'He’s just kept improving and improving' - Nicholls and Malone take aim at £165,000 Ioupy Collonges

Offerings from some high-profile dispersals headed the market on the second and final day of Goffs UK’s Spring Horses in Training and Point-to-Point Sale in Doncaster on Thursday, where the top lot drew a bid of £165,000. 

The progressive Ioupy Collonges has been a real flagbearer for the Million In Mind Partnership during the latest National Hunt season, with the son of Kitkou winning three times. The five-year-old duly flew the flag for the partnership’s annual dispersal too when bringing the biggest price of the day. 

Ben Bromley, son of leading agent Anthony Bromley, who manages the Million In Mind Partnership with David Minton, had been in the saddle when Ioupy Collonges won a Hereford bumper and hurdle races at Chepstow and Exeter. The latter of those efforts was a career best and earned the improving youngster a Racing Post Rating (RPR) of 122. 

The session-topper was consigned by Paul Nicholls’ Manor Farm Stables and the 14-time champion trainer, standing with agent Tom Malone, clashed with Tessa Greatrex, stationed besides Ben Pauling, once the bidding reached the business end. 

Paul Nicholls: "I know him enough now to see the improvement in him"Credit: Sarah Farnsworth

After a string of £5,000 increases Greatex tried to seal the deal by forcing the price from £140,000 to £150,000. However, normal service was resumed when Malone immediately flashed five digits in the auctioneer’s direction. After another exchange of minimum increases pushed the price to £165,000 the gavel fell in favour of the Malone and Nicholls axis.  

“I wasn’t going to let anyone else have him, basically because he’s got huge potential,” said Nicholls. “He’s just kept improving and improving. He’s only a five-year-old and he’s a chaser in the making. There’s no comparison with the point-to-pointers that were making that money yesterday because he’s already won three races and I know him enough now to see the improvement in him. 

“He’s for sale as I’ve bought him on spec but we’ll sell him in the summer. He’s a horse with loads of improvement to come, he’s beautiful too. He’ll go straight out in the field tomorrow and then go novice chasing in the autumn.” 

Ioupy Collonges has been to the sales on three previous occasions, bringing €36,000 from Dick Frisby as a foal, €40,000 from Kent Ashmore as a store and 60,000gns from Bromley following two placed efforts in Irish point-to-points for Mick Goff. 

“He’s only a baby still and he just kept progressing last year,” continued Nicholls. “Because he’s only five he can only improve physically too. Who knows, he could be anything. It’s very hard to find horses with his kind of ability and that’s why I said to Tom that we can’t let him go. He won’t be difficult to sell.” 

The annual Million In Mind dispersal has compiled a significant roll of honour, with the likes of Le Prezien, Uxizandre and Voy Por Ustedes having sold out of the draft. Ioupy Collonges was by some way the leading light of this year’s bunch, with five lots generating receipts worth £252,000. 

Ioupy Collonges: three-time winner is hammered down to Tom Malone and Paul Nicholls for £165,000Credit: Sarah Farnsworth

Bromley reflected on the dispersal by saying: “Goffs UK have done it again for us and we’ve had another good sale. Ioupy Collonges was our flagbearer during the season. I did just joke with my son, Ben, that he may not be getting the ride back, but you never know! 

“He’s given us and everyone involved with the syndicate a lot of pleasure over the winter. I was hopeful he was going to sell well but I was excited to get that sort of price. We’ve had good success in the sales ring before and sold on Graded winners and this horse will make a helluva chaser. He’s a lovely, scopey horse.” 

When asked whether he had already purchased any new recruits for this season’s syndicate, Bromley said: “I’m still doing some work on that. I wanted to wait and see how this sale went and now we know what sort of money I’ve got to spend. We didn’t have an abundance of riches this time but it was a solid trade.” 

The two-day Spring Horses in Training and Point-to-Point Sale concluded with the key market indices showing some healthy year-on-year gains. Turnover was up fully 25 per cent at £8,923,450, while the average rose by nine per cent to £23,545 and the median went up by eight points to £14,000. The clearance rate was a notably solid 88 per cent as 379 lots sold from 432 offered. 

Bromley switches role 

Bromley went from seller to buyer a short while later when he gave £100,000 for the promising Great Snow, who was offered by The Hollies as part of the partial dispersal of stock belonging to owner Dai Walters. 

The six-year-old won one of her eight starts for Walters and Neil Mulholland, with victory coming in a Ludlow maiden hurdle. The daughter of Great Pretender also boasts black type having finished third in a Grade 2 hurdle at Newbury, and her appeal is underpinned by an improving pedigree.

She is out of Snow Berry, making her a half-sister to Gabriel Leenders’ Listed-winning three-year-old Funny Berry, while the dam’s siblings include Le Berry, winner of the Grade 1 Prix Maurice Gillois, the Grade 3-winning Berryville and the Grade 3-placed Dream Berry. 

Great Snow is given a reassuring pat before heading into the sales ring at DoncasterCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

The attractive grey is set to carry a set of colours that have become increasingly familiar on the Flat, as Bromley explained, saying: “This is the first horse I’ve bought for Opulence Thoroughbreds and this is their first venture with a jumps horse. 

"I had my eye on this mare as soon as I’d learned about the part-dispersal. We’ve been looking on and off during the winter for a nice mare with racing potential and a good pedigree. 

“She's a lovely looking mare too. This was one of our picks of the sale. She’ll go novice chasing and she’s going to join Harry Fry.” 

