THE demand from racehorse owners for Irish point-to-pointers with form showed no signs of abating at Thursday’s evening’s sixth edition of the Goffs UK Aintree Sale, when 24 horses sold for an average price of £122,000.

The Aintree Sale has produced five Grade 1 winners from the five previous sales, and it looks to have produced another notable performer with Dysart Enos, a graduate of last year’s sale, taking the final race on the Aintree card before the sale, the Grade 2 Goffs UK Nickel Coin Mares’ Bumper.

Last year’s top price of £400,000 was not challenged on this occasion. Topping the evening trade was Nativehill, a winner last Saturday at Loughanmore for local trainer Colin McKeever and owner Wilson Dennison.

The Flemensfirth five-year-old is a half-brother to multiple Grade 1 winner Bellshill and fetched £260,000, to the bid of agent Ian Ferguson who was acting on behalf of owner Ronnie Bartlett.

Earlier in the day the Bartlett-owned Banbridge won a Grade 1 novice chase at Aintree and that horse was also sourced from the McKeever-Dennison academy. Bartlett did not immediately indicate who would train his new purchase.

Gordon Elliott is probably the favourite to train D B Cooper, a winner at Ballyknock on April 5th for Sean Doyle. This Getaway four-year-old was bought by agent Joey Logan on behalf of owners Andrew and Gemma Brown for £225,000. The Browns lost multiple Grade 1 winner Mighty Potter at Fairyhouse last Sunday.

Logan said of his purchase: “He is probably one of the top-rated four-year-olds of the season and he came highly recommended.” D B Cooper cost just €28,000 at the Goffs Land Rover Sale last June when bought by the Doyles’ Monbeg Stables.

Dunne deal

Jeu Des Champs, runner-up at Quakerstown last Sunday, was sold by handler Harley Dunne for £180,000 to agent Jerry McGrath. The four-year-old by Joshua Tree was a €65,000 purchase at last year’s Land Rover Sale and is reportedly to be trained by Nicky Henderson for a group of owners. Dunne had previously sold Thursday’s Grade 2 bumper winner Dysart Enos at this sale. Dunne was in the saddle too at Quakerstown, and blames himself for the gelding’s defeat.

Bloodstock agent Tom Malone spent £150,000 to secure Worldwide Fury, a half-brother to Fury Road, a son of Jukebox Jury. A winner at Portrush for Donnchadh Doyle, this €70,000 Goffs Land Rover Sale graduate didn’t have an owner when the hammer fell, but Malone hoped to find a buyer quickly.

Further purchases by Malone included another son of Jukebox Jury, San Frandisco, for £100,000 on behalf of Jamie Snowden, and Shropshire point-to-point winner Wicked Thoughts (Mahler) for £135,000.

Memorable day

At the sale’s conclusion, Goffs UK managing director Tim Kent commented: “Today has been another memorable one for Goffs’ point-to-point sales.

“It started with Constitution Hill winning the Grade 1 Aintree Hurdle, shortly after Ahoy Senor finished second in the Grade 1 Aintree Bowl, and all this before Dysart Enos won the Grade 2 bumper just 12 months after selling for £95,000 at this sale.

“The day finished with another successful Aintree Sale which saw a total of 19 horses sell for six-figure sums, five more than we achieved in what was a record sale last year. This was matched by an 89% clearance rate, and a median that was 15% ahead of last year, which clearly demonstrates the consistent level of trade from start to finish.

“The genuine nature of today’s market is another highlight and, as ever, we would like to extend our thanks to the Aintree executive for their support of the sale. We must also thank our vendors who have once again supported us with their very best horses, and we wish all buyers the very best of luck with their new purchases.”