'He cost more than we thought he would but we really liked him' - Jeu St Eloi colt tops trade at €58,000

The November National Hunt Sale announced itself with a hoarse whisper rather than a full-throated roar at Tattersalls Ireland on Sunday, when the first of four days' trade was tough going for vendors hoping to get their youngsters sold.

With a clearance rate hovering around 50 per cent for much of the day, buyers were being very circumspect and, with a foal average of €8,772 and a median at €5,000 it was a tricky start for vendors. As always, the handful of top lots exerted a magnetic force that drew people to the ring.

Jimmy and Eileen Furlong of Thistletown Stud have a stellar reputation for the quality of foals they produce year after year and, with a continual programme of upgrading the broodmares on their Wexford farm, their status as leading consignors is only going to strengthen.

One foal that could add lustre to the Furlong family's accomplishments is the Jeu St Eloi colt they offered on Sunday afternoon, who had been mentioned around the grounds as a highlight of the day – the colt did not disappoint. 

The Black Beauty theme would have made an apposite soundtrack to accompany the appearance of the March-born colt who, although listed as brown, definitely had the appearance of polished coal under the gleam of the sales ring lights.

The foresight to send four mares including Molly Childers, who was second in the Listed Mares' Chase at Wincanton for Stuart Edmonds and the Ravenstone Partnership, to Haras de Cercy to be covered by Jeu St Eloi was inspired, and as Jeu St Eloi relocated to the Cashman family's Glenview Stud for the 2024 season, where he covered 209 mares, it meant that Molly Childers' colt was ahead of the game.

A plethora of purchasers gathered in the gangway, with others dotted around the ring, and as the price climbed ever higher, the competition dwindled until it was a duel between Brian and Eoghan Murphy and a team kitted out in Tattersalls Ireland jackets with Peter Vaughan.

The Murphy brothers had enough firepower to see off the combined might of Vaughan, Timmy Hillman, Luke Coen and Orla McKenna, with Simon Kerins bringing the hammer down at €58,000.

When the media descended on the brothers, Brian hastily abandoned Eoghan to do the talking, but the young man acquitted himself with aplomb in front of the camera.

He said: "He is a really nice horse by an exciting sire who has made a good start to his career. Jimmy and Eileen Furlong have down a fabulous job with him, he looks great. 

"The dam is a black-type mare and he cost more than we thought he would but we really liked him and hopefully he can come back for the store sales; that's the plan."

The Well Chosen full-sister to She's A Star and SixshooterCredit: www.healyracing.ie

Molly Childers won three times in her career, two of those wins coming over fences, and she is a Stowaway half-sister to the Grade 3 Blackwater Handicap Hurdle winner Gusda and to the Listed Bettyville Chase runner-up Thomond.

Her first foal is a two-year-old son of Falco, while she had only to travel to Cork for her return visit to Jeu St Eloi.

Second dam Hushaby is an unraced Eurobus half-sister to Brunico, successful in the Group 3 Ormonde Stakes and second in the Triumph Hurdle. Eurobus was a son of Sadler's Wells and Sorbus, who was first past the post in the 1978 Irish Oaks and established an outstanding stallion-producing line for Juddmonte. Her descendants include Oasis Dream, Kingman, New Bay, Martaline, Coastal Path and Reefscape.

She's very well chosen

The appearance of Rockton Stud's Well Chosen foal also lured the big players to the ring as the filly is a full-sister to not one but two black-type performers and was the other foal to be the subject of sales ground chatter on Sunday, with the word going round that she had the looks and athleticism to go with her pedigree.

A series of misunderstandings between bidders and auctioneer was resolved when Alex Butler signalled a €36,000 bid to counter Peter Nolan at €35,000 and the Wexford agent had no more in his pocket.

Butler was delighted to secure the filly on behalf of her undisclosed client. whose four-year-old Berkshire half-sister made a winning bumper debut 

Butler remarked: "She has been bought to stay in Ireland but she has a lot of options; she could be retained to race or could come back for a store sale. We will see how she develops."

