Caldwell Potter heading to Paul Nicholls after smashing National Hunt auction record at €740,000

A tectonic plate shifted beneath the National Hunt landscape on Monday afternoon as Andy and Gemma Brown exited the sport with the sale of their entire jumps string. 

The unprecedented dispersal saw 29 lots offered without reserve at Tattersalls Ireland, including the highly promising Caldwell Potter. The Grade 1 winner and leading Cheltenham Festival contender duly sent shockwaves around the racing world when he was knocked down to Anthony Bromley of Highflyer Bloodstock at €740,000. 

Trainer Gordon Elliott filled the role of crestfallen underbidder, and his loss was revealed to be Paul Nicholls' gain as Caldwell Potter was secured on behalf of a group consisting of Sir Alex Ferguson, John Hales, Ged Mason and Peter Done.

There was an almost eerie silence as auctioneer Simon Kerins scanned the packed auditorium looking for an opening bid. After a long wait, Martin Tedham, standing besides Jonjo O’Neill, eventually obliged and kicked off proceedings at €100,000. Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning rider Bryan Cooper joined in and before long the price was at half a million euros. 

At that point Elliott, positioned next to the bid board on the top deck, joined the fray with a €25,000 increase. That raise was matched by Bromley, who was standing at the opposite side of the auditorium. At €650,000 the gavel was raised before someone let out a whistle to indicate Elliott had another €25,000 hand to play. 

After a brief moment of confusion over the size of Elliott’s increase, it was Bromley who held the aces at €700,000. Elliott had an intense-looking caucus with Eddie O’Leary and Aidan ‘Mouse’ O’Ryan, at which point Kerins broke the tension by saying: “I’ve got loads of time. Where else would I be on a bank holiday Monday?” 

After the lengthy deliberation Elliott mustered a final €20,000 raise. However, Bromley wasted no time in returning fire, prompting Elliott to shake his head before pulling his cap over his face as the hammer fell. 

“My heart rate was pretty sky high when El Fabiolo was jumping his fences at the Dublin Racing Festival, but that was even more nerve-racking,” said Bromley, who is also racing manager to Simon Munir and Isaac Souede alongside his bloodstock agent duties. 

“I’ve bought him for some great, longstanding clients in John Hales, Ged Mason, Sir Alex Ferguson and Peter Done. Three of those were in Hermes Allen, who we lost at the weekend. 

“It’s great that John and the team have shown faith in me, although we go back a long way, particularly with John. We go back to the days of Azertyuiop, Neptune Collonges and Politologue. 

"This team of four owners have a lovely juvenile at the moment called Kalif Du Berlais, who won very well at Kempton. This horse will go to Paul Nicholls, who obviously lost Hermes Allen at the weekend.” 

When the strapping grey Caldwell Potter was last seen in public he was winning the Grade 1 Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown on December 27. 

That six-and-a-half length success over Predators Gold means he is as short as 10-1 for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle that kicks off the Cheltenham Festival, and as low as 9-1 for the Baring Bingham Novices' Hurdle. However, Bromley stressed this was very much a long-term play. 

“He’s a standout,” he said of the six-year-old son of Martaline. “I loved him as a youngster, I absolutely adored him at the store sales but didn’t have enough money for him at that time. I’ve watched his career closely and he’s been winning only over two miles yet looks like a stayer. 

"He could be a Gold Cup horse of the future as he’s got a heck of a pedigree. He’s been bought to be a steeplechaser of the future. It’s not all about the Cheltenham Festival. Changing trainer with four weeks to go isn’t ideal, but he’s been bought with a view to the long term.” 

He added: “I don’t feel good about taking the horse away from Gordon Elliott, but it’s a genuine sale. I don’t feel great about that side of it and I know he was trying so hard to keep the horse, but that’s the world we're in.” 

Caldwell Potter is trotted up by Helen Peppard amid inspections at Tattersalls Ireland on MondayCredit: Morgan Treacy

Caldwell Potter’s price had been the subject of much discussion before the sale. When asked what kind of figure he had put on the horse, Bromley simply said: “He was never going to be easy to buy, was he?” 

Plenty among the sizeable crowd in Fairyhouse noted the unique nature of the dispersal, although for his part Bromley said the event called to mind a sale he attended in Doncaster back in May 1993. 

In a neat piece of symmetry, Hales also purchased a dashing grey at that sale too, albeit for 68,000gns rather than the six-figure sum required on Monday.

“Many many moons ago there was the Arthur Stephenson sale,” said Bromley. “That was a long time ago and I was the tea boy for Minty [David Minton]. That was a big sale in Doncaster and that’s where John Hales bought One Man, although not through us. 

"That was a day like this, with a packed-out sales ring. This is a heck of an event. Horses like this are such a rare commodity and they just do not come on the market.”

Caldwell Potter’s new owners can not only look forward to racing one of the most promising young jumpers around, but one of the most blue-blooded too. 

Bred in France by Francois-Marie Cottin, Caldwell Potter is the fourth foal out of the brilliant broodmare Matnie. This makes him a sibling to fellow black-type winners French Dynamite, Indiana Jones and the ill-fated Mighty Potter. 

His younger half-sister is Brighterdaysahead, who is unbeaten in four starts for Elliott and Gigginstown House Stud. The latest of those victories came in the Grade 3 Feathard Lady Mares Novice Hurdle. 

Caldwell Potter was making his second appearance at public auction, having previously fetched €200,000 from Joey Logan, the Browns’ racing and bloodstock manager, at the 2021 Goffs Land Rover Sale, where he was sold by Walter Connors’ Sluggara Farm. 

His price on Monday eclipsed the previous National Hunt public auction record of £620,000 (€725,000) that Darren Yates paid for Interconnected at Goffs UK in Doncaster in May 2019.

In a relatively short space of time, the Browns became one of the most significant new owners in jumps racing. Advised by Logan, they had invested heavily and wisely, and their red and white silks have already been carried to a slew of notable successes. 

Caldwell Potter in the ring and in the spotlight on MondayCredit: Tattersalls Ireland

Caldwell Potter was not their first Grade 1 winner. His star-crossed sibling Mighty Potter also won four top-flight contests, and the Browns tasted Cheltenham Festival success when Jazzy Matty ran out a game winner of last year’s Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle.

However, they also suffered more than their share of misfortune. Mighty Potter met a cruel and untimely end at Fairyhouse last April, while the promising D B Cooper suffered a fatal injury at the same course last month. 

Barely 24 hours after that latest tragedy, the Browns took to social media to announce they would be taking a break from the sport. With a young family, the heartbreak of losing their cherished thoroughbreds had become too difficult to bear. 

That decision set in motion the chain of events that led to Caldwell Potter and the 28 other lots being brought to market on Monday. The owners were not present in Fairyhouse, but after the last lot had exited the ring their racing and bloodstock manager reflected on the day’s events. 

“It’s mixed emotions,” said Logan. “Today’s been mind-blowing and we’re delighted that it went so well. I want to thank Andy and Gemma for putting their trust in me. I want to thank Tattersalls for all the work they’ve done in a short space of time, and I also want to thank Gordon and all his team. The job they’ve done is fantastic. 

"I’m so proud because a lot of work went into buying these horses. Most of them were bought as young horses, foals, two- and three-year-olds.”

Logan also echoed sentiments previously expressed by Elliott that the Browns’ departure would prove temporary rather than permanent, although he was unable to elaborate on the discussions that led to Monday’s shock sale. 

“I’m quite confident Andy and Gemma will be back,” he said. “They’re a young couple and I hope they’ve enjoyed it. They made a statement [about their reasons for selling] and I have no further comment to add to that.”

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