Bowling Buddy heads trade at £58,000 as up-and-coming trainers and Tyson Fury's manager invest in Doncaster

Trainer Adam Nicol grabbed the headlines by transforming bargain buy Wise Eagle into a talented stayer on the Flat. After Tuesday’s Goffs UK October Sale the Northumberland-based handler can look forward to operating with an upgraded calibre of stock after going to £58,000 for the progressive hurdler Bowling Buddy. 

The six-year-old son of Ask won his last three starts for Olly Murphy, with clear-cut victories at Cartmel, Perth and Wetherby. He changed hands with an official rating of 124. 

“He’s a nice stamp of a horse and he looks like he’ll go on the softer ground,” said Nicol. “He looks like the type you could run at Cheltenham in a month’s time so we’ll kick on with him. The long-term plan is he’ll go chasing and hopefully he’ll be good enough to win some novice chases in the north. We might have a go in one of the better handicap hurdles in the meantime.” 

On the sales-topping price, Nicol added: “We probably paid a little bit more than we wanted to but I think the other lads bidding were in the same position as we were both going one more, one more. Thankfully we managed to get him. He’s been bought for a syndicate called Up4b, who have horses like Midnight Alnwicky and Economic Editor, but nothing in the class of this lad.

Bowling Buddy, seen scoring at Cartmel in the summer, has won his last three startsCredit: John Grossick

“We’re a small yard, we’ve only got 12 horses riding out up in Seahouses, and we’re just looking to get better stock. You need to keep getting new horses and trying to upgrade, and hopefully this lad can add to what we have.”

Bowling Buddy was making his second appearance in the Doncaster ring within five months. He previously sold to Murphy and his father, bloodstock agent Aiden Murphy, for £20,000 at the Spring Point-to-Point Sale back May following victory in a Bartlemy maiden point-to-point for handler Terence O'Brien. 

Sayer takes Rowley’s Highly Recommended

Another northern trainer to walk away from Doncaster with a promising new recruit was Dianne Sayer, who went to £38,000 on behalf of owner Mary Lewis for Highly Recommended from Philip Rowley’s Poplar Cottage Stables.

The five-year-old son of Highland Reel made four starts for the Rowley yard, and was last seen bolting up by 17 lengths in a novice hurdle around Ludlow. 

“He came highly recommended by Phil and I’ve bought him for my favourite owner, Mary Lewis, who’s 90,” said Sayer. “She’s been a breeder and a good supporter of National Hunt racing, so hopefully we’ll have a bit of luck for her. 

“Obviously his novice hurdle win was impressive and he looks a clean, efficient sort of a horse, and that’s what you’re looking for, something that will stay sound. There’s no immediate plans but I’ll call the owner and take it from there. I was hoping we might’ve got him for a bit less than that, that was actually a bid over my limit! We’ve bought him now though so we’ll try and make the best of him.” 

Highly Recommended was making his third appearance at public auction his most fruitful, having previously sold to George Mullins Bloodstock as a foal for 15,000gns before realising €25,000 to the bid of Highflyer at the Land Rover Sale in 2022. 

McGrath lands knockout blow on behalf of Fury's manager

Agent Jerry McGrath secured two lots for a combined £50,000 on behalf of Gold Star Promotions, the company run by Tyson Fury’s manager Spencer Brown. The pricier of the pair was Cossack Chach, a two-time winner for Joseph O’Brien who fetched £36,000 when offered by Jamie Railton. 

The four-year-old son of Churchill won a Killarney three-year-old maiden hurdle on his second outing and doubled his tally with his first win over fences at Sligo last time out. Both Gold Star Promotions purchases will head to trainer Jimmy Moffatt. 

“When I saw him this morning he stood out as one of the highlights of the day,” McGrath said of Cossack Chach. “I thought he looked like a good, fun, versatile horse with good Irish form. He’s a readymade horse and he’s a novice for the season, so he could go to some of the nicer meetings with a penalty and give his owners a bit of fun. 