Great Snow was making her second appearance at the sales, having been bought by Bromley’s Highflyer colleague Minton for €12,000 at Arqana in August 2018. 

O’Neill and Astbury plunder Walters dispersal 

Walters’ partial dispersal also produced the third- and fourth-top lots, with the former going Jonjo O’Neill’s way at £70,000. The horse in question is the five-year-old Tzarmix, a son of Gemix who was last seen winning a Chepstow novice hurdle for trainer Sam Thomas. 

“His form is good and he’s a nice horse,” said O’Neill. “We’ll stick him in the field now and he’s a readymade runner for next season, which is what we were after.” 

When asked if he felt that price represented a bit of value, O’Neill smiled and said “That remains to be seen!”

Tzarmix, who is out of the Listed-winning hurdler Tzarine De La Mone, a daughter of the unheralded Tzar Rodney, was changing hands at public auction for the second time, having previously brought €26,000 from Richard Venn and Yorton Farm at the Osarus Maisons-Laffitte Sale in October 2019. 

There was also a French connection with La Pagerie, who went the way of Dan Astbury at £62,000. The six-year-old daughter of Khalkevi remains a maiden after four starts for Walters and Mulholland but is backed up by a big pedigree, as she is half-sister to dual Liverpool Hurdle hero Whisper and his Listed-winning sister Chuchoteuse. 

Another sibling, Mexcala, is the dam of the progressive seven-year-old Gex, who has won two Grade 2s at Auteuil and was last seen finishing runner-up in the Grade 1 Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris on Sunday. Gex is owned in partnership by Lord Daresbury, father of Astbury’s client Ollie Greenall, and Jacques Cypres, and the agent explained his purchase had been made on behalf of the latter party. 

“She’s going to France, but I’m not sure if she’s going to race on or go straight to stud,” said Astbury. “Ollie Greenall’s father [Lord Daresbury] owns Gex, and this mare has been bought by Gex’s breeders, the Cypres family of Haras de Cercy.” 

The Cypres are among the best National Hunt breeders in France and stand ten stallions under their Haras de Cercy banner, including the likes of Cokoriko and major talking horse Jeu St Eloi. 

The Walters dispersal lots, all 25 of which were offered without reserve, sold for an aggregate of £518,500, 19 per cent of turnover on Thursday, and at an average of £20,740. 

The other lot to go above the £50,000 mark was Scipion, a two-time winner for Tom Lacey who fetched a bid of £56,000 from Kevin Jardine. The owner said of the 132-rated chaser: “He’s a nice chasing type off a handy mark. There's a race at Perth, the Perth Gold Cup, and he looks an ideal type for that. 

“He’ll go to Stuart Coltherd, who’ll ride him away for a few days and see how he is but hopefully we’ll go straight to Perth. He’s a proven horse rated in the 130s and looks ideal for those races up in Scotland like the Perth Gold Cup, where there's usually only four or five runners.” 

A busy paddock at the Doncaster sales complexCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

The seven-year-old son of Shantou is set to race in a partnership consisting of Jardine and Roger Griffiths. Scipion has been something of a sales regular down the years, having first sold as a foal when making €27,000 to George Frisby before Ed Bailey signed the €65,000 docket at the Derby Sale three years later. 

He was also offered under the Tattersalls Cheltenham banner by Colin Bowe but was retained at £80,000. Lacey then presented the horse at last year’s Spring Sale but kept hold of his charge when the bidding again reached £80,000. 

Kent 'incredibly proud' of figures

In his end-of-sale statement, Goffs UK’s managing director Tim Kent said: “We are always aware that vendors have a choice, and these options have never been greater within the National Hunt sector but, once again, the Goffs UK Spring Sale has proved to be the very best National Hunt sale held every May with both sections comfortably outperforming all others.  

“Yesterday’s point-to-point day saw a top price of £215,000, which comfortably surpassed the competition, and our 15 six-figure transactions stand the closest scrutiny and is something of which we are incredibly proud.

“These astounding results followed two fantastic days at the store section of the Spring Sale, which saw a record top price of £215,000 and five horses selling for £100,000 or more. Of particular note was seeing the point-to-point boys making their impact felt, with Monbeg Stables finishing as the leading buyer, while Milestone Bloodstock secured a total of 13 horses. These results directly challenge the myth that the point-to-point boys do not buy in Doncaster."

Goffs UK managing director Tim Kent was delighted with trade across the four daysCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

He continued: “Today’s sale has been the venue of choice for many of the leading sellers and a top price of £165,000 for Million In Mind was a fine advertisement for the syndicate that is expertly managed by David Minton and Anthony Bromley. As ever, we are extremely grateful to them for choosing this sale to disperse their horses, whilst the same must be said of Dai Walters and his team who sold 25 horses and achieved a top price of £100,000. 

“Whilst we are grateful to every vendor who has sold with us over the last four days, a special mention must also be made of Dan Skelton and Gordon Elliott, who both sold large numbers in today’s session and have achieved a wide array of prices when selling to a diverse buying bench from across the National Hunt world.

“We can therefore look back on a fantastic four days in Doncaster, where a wonderful atmosphere extended from start to finish and again highlighted the enduring popularity of this end-of-season finale. A packed sales ring has witnessed some frantic bidding at every level of the market, and we look forward to seeing the next Corach Rambler, Constitution Hill, Good Land or You Wear It Well on the racecourse later this year.”

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