. It is a privilege to be able to sell such future stars in this sale ring.

“As always, the support we have had from our enthusiastic buyers is never taken for granted. We are sure they will soon be rewarded on the track, and we take great pleasure in their success. We look forward to seeing the next 10 Tattersalls Cheltenham December Sale Grade 1-winning graduates have their names engraved on jump racing’s top trophies.

“Finally, we would like to extend our thanks to our partner, The Jockey Club, following another successful year, where both the results in the sale ring and the success of our graduates have further reinforced Tattersalls’ position as the market-leader within the point-to-point sector. We look forward to continuing to develop our exclusive and long-standing association with The Jockey Club and providing further investment in our sales hosted at Cheltenham Racecourse.”