Stores back in focus as sales season returns to Tattersalls Ireland

Tattersalls Ireland returns to centre stage this week as it stages its May Store Sale on Tuesday with National Hunt youngsters by premier sires such as Yeats, Leading Light, Shirocco, Notnowcato and Dylan Thomas stepping into the ring.

A new adjustment to the company's longstanding store sale format, the one-day event proved to be a success in 2018 with €2.2 million spent and a son of Fame And Glory going for a top price of €65,000.

Some 221 lots were offered with a clearance rate of 76 per cent at the inaugural May Store Sale and figures-wise it looks like being something similar in 2019 with a catalogue of 230.

Tattersalls Ireland CEO Matt Mitchell has high hopes for a successful sale again.

"The indications from canvassing the opinions of people who would be potential customers has been good, the reaction has been very positive from both Ireland and the UK as well," he said. "If we can get a solid trade with a good clearance rate we would be happy enough.

"We haven’t pulled them out or anything yet as numbers are just coming at us and it would be unfair to identify any individual types but they definitely look like a nice crop at the moment.

"I’d say we would lose the guts of about ten per cent to withdrawals and normally that would be the case."

Although the 2018 sale proved to be pretty fruitful, Mitchell can see them go even better this year.

"There are plenty of good types in there, we are obviously vetting at the moment and certainly from what I can see with the horses being presented, the standard has improved substantially from last year, so based on that we would be optimistic that trade would be good," he said.

View Tattersalls Ireland May Store Stale catalogue here

Shirocco, who won six Group races in five different countries as well as being the sire of Champion Hurdle winner Annie Power, now has his first crop of Irish National Hunt four-year-olds, following his transfer from Dalham Hall to Glenview Stud.

He could stand out as a sire here as he heads up ten offerings, the second of which, Coolcormack Stud’s lot 4, had a recent page update through Heron Heights, winner of the Pat Taaffe Chase at Punchestown. Heron Heights, along with one-time Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Take The Stand, appear under the third dam of the daughter of Ariels Serenade, who has also produced the useful but ill-fated Ballyarthur.

There are two up for grabs by last season’s British and Irish champion sire, Flemensfirth. The only living foal of Tigridia (220), consigned by Glenwood Stud, is closely related to Grade 1 chaser Strong Promise. Galbertstown Stud’s filly (222), whose dam is out of a half-sister to the great Master Oats, had a little boost with half-brother Tricky Present winning over jumps in America.

The sale gets underway at 10.30am.

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