'He's a quality horse' - Jonjo O'Neill makes his mark with £270,000 Saint Davy

Small but select would perfectly encapsulate action for Thursday’s Goffs UK December PTP Sale at Yorton Farm, where 16 young jump prospects were auctioned for an average which got pretty close to £100,000.

What will have also encouraged the organisers, and the winter sport in general, was the depth in those prepared to stick their hands up, with Jonjo O’Neill to receive the £270,000 top lot Saint Davy and the likes of Neil King, Nicky Richards and Neil Mulholland also set to train big sellers.

Matt Coleman, acting on behalf of O’Neill, left it late to register a bid on Donnchadh Doyle’s Quakerstown point winner Saint Davy, a French-bred with classic bay looks, sweeping in from one corner of the near arena to deprive a determined David Minton as he approached the quarter of a million mark.

"He was bought with Jonjo snr and jnr, he just was very impressive in his point-to-point, a real quality horse who can still improve a lot physically. The time was ten seconds quicker than the five-year-olds’ race on the card and he never came off the bridle," said Coleman, who explained he had had several notable near-misses.

Matt Coleman signs the docket for Saint Davy at £270,000 at the Goffs UK December PTP SaleCredit: JTW Equine Images/Goffs UK

"We’re just trying to up the quality in Jonjo’s yard and trying to buy some of these smart horses. We were underbidder on Bravemansgame and on Shishkin, so we’re just trying to be a bit braver and not be underbidders! He was the horse we targeted for today so we’re just pleased to buy him."

O’Neill added to his haul by signing for Crebilly, placed in one start at Kirkistown, for £100,000.

Minton bounces back

The Highflyer agent only had to wait a few lots to get back into business with Invictus Smart, a three-year-old by Yorton resident Masterstroke who had only made his racecourse debut at the start of the week by winning over hurdles at Fontainebleau for trainer Hugo Merienne. Knocked down for £200,000, he was for Robert Waley-Cohen.

"We just loved the horse, to do what he did on the Monday and come out here - he looked fantastic," said Minton. "He’ll make a lovely horse next year and he might not run again this season - maybe in the spring - but he could build up a bit. I’m very keen on the stallion, my own mares are in foal to Masterstroke."

Waley-Cohen elaborated: "I love that stamp of horse and I’m going to send him down to Neil Mulholland. I’m trying to bred them but sometimes you’ve got to top it up with something you fall in love with."

Coleman partnered with Neil King for Sean Doyle’s shrewd recruit Lookaway, a son of Ask from the family of fine chaser Young Snugfit who won a Kildorrery maiden. It was a handsome profit on the €6,200 he fetched as a store last year.

The Wiltshire trainer explained that the £170,000 purchase was for his owner Peter Beadles, and would be by some way the priciest sale recruit to enter his yard.

"We’ve been looking for a long time for a proper Saturday horse for him, he’s been a good owner to me and we’re trying to up the game," he said. I loved him as an individual, a big scopey horse who won his point very well."

All told, six horses breached the six-figure mark, with Gavin Cromwell selecting Colin Bowe’s handsome Kayf Tara gelding Champagne Town at £180,000 for an existing client while Peter Molony, fresh from the mares' sale in Newmarket, came in for Donnchadh Doyle’s Walk In The Park filly Aubis Walk, another Quakerstown winner, for £120,000.

"She has been bought to go to Nicky Richards and a campaign in the north of England," said Molony, who explained she was for an owner who had been involved at Greystoke in the past. "The plan would be to give her a couple of runs over hurdles in the spring and go chasing next season certainly looking at her shape, as she’s a big powerful girl."

No budging from Barney

Anthony Barney, an owner of holiday parks who had caused intrigue when underbidder on the record-setting Jonbon here 12 months ago, returned this time as a vendor. Barney had bought several promising pointers and put them into the colours of RaceCrowd, a 'micro-share' ownership scheme that he had been involved in setting up but only lasted for a few months.

However, the winning bumper and hurdler Bold Endeavour and smart-looking bumper mare Wheres Maud Gone were led away unsold at £210,000 and £100,000 respectively and will return to the care of Laura Morgan.

"We’ll just rethink the position and decide what we’re going to do but they’re in safe hands with Laura," Barney explained. "Bold Endeavour is a very exciting horse and will go on and win good races. We’re happy, we had a reserve on them and if they didn’t make that then they weren’t for sale.

"Sadly [RaceCrowd] it's not going to continue, and just so everyone’s clear, anyone who bought any sort of membership in RaceCrowd, everyone has been fully refunded."

Final figures

All told, 16 of the 19 horses offered ended up being sold for an aggregate £1,501,000, coming in at an impressive average of £93,813 and a median of £70,000.

Goffs UK managing director Tim Kent said: "The Yorton P2P Sales started last year when Covid restrictions made it impossible to sell elsewhere and these sales could not have made a better start on the racecourse with 29 winners to date, including the Grade 1-winning Ahoy Senor, the Grade 1-placed My Mate Mozzie and the exciting joint sale toppers Jonbon and Classic Getaway.

“This quality of the Yorton offering was not lost on buyers today and we are delighted with the results that were achieved by an incredible bunch of vendors who loyally supported us with some of their best recent winners.

"There have been some fantastic pinhooking results and, whilst we would have liked to have catalogued a few more horses, the unseasonably dry ground conditions have reduced the number of top-class horses available at this time of year. On that basis, we are delighted with the results, and we look forward to continuing to build this concept in 2022 and beyond.

“As ever, we would like to thank the Futter and Potter families for welcoming us back to this wonderful venue and we are excited about continuing the fantastic role of honour from the Goffs UK P2P Sales.”

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