'He looks magnificent' - battle royal for €250,000 half-brother to Douvan and Jonbon at Derby Sale

Question: What do you get when you mix a leading sire, a half-brother to two superstars and a ballsy pinhook? The answer: a €250,000 store horse who topped the opening session of the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale.

By Doctor Dino, lot 84 is a half-brother to Douvan, whose eight Grade 1 triumphs included the Arkle and Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, and Jonbon, who so far has amassed exactly half the number of Grade 1 victories as his older half-brother did during his illustrious career. 

From the moment the catalogue was unveiled, Coolmara Stables' handsome bay was a focal point for attention and it seemed that every potential purchaser in the complex made their way to his box in Barn A to inspect the gelding with the celebrity siblings. 

Nobody who inspected the grandson of brilliant broodmare sire Saint Des Saints was left disappointed and the speculation around the ground was on the size of the six-figure price he would attain.

It wasn't the drizzle that drove the crowds inside ahead of his appearance in the sales ring, as every possible vantage point was commandeered prior to the anticipated fireworks and the bidding duly began with a bang as Aiden and Olly Murphy threw down the gauntlet with an opening offer of €100,000.

Henry de Bromhead rose to the challenge, countering their every move until Aiden Murphy's €250,000 bid, at which point De Bromhead, who was bidding from the tunnel, had to give way with the son of Doctor Dino going to Warwickshire, not Waterford.

Olly Murphy will train Wednesday’s session-topper, whose family traces back to that of Grade 3 Prix Hypothese Hurdle winner Discover D'Auteuil, and the young trainer is excitedly looking to the future with him.

"He’s a lovely horse and we’re looking forward to getting him home and seeing what he can do," he said.

Aiden and Olly Murphy bought two of the top three lots on day one of the Derby SaleCredit: www.healyracing.ie

His father Aiden, who said the gelding had been bought for an existing owner in the yard, explained their decisive bidding tactics.

"He was always going to make that kind of money and we were in a bit of a hurry so started from there," he said.

"He has a brilliant attitude, I’ve seen him each day he’s been here and he’s never turned a hair in all that time. He looks magnificent and is just a gorgeous horse.”

Jonbon, who made €140,000 at the 2019 Derby Sale, had yet to make that explosive point-to-point debut when the Mariga family of Coolmara Stables purchased the gelding privately as a foal from his breeders Cyril, Siobhan and Olive O'Hara of Ennel Bloodstock but the presence of Douvan on the page was enough to convince Cathal Mariga that the foal was worth taking that pinhooking risk.

The delighted consignor said: "Douvan was always going to be in his pedigree but to get that second Grade 1 winner was very nice. He’s been a great horse to work with at home, he has never put a foot wrong and did everything right.”

His dam Star Face has a perfect record so far, with the Grade 1-winning brothers by Walk In The Park her only offspring to race.

The Murphy father and son team were back in to snap up Moanmore Stables' gelding by Saint Des Saints, who had received a perfectly timed Grade 1 update when his half-brother Juntos Ganamos won the Prix Ferdinand Dufaure under Felix de Giles last month.

"He’s a very athletic horse and we’re really looking forward to getting him back to the yard as well," said Olly Murphy of the strapping chestnut secured for €200,000 and already named Karonacho.

"It’s a nice position to be in, buying these top-end stores, we’re trying to take the yard from strength to strength and to do that we need to be buying the best horses. Hopefully we’ve bought a couple of nice horses with great pedigrees, and it’s exciting. It’s where we want the yard to go."

Swapping codes

During his decorated career with the Kilkenny hurlers, Young Irelands corner-forward Charlie Carter adorned the biggest stages, winning two All-Ireland medals and a National League title for the Cats. Horses, however, were always a passion for Carter and whether it's showjumping, jump racing or hurling, he has tasted success across the sporting platforms.

Kilkenny legend Charlie Carter with his homebred Walk In The Park gelding who made €205,000 at the Derby SaleCredit: www.healyracing.ie

Peter Nolan consigned Carter's homebred Walk In The Park half-brother to Grade 2 Yorkshire Rose Mares' Novices’ Hurdle and Listed Bangor Mares' Novices’ Chase winner Maria's Benefit and Howyabud, a Listed winner over jumps in America, from the family of Ted Walsh's Grand National hero Papillion.

Tom Malone purchased him on behalf of Paul Nicholls, striking the winning bid at €205,000, and the agent revealed the pair had been biding their time for the gelding out of Youngborogal.

"There were a few others before him and I said we needed to sit tight for him,” said Malone. “He has a lot of presence and a lot of pedigree, he’s a beautiful animal and we’re delighted to get him.”

For Carter, climbing the steps up the Hogan Stand to lift the Liam McCarthy Cup and selling a big six-figure store horse were most definitely two very different ball games, literally in one case.

"It's a very different feeling from winning an All-Ireland medal,” he said. “You're on your own in this game and this is a passion of mine. I have six mares. Youngborogal was breeding very good horses but she was breeding them a little bit small, Walk In The Park was throwing big horses, so the match worked

"Sadly, the dam died last year, she was 21. I bought her as a foal here for €6,000 and she was a very lucky mare for me, both on the track and at the sales. I raced a few and sold others of her offspring.

“You never really know how well they’re going to sell, but everyone who saw him liked him and if I could breed a few more like him it would be great.”

