Bailey and Murphy off the canvas with £105,000 signing at vibrant Goffs UK

After being forced to bow out in the skirmishes for the two leading lights at the opening session of the Goffs UK Spring Store Sale, trainer Kim Bailey and agent Aiden Murphy finally got their man on Tuesday with the £105,000 signing of a grey son of Saint Des Saints.

It was not just the prospective premium offerings which proved in high demand - statistics were obliterated across the board in the event's 60th year - but a couple of those in Monday's card had entered rarely charted waters, with a £165,000 Kayf Tara and a £150,000 Mount Nelson both knocked down to Paul Nicholls and Tom Malone.

The Rathmore Stud-consigned individual (lot 193) was no consolation prize either, having attracted plenty of admiring glances walking around in the preliminaries. The first progeny of winning Martaline mare Nomad Attitude had already been through the ring as a foal, having been bought by Rathbarry Stud for €42,000.

"We tried for the Kayf Tara and were underbidders on the Mount Nelson but Paul was too strong," said Murphy.

"He's by a very good sire and he's a really nice type of horse."

It brought a decent sale to a close for Peter Molony's Rathmore.

"He was really athletic, we knew he would be popular and would sell well, but that was even better and the right people paid," he said.

Peter Molony's Rathmore Stud posted pleasing resultsCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

"We had a good couple of days, if you want to sell your horse, you'll sell them. We had 20 and most of them have gone."

It was an action-packed session for Murphy, who picked up the day's only other six-figure lot on behalf of his trainer son Olly.

The pair have been rewarded by the family already with a Kayf Tara brother to lot 295, Go Dante, looking a gilt-edged prospect in prominent owner Barbara Hester's pink silks. The siblings were bred in partnership by Goldford Stud's Sally Aston and Nicky Henderson, who trained the dam Whoops A Daisy.

Murphy said: "She was bought by Barbara Hester to go to Olly. We know the pedigree well as Olly trained [black-type earner] Angel Of Harlem and Go Dante, who hacked up in a bumper at Wincanton. She is also qualified for all the bonuses so should have plenty of races to go for."

Murphy later signed at £85,000 for the confidently-named I Am No Risk (226), a son of No Risk At All, for undisclosed connections.

He was consigned by Paul Thorman's Trickledown Stud but had been bought and prepped by former jockey Colin Tinkler, who pre-trains for the likes of Henderson in Lambourn and enjoys having the odd youngster of his own as a sideline.

"Tessa Greatrex was looking for foals at Arqana last November, she said there wasn't anything suitable for me but would I buy a two-year-old as she'd seen some nice ones," explained Tinkler.

"She rang me back about two hours later and said she'd got me a No Risk At All for €17,000. When I got him off the wagon I couldn't believe how well bought he was, I couldn't see anything wrong with him! He's got a lovely personality, eats, works, everything you want in a racehorse."

Earle excited with new acquisition

With every leading British trainer, at least, in attendance, the richest pickings were generally going to the most obvious names.

One of the outliers among the higher prices was Simon Earle, who has returned to his old stable in Sutton Veny, Wiltshire, in search of a fresh start. A lengthy Walk In The Park filly (172) consigned by Stephen Kemble and sold for £80,000 will join him there.

"She absolutely stood out, she's stunning," said Earle. "I looked at her four or five times trying to find fault with her and I couldn't at all. She's been bought for new, local owners, lovely people, and we're really excited.

"She'll tell us whether we run her after Christmas, in the spring, or not; we're prepared to wait a year and a half."

Earle continued: "We developed the yard from an old dairy farm and moved back there two years ago with hardly any horses at all. We had a terrible virus where we'd been before, it was something unique to the building, and horses and owners went away, but it came up for rent and I jumped at going in there.

"Our gallop is near to being completed and we're really excited for the coming season. It's been very tough but I hope we can really recover, build a business and get going."

Agent Aiden Murphy was busy throughout the day, signing for the top two lotsCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

Another grey threatened six figures at the end of the day, with Oak Tree Farm's Montmartre gelding (288) eventually heading the way of Ian Ferguson for £95,000.

"I can't usually afford the pedigrees," joked Ferguson, who won the National Hunt Chase with the ex-Gordon Elliott trainee Galvin. "We'll just get him back to Northern Ireland and see what happens."

Final figures

All told, 224 of 271 horses sold at a clip of 83 per cent, with the £7,191,500 aggregate being some 52 per cent up on the latest properly comparable renewal from 2019. The average of £32,105 was 21 per cent better, and 13 per cent higher than the previous record from 2017. The median of £27,000 was 29 per cent up on 2019 and also a new high.

"Just last month, we were saying what an incredible business this is after the success of the breeze-up sale and it’s happened again this week," said Goffs UK managing director Tim Kent.

"Following unprecedented vendor demand for places in this sale, which led to its expansion to two days, we were hopeful of a successful sale and we marketed this catalogue as arguably our strongest ever. That pre-sale stance made for a nervous few weeks in the build up to this sale and it is wonderful to have delivered on that hype and produced the best set of statistics in the sale’s 60-year history.

"Full credit has to go to our vendors – they have backed this sale and sent us some outstanding horses. From the moment we went out on inspections, it was clear that this sale could be something special and we are delighted to have delivered a strong buying bench who embraced the marked increase in quality and drove the market back to its rightful position as one of the premier National Hunt store sales of the year.

"For many years the very best stores were sold in Doncaster, and it's wonderful to be back at the top table where we belong."

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