'He's beautiful and uncomplicated' - Doyle leads the way with £125,000 No Risk At All gelding

Four six-figure lots headed the market on the second and final day of the Goffs UK Spring Store Sale in Doncaster on Tuesday, when no one made a bigger impact than the Doyle family’s Monbeg Stables. 

Leading point-to-point handler Donnchadh Doyle secured the top lot late in the day when going to £125,000 for a well-related son of No Risk At All from Moanmore Stables. The three-year-old is out of Grey Owl, a daughter of Hurricane Cat from the family of Stormy Ireland, Stormy River and Silverwave. 

Doyle has already enjoyed significant success with the offspring of No Risk At All, including when he prepped Jalon D'Oudairies to win a Lingstown maiden before being sold on to Gordon Elliott for £420,000 at the Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival Sale. 

“I’ve been very lucky with the No Risk At Alls, I had two of them this year and they both won well and sold well so I was on the lookout for another,” said Doyle. “He's a gorgeous big horse and I loved his attitude over the last two days. He’s just got on with the job. 

“It’s a big commitment but what can you do? You have to pay for them if you want them. The likes of this horse, if he does something in a point-to-point he’ll be easily sold because everyone wants a big fine horse by a popular sire.” 

With store season hitting full stride Doyle and his fellow point-to-point handlers are entering a busy phase of the season. On that topic, he added: “We start off with 30 to 40 each year and we’ve had a good clearout so we need to keep going with the buying. It’s a busy time of year and you have to do your homework to make sure you’re getting the right ones but we’re excited for it all anyway.”

Monbeg Stables topped the buyers’ chart with 14 purchases fetching a combined £529,000. 

Explaining how he unearthed the session-topping youngster, who was making his first public auction appearance, Moanmore Stables’ Peter Vaughan said: “I bought him privately as a foal in France. He was the same then as he is today, he’s always been a very nice horse. He’s beautiful and uncomplicated and those ones are always an easy sell. The stallion is unbelievable too.” 

Expanding on his French pinhooking missions, Vaughan added: “I go about four days a month every month during the winter and once the sales are over in Ireland. It’s nice having the anticipation of what you may or may not see and it’s great when you stumble upon something you like.” 

The two-day Spring Store Sale concluded with turnover of £6,041,300, which was down 16 per cent year on year. The average price dipped by seven per cent at £29,325 and the median was clipped in by eight points at £23,000. The clearance rate was 81 per cent as 206 of 254 offered lots found a buyer. 

Bromley bags his standout

For much of the day the market was led by the Walk In The Park gelding out of Browngirlinthering who fetched £115,000 when presented by Norman Williamson’s Oak Tree Farm. Highflyer Bloodstock’s Anthony Bromley saw off Mags O’Toole to seal the deal. 

“He was the standout horse in today’s session, in my view,” said Bromley. “He’s by a top sire, he’s a beautiful model, very athletic and obviously very well turned out by Norman Williamson, as always. I bought him for John Hales to go to Dan Skelton.” 

The Walk In The Park gelding out of Browngirlinthering sells to Highflyer Bloodstock for £115,000Credit: Sarah Farnsworth

The gelding, who is out of a Touch Of Land half-sister to the Listed-winning hurdler She Ranks Me, was making his second appearance at public auction having been pinhooked for €30,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale in 2020. 

Malone plays the waiting game

One of the more eye-catching pages belonged to the Doctor Dino half-sister to Finale Juvenile Hurdle hero Quel Destin. That Grade 1-winning talent was sourced for Paul Nicholls by Tom Malone, and the agent also went to £105,000 to secure the sibling on behalf of the same trainer late in the day. 

“We’ve waited all day for her because we had the brother, Quel Destin, down at Paul’s and he won umpteen juvenile hurdles for us,” said Malone, who added that ownership plans were still to be decided. “He was a proper hard-knocking horse. She’s a lot taller than he was, although they’ve probably got the same sort of strength. Hopefully she’s as good.” 

The well-bred filly was offered by Peter Nolan Bloodstock. 

Doyle a one-bid wonder

It took Donnchadh Doyle just one bid to secure Park Farm’s well-bred son of Walk In The Park, with the Monbeg Stables man rather frightening the opposition off with an opening play of £100,000. 

The strapping three-year-old boasts a big pedigree as he is the fourth foal out of Windermere Sky, an unraced Oscar sister to Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Lord Windermere. The mare’s other siblings include dual Grade 2 scorer Sub Lieutenant and the dam of Reynoldstown Novices' Chase winner Oscar Elite

“He’s a lovely horse and we’ve been lucky with the vendor before,” said Doyle. “We’ve bought a couple of Walk In The Parks off him before that worked out. I thought he ticked all the boxes and stood out a mile here. He’s a gorgeous big horse with a great step. Hopefully he’ll go on and be lucky for us.” 