“I thought he’d make more than How About No [£32,000] did earlier and we underbid him, but we knew this lad was coming up and we’d prefer to give a few more quid for him because he’s a bigger, scopier horse.” 

Cossack Chach, seen winning over hurdles at Killarney in 2023Credit: Patrick McCann

The other Gold Star Promotions signing was Sea The Clouds, a £14,000 buy from Jamie Snowden’s Folly House draft. The seven-year-old son of Born To Sea has won five times, including at Moffatt’s local track Cartmel. 

“These are his first jumpers,” Moffatt said as he expanded on his association with Brown. “Hopefully we’ve got a summer horse in Sea The Clouds, who I thought we stole at that price. Cossack Chach is more of a chasing type and hopefully we’ll have a bit of fun with him.” 

Asked if he was a boxing fan, Moffatt said: “Who hasn’t been impressed with Tyson Fury’s career? The trilogy he had [with Deontay Wilder] was amazing, and I’m definitely in the Fury camp for the upcoming Usyk fight.” 

Quinlan and Moore get involved

The other lots to go above the £30,000 mark were the aforementioned How About No, who brought £32,000 from trainer Lizzie Quinlan, and the £31,000 Siegen, who was knocked down to agent JD Moore. 

How About No won a 12-furlong Flat maiden for Joseph O’Brien and has been placed on all four starts over hurdles. He was last seen finishing third to Big Chou at Fairyhouse, an effort that earned a Racing Post Rating of 114. 

“His form is good enough to win a maiden hurdle over here and he looks ready to go,” said Quinlan. “We had some owners who were keen to get another horse. Unfortunately we lost one of the good ones in Getaway Luv. This isn’t to replace that horse because he’ll never be replaced, but we were looking for something to run at a similar level. 

“He looks like he’ll jump a fence too. He was the standout of the sale for me so I’m very happy to get him. That [price] was possibly slightly more than I would’ve expected him to cost but I really liked him. He looks fantastic so I’m excited to get him home and get going with him. He’ll run for the Fools Who Dream partnership, who already have City Derby with us. There’s a couple of other owners in the yard who’ll come in on him too.” 

The two-year-old Siegen ran seven times for Richard Hannon, winning a five-furlong Sandown novice event on his third start. The 250,000gns yearling buy is set to continue his career in Qatar. 

Lizzie Quinlan with Jamie Railton at Goffs UK on TuesdayCredit: Goffs UK

“He’s a nice horse with good form and he’s by an exciting sire in Blue Point,” said Moore. “He’ll probably go to Qatar for an existing client called HJ Racing. When you go to Newmarket next week [for the Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale], I think that price will end up looking cheap. We’ll send him to Hamad Al Jehani and hopefully he’ll help him to win another trainers' championship.” 

All told 135 lots were offered in Doncaster and 88 sold for a clearance rate of 65 per cent. Turnover rose by 23 per cent year-on-year to £737,500, while the average rose by six per cent to £8,380. The median went in the opposite direction by 20 points, falling from £5,000 to £4,000. 

Goffs UK’s managing direction Tim Kent said: “Today’s sale acted as an outlet for trainers and yearling vendors to trade stock at all levels of the market and whilst we are satisfied with the level of trade, we are aware that we need to do something to encourage more vendors to sell a greater number of horses at this sale.

“The October Sale provides a convenient and timely option for those looking to disperse stock and Doncaster never fails to deliver a diverse and busy buying bench, especially when we are given the horses. Indeed, Doncaster is a proven, world class horses-in-training venue, as demonstrated yet again at our Summer Sale in July where we set a new world-record price for a National Hunt horse-in-training with Regent’s Stroll selling for £660,000. So, we repeat our cry that we are here, we are ready, but we need the horses.

“That said, we would like to thank those that supported today’s sale and we look forward to returning to Doncaster at the end of next week to offer an outstanding catalogue of National Hunt foals, yearlings and breeding stock in our British National Hunt Breeders Showcase.”

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