As to what she liked most about the bay, she said: "She walked very well and has a lovely pedigree as a full-sister to two black-type horses and her full-sister has already produced a bumper winner with her first foal [Colcannon, trained by Noel Meade]."

Meade also trains Blue Mosque, the four-year-old Berkshire half-sister to this foal and she has won a bumper and maiden hurdle on her only two starts to date, the most recent coming at Cork just seven days earlier.

It's a family that has thrived under the tutelage of the Meath trainer, who handled the career of the Grade 3 Monksfield Novice Hurdle runner-up She's A Star, dam of the aforementioned Colcannon. 

He also trained Sixshooter, the ill-fated full-brother of She's A Star and this filly. Owned by Gigginstown House Stud, Sixshooter was third in the Galmoy, Lismullen and Ballybin Hurdles, all Grade 2 events.

Putting it all on Black

Daniel Berney's Black Gate Farm made a successful debut at the November National Hunt sale, where the Wexford stud supplied two of the four most expensive foals on the opening day of the sale. The colts were the only foals in the catalogue from the Gorey farm.

Mark Dwyer went to €30,000 for a Crystal Ocean son of Primo Scintilla, a Milan half-sister to Paul Nicholls' Grade 1 Turners Novices' Chase and Challow Hurdle winner Stage Star.

Flash Conroy (left) and Mark Dwyer bidding at Tattersalls IrelandCredit: www.healyracing.ie

“We’re kind of fans of Crystal Ocean and have been buying them since the start,” commented Dwyer. 

“I have a couple at home and we like them. He’s had his few winners, so hopefully this horse will go on. He’s got a live horse in the pedigree in Stage Star, and he’s going to keep the thing going. I think he’s a good horse. This is a nice individual with good movement. He’s been bought for resale.”

The ten-year-old contested three point-to-points as a five-year-old for Colin Bowe and this is her third foal.

Primo Scintilla and Stage Star are out of the Grade 2 Warfield Mares' Hurdle winner Sparky May, who was runner-up to Quevega in the Mares' Hurdle at Cheltenham and third in Aintree's Grade 1 Sefton Novices' Hurdle for her owner-breeder Bill Muddyman.

Berney's €28,000 Order Of St George colt will be returning back down the M11 to Wexford but, instead of Gorey, he will now reside at the Hore family's Mount Eaton Stud, where he will be prepared for the 2027 Derby Sale.

Tom and Phil Hore snapped up the half-brother to Scottish Champion Hurdle winner Cockney Sparrow, who was also second in the Grade 1 Fighting Fifth Hurdle. By Phil Cunningham's English and Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Cockney Rebel, she is a full-sister to Cockney Wren, third in a Listed novice hurdle at Kempton.

Their dam, Compose, has produced five winners from eight runners and has a three-year-old Vadamos colt who made €36,000 as a yearling.

The US Navy was credited with the popularisation of the acronym KISS and the Hore family will adhere to the maxim of keeping it simple in their plans for this colt.

"The plan to come back to the Derby Sale, it is as simple as that!" said John Hore as he signed the docket. "We have had luck with the sire, and this chap is similar enough. That was a little bit more than we wanted to give, but he is the nicest foal here today."

Phil Hore added: "The mare has been a good mare, she is an Anabaa mare and you can't get away from that when you bring him back to a sale. Hopefully, the sire keeps going the way he is going and this will be a nice horse to come back here at three."

Yellowford and Drumlin's Affinisea colt who made €25,000 at the November NH SaleCredit: www.healyracing.ie

Compose is out of Totality, who was second in the Lancashire Oaks and is a Dancing Brave full-sister to the Derby and Irish Derby winner Commander In Chief and a half-sister to the top-level winners Warning and Yashmak, and the Group 2 winner and sire Dushyantor.