Mega sale for Dino

Haras du Mesnil's Doctor Dino recorded an extraordinary average of €125,333, with all six of his offspring to come under the hammer on Wednesday changing hands. In addition to the session-topper, the 20-year-old, who stood this season for €20,000, was responsible for three of the top five lots including the session's most expensive filly at €150,000.

Harold Kirk rhapsodised about Walter Connors' filly out of Listed Prix d'Arles Hurdle winner Turteene and Kirk is very familiar with the qualities that Doctor Dino imparts to his offspring, as Closutton is home to two of his seven individual Grade 1 winners in Sharjah and State Man.

Willie Mullins and Harold Kirk made their presence felt on the first day of the Tattersalls Ireland Derby SaleCredit: www.healyracing.ie

"It is a long time since I saw a filly like this with a pedigree like she has," he said. "She has so much strength and elegance - she is so strong that she looks like a gelding but has that grace too. 

"She ticks every box really and has saleable value as a broodmare after her racing career is over."

That pedigree and residual breeding value is another element of the strikingly beautiful grey, already named Docteene. Her dam has already bred the Listed Prix Calabrais Handicap Hurdle winner Valenteene, a daughter of Saint Des Saints, and her record as a broodmare reads two winners from two runners.

Turteene is a daughter of the excellent broodmare sire Turgeon and a half-sister to Paul Nicholls' Greaneteen, whose three Grade 1 successes have all come at Sandown. She is also a half-sister to Autueil Listed winner Kapteen and Poly Teen, placed at the same level and track.

Kirk added: "Doctor Dino is the best sire in France and we have been very lucky with him."

Renewal of old bonds

Fergal O'Brien, Stewart Andrews and Mark Pitman will hope they can express similar sentiments about Doctor Dino in the coming years after the trio purchased Fenloe Stables' son of the dual Hong Kong Vase winner for €170,000, with Kirk having to play second fiddle on this occasion as underbidder to the team.

Named Soldino, he is a three-parts brother to the winner Solingen and a half-brother to Rebellio, who was fourth in the Listed Prix Camille Duboscq Hurdle at Pau. 

Fenloe House's Doctor Dino gelding who will be trained by Fergal O'BrienCredit: www.healyracing.ie

Their dam Solvalla was successful twice as a three-year-old over hurdles and is an Al Namix half-sister to the Listed Prix Francois de Poncins Hurdle winner and Grade 1 Grand Prix d'Automne Hurdle runner-up Solway. 

It's a German family with second dam Solveigh a Tiger Hill half-sister to Sommernacht, dam of Group 2 winner and sire Sommerabend and the Group 3 winner and sire Sommertag. It's also the family of Group 1 Grosser Preis von Berlin winner Sirius and Najima Star, a Listed winner over hurdles at Auteuil last year.

O'Brien said: "Stewart had Ballyhome, who we recently retired, with me and this horse was chosen as his replacement. Mark trained Ever Blessed to win the Hennessy for Stewart and he picked out the horse.

"We all loved him when we saw him, but we'll get him home, break him in and take our time with him. There is no rush with him, Stewart has been in the game a long time now, and understands it, so we will be able to give the horse all the time he needs. Time is the most expensive thing in racing and we are lucky that we have it."

Pitman concurred and added: "When everyone involved loves a horse, you know you're on the right one. It's just a case of whether you will be able to last it out. 

"We set out to buy a horse with quality and, whatever way you look at it, this horse has quality. He is beautifully proportioned, he moves well, he has scope and he has the pedigree too. If you are looking to buy a horse to go to Cheltenham, he is it. He has a great trainer too, so hopefully he is lucky."

John Costello sold the gorgeous gelding and the Costello and the Pitman families have a successful relationship reaching back several decades. Mark purchased Monsignor, the Champion Bumper and Sun Alliance Hurdle winner who defeated Best Mate in the Tolworth, from the Costello family (who also produced the triple Gold Cup winner), and Pitman's mother Jenny sourced plenty of stars from the Clare academy.

"He has come from a great hotel," commented Pitman of Fenloe House. "Over the years my family and the Costellos have had a great association and it all aligns."

Soldino was Costello's only entry in the sale and he was an unusual purchase for him, as he explained.

Fergal O'Brien signs the docket for Fenloe House's Doctor Dino geldingCredit: www.healyracing.ie

"I hadn't been buying any horses in France but two years ago my son Conor was working in Chantilly for the summer and I went over to visit him. He said he wanted to take me to a few farms to look at a couple, Antonin Pelsy, whose farm it was, said there was a lovely Doctor Dino horse in a farm down the road so we went to see him. It was this horse and I loved him."

Costello usually keeps his youngsters to point and then sell them on, but with the struggle to find staff a pressing issue for the industry as a whole, this horse had to be sold as a store.

"My boys were mad keen to point him but we don't have the staff so needed to sell him," he said. "I'm delighted with the result, I've known Mark a long time and sold him a lot of good horses when he was training. This is the first horse of ours who will go to Fergal and we are delighted he has him. Hopefully he will be successful for him. 

"For me it is all about the future - today is a great day but the future is better."

A total of 12 horses broke into the important six-figure sales price club on the opening day of the Derby Sale, which recorded turnover of €7,652,500, a decrease of 13 per cent on last year, albeit from 12 fewer horses sold this time round.

Wednesday's average of €52,058 declined by five per cent year-on-year, with the median dropping by 17 per cent to €40,000. The clearance rate was 79 per cent.

The second and final day of the sale begins at 10.30am on Thursday.

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