Doyle’s past buys from Park Farm include Mt Fugi Park, a £65,000 store who was resold to Matt Coleman and Jonjo O’Neill for £290,000 after a striking debut success at Belharbour. 

There was slightly less profit in the sale of the Walk In The Park on Tuesday as the youngster had been pinhooked by Richard Collins at €85,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale in 2021. 

Collins, who is based near Sedgefield and has raced the likes of Waiting Patiently, offered a sanguine assessment of the transaction, saying: “That was alright, wasn’t it? I’m happy enough with that result. I’d have liked a bit more but you’ve got to value them in the ring. I bought him as a yearling for €85,000 and took £100,000 today so I’m on the right side. He’s a lovely horse. I normally buy them as foals but it was during the Covid year so I had to buy him as a yearling.” 

The other offspring of Walk In The Park to figure in the top six prices of the day was the filly closely related to Douvan and Jonbon who fetched £70,000 from Ian Ferguson. Consigned by Davy Russell’s White Barn Farming, the youngster is a half-sister to Star Face, dam of the multiple Grade 1-winning siblings Douvan and Jonbon, both of whom are by Walk In The Park.

“She’s going to Philip McBurney’s,” said Ferguson. “She’ll be broken in and then depending on what the filly tells them she’ll either go pointing or she'll go to the racecourse. Gerald Quinn has the license and he’s been very successful so far.” 

Walk In The Park had six lots sell over the two days for an aggregate of £450,000 and a median of £82,500. 

Another Authorized for Moore

David Phelan and Hamish Macauley clashed over  the Authorized gelding out of Forever Present. After a protracted bidding duel it was the former party who won out at £85,000. The three-year-old, whose granddam is a half-sister to none other than Best Mate, was consigned by Goldford Stud. 

The Authorized gelding out of Forever Present takes his turn around the Goffs UK sales ringCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

“I’ll take him home to break him and then he’ll go into training with Gary Moore,” said Phelan. “We’ve bought him on spec so we don’t have an owner for him yet but Authorized has been lucky for us. Hopefully this horse can be lucky too. He comes from a great home and looks a million dollars so he ticks all the boxes. There’s a lot of his damsire Presenting in him.” 

Snowden on the hunt

Jamie Snowden, working in tandem with Tom Malone, has been among the busier trainers at this year’s Spring Store Sale and added another recruit to his ranks when going to £67,000 for Fenloe House’s son of Kingston Hill. 

The three-year-old is out of First Act, a King’s Theatre half-sister to Christmas Hurdle scorer Darlan. The dam has bred one winner from one runner, with Granny Lowrie also reaching the frame in a Grade 2 novice chase. 

“He’s a proper horse and I thought he was the standout individual here today,” said Snowden. “He’s been bought on spec.” 

Snowden has also been accompanied in Doncaster by Jordan Wylie MBE, an adventurer, author and part of the elite team of hunters on Channel 4’s Hunted. 

Explaining how the association began, Snowden said: “Jordan is my old corporal from the army. He’s left the army now but has fought pirates off the coast of Somalia, written books, built schools and was on Hunted and now he’s getting heavily into racing, which is really cool. 

"There’s a team of guys and we’re putting a team of horses together. He’s involved in The Cherry Pickers, which is a syndicate that I set up from my old regiment. Now he’s got a group of friends together and they’re setting up their own partnerships.” 

Wylie’s acquisitions include a £40,000 Jack Hobbs filly from Lulham Bloodstock and the £85,000 son of Kamsin sourced from Brown Island Stables on day one. 

At the close of trade, Goffs UK’s managing director Tim Kent commented: “A record top price and a record-equalling number of six-figure prices are the obvious headline stories of the last two days but the moment we will all remember for years to come is the outstanding £210,000 achieved for Goldford Stud’s Blue Bresil filly during yesterday’s session. 

“This was a new British record for a store, and it was a wonderful result for the Aston family given the sad passing of Richard just a few weeks ago. They have enjoyed incredible success at this sale over the years and they have topped the sale on 11 occasions, so it was a fitting tribute to Richard that they broke the record once again in Doncaster.

“Away from the top of the market, trade has been a little more selective but vendors have been realistic with their expectations which has helped to contribute to a very respectable clearance rate of 81 per cent. Along with the launch of our new £100,000 Spring Sale Bumper in March, which is now the world’s richest bumper, it has been another successful chapter for the Doncaster Spring Store Sale and we look forward to continuing the action tomorrow as we kick off the Spring HIT/PTP Sale from 10am.”

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'We had help from above the ring as well' - high emotion as Blue Bresil filly sets British record at £210,000