Order Of St George has made a promising start with his first crop, which produced seven four-year-old maiden winners. The Hores won't be the only people hoping that the Gold Cup winner's progeny can build on those firm foundations.

Motherways start strong

The Motherway clan were leading consignors at last year's November National Hunt Sale and the team from Yellowford and Drumlin started as they mean to go on, selling an Affinisea colt for €25,000 to noted judge Peter Molony of Rathmore Stud.

He is out of Ayeloola, who won her point-to-point as a five-year-old and is a Presenting full-sister to Grade 1 Royal Bond Novice Hurdle third Gunnery Sergeant and a half-sister of the Grade 2 Ayr Future Champion Novices' Chase third Whoshotthesheriff and Minellaforleisure, third in the Grade 2 Sharp Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham.

At stud, Ayeloola has produced a winner with her first foal, Break My Soul, a five-year-old daughter of Doyen who has been successful twice over hurdles this year for Nicky Henderson and was beaten a nose into second at Ascot last weekend.

The quintet of foals were the only ones to break the €25,000 barrier on Sunday.

Boley bows out

Proceedings got under way with a small selection of yearlings and the two best prices of the session were obtained by Boley Stud, the County Laois farm that was home to Ben Halsall's National Hunt operation, but with Halsall placing the Ballylinan farm on the market and focusing his racing attentions on the Flat, his National Hunt bred stock were to the fore on Sunday morning.

Halsall explained: "They are all nice horses, with decent enough pages and were bought as foals with Kevin Ross, who is a good judge of a horse. I am having a change of business plan, and am selling the farm, and so decided to offer these here today."

The Poet's Word gelding who topped the yearling session of the Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt SaleCredit: Healy Racing

Dick Frisby gave €25,000 for a Poet's Word gelding who cost €16,000 as a foal and is the first produce out of Solo Soprano, an unraced Ocovango half-sister to Royal Kahala and Collectors Item. 

Frisby bought Collectors Item as a foal in this ring from Robert McCarthy, who bred him and his Grade 2-winning full-sister, and sold him at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale to Colin Bowe.

Since then, Collectors Item has won three of his 14 starts for the Jackdaws Castle team, and was second in the Grade 2 Prestige Novices' Hurdle. 

Royal Kahala was a star for Peter Fahey and Winning Ways, earning Grade 2 success against the geldings in the Galmoy Hurdle and winning a Grade 3 mares' hurdle at Leopardstown. She returned to the fold at The Beeches Stud for €180,000 at the end of her racing career; fetching a considerably higher sum that she did when McCarthy sold her as a foal for €5,500.

Solo Soprano and her Flemensfirth half-siblings are out of Leading Lady, an unraced daughter of David Redvers' triple Cleeve Hurdle winner Lady Rebecca, the mare who transformed Tweenhills Farm.

Boley's Jukebox Jury filly that made €21,000 to Kieran Cotter is also descended from a Grade 1-winning mare who beget a legacy; in her case J'Y Vole, who won the Dr PJ Moriarty Chase for Willie Mullins and the Hammer & Trowel Syndicate, who were encouraged by J'Y Vole's success to take a chance on Quevega.

J'Y Vole's granddaughter cost €20,000 as a foal and is a half-sister to Flyover, a four-year-old Mount Nelson gelding who has ran twice in bumpers this year. 

Enniskillen's College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise offered the first lot of the entire sale: a colt by Crystal Ocean, who has his first four-year-olds in 2024, and Matt O'Connor, who would know a thing or two about how the first crop of Crystal Ocean is performing, went to €20,000 to secure the April-born bay.

He is the third foal out of Whatduhavtoget, a daughter of Presenting who won twice over hurdles and garnered the same number of victories over fences for Dan Skelton and Highclere Thoroughbred Racing.

His second dam, Smooching, is a Saddlers' Hall half-sister to Footsteps, the second dam of Altior.

The sale continues at 10am on Monday.

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