'You're always going to be underbidder more often than not'

Mixed fortunes probably sums Tuesday up as we've been underbidder on about as many as we've bought, although we have managed to get our hands on six so far.

You're always going to be underbidder more often than not, so you need a thick skin. You've also got to stick to your principles, and for us that means stopping bidding when the value runs out. You've got to keep a level head in the sales ring.

We managed to get two lots who cost £85,000 each, colts by Bungle Inthejungle and Dandy Man, both of whom will go into training with Richard Hannon. Richard Spencer was the underbidder on the Bungle and there's probably no finer judge of the sire's progeny than him having trained the Molecomb winner Rumble Inthejungle.

Ross Doyle loved both horses, and Bungle is a sire we're keen to latch onto before he becomes the next Dark Angel. That price is towards our upper limit, we might only go beyond that once or twice a year.

We also managed to get a Dark Angel colt for £30,000. I'm pretty sure he has four legs as he passed all the vets! You have to have a long shortlist and follow lots of horses through the ring and hope that one slips through the net and I think this could be one of those occasions.

He's going to go into training with Richard Fahey. We've had success with Dark Angel already having bought Lily's Angel here in 2010.

It's very early in the sale season so we're conscious of using up all our bullets just for the sake of getting horses on the board and we're constantly trying to find a reason a horse won't be successful, which hopefully enhances owners' chances of buying into the next Marie's Diamond, Kool Kompany or Sandiva.

The first day of any big sale can be tricky as you're trying to watch horses going through the ring and you're also trying to get ahead of the game for the next day's horses. We've got a longer list for Wednesday's session so hopefully we can add a few more to the purchase list before the close of play.

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