Gordon Elliott doubles up at Cheltenham as January Sale top lots head to Ireland

Fitzgerald a January Sale fan

There were some mixed feelings as to the need for the January Sale to make a return to the calendar, but one vendor who was a fan was Aidan Fitzgerald of Cobajay Stables, who sold the Kayf Tara mare Nada To Prada to Tom Malone and Michael Scudamore for £65,000.

"I think it's a great initiative,” Fitzgerald said of the January Sale. “It works very well and, whatever it is, people just love buying horses at Cheltenham - it is the home of National Hunt racing after all."

It stands to reason that Fitzgerald would be among the January Sale’s fans, having seen Nada To Prada, winner of a Ballindenisk mares maiden, show a handsome upgrade on her €8,500 store sale price.

Fitzgerald said: "She came from the May Sale. She was a lovely individual then, a fine big mare and a great walker. She had loads of presence.

"I'm delighted she's been bought by [owners] Lynne and Angus Maclennan, they’ve bought a lot of horses from us and have had a lot of success with horses like Court Master and Rosie And Millie.

A moment of spontaneity for Brooks

Andrew Brooks enjoyed an afternoon to remember at Prestbury Park as he saw Simply The Betts carry his colours to victory in the Timeform Novices' Handicap Chase.

And the owner was also among a sizeable crowd who dropped in on the January Sale after racing, and added to his string when going to £50,000 for Give Us A Swig early in the session.

"I actually went down to look at lot number one, but then saw lot number two, and Sean [Tiernan, racing manager] and I agreed we prefered him," said Brooks. "It was as spontaneous as that - he just had that bit of presence about him."

Tiernan added: "We had a little bit of info on him too as I know the person who had him in Ireland, Richard Downes, who also sold Summerville Boy."

Simply The Betts carries the colours of Kate and Andrew Brooks to victoryCredit: Alan Crowhurst

An open maiden winner at Alnwick earlier in the month, Give Us A Swig was consigned by Tom Ellis under the G and T Racing banner.

The five-year-old son of Trans Island was making his third sales ring appearance, having been bought by Downes for €6,000 at Fairyhouse in November 2015, before he went unsold at €14,500 at the August National Hunt Sale three years later.

Brooks has horses in training with the likes of Warren Greatrex, Olly Murphy, Venetia Williams and Simply The Betts' handler Harry Whittington, but when asked about who would take charge of Give Us A Swig, he said: "They're all standing behind me at the moment so I better not say!"

The short, sharp session of selling saw 13 of 15 offered lots change hands for a clearance rate of 87 per cent, which in turn brought an aggregate of £802,000, an average of £61,690 and a median of £55,000.