Grade 1 winner Caldwell Potter to be sold as part of dispersal as owners plan to make shock exit from the sport

Caldwell Construction, the ownership vehicle of Andy and Gemma Brown closely associated with Gordon Elliott's powerhouse stable, will offload all of their horses at a Tattersalls Ireland dispersal sale on February 6 in a shock move that will see them exit the racing game indefinitely.

Responsible for some of Elliott's most exciting young prospects, including Caldwell Potter, who won the Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown last month, the Caldwell team have enjoyed five Grade 1 wins in just over two years. Elliott said on Thursday night that there had been "no falling out" and that the Browns just "wanted to take a break from the game".

"I have had an amazing two or three years training for them and we've had some unbelievable success," Elliott said of the development. "We didn't go into their reasoning for it too much so I don't know exactly – I only got the phone call myself this morning. There has been absolutely no falling out. They just wanted to take a break from the game and I couldn't say enough good things about them. They've been very good to me and we've had some very good years together."

The dispersal sale will see 29 of the Browns' horses come up for grabs and Caldwell Potter, a brother to the four-time Grade 1 winner Mighty Potter and one of this season's leading novice hurdlers, will be among them.

Gordon Elliott: "They've been very good to me and we've had some very good years together"Credit: Edward Whitaker

Although the firm's departure is a blow to Elliott, the nature of the dispersal will at least give the Cullentra trainer and his remaining owners the opportunity to retain some of the Caldwell horses by buying them to stay in the yard.

"There's probably 18 or 20 of the horses in training with me at the moment," Elliott said. "Losing that many horses isn't ideal but we will just keep going and obviously I would be very keen to keep a good few of the horses. It's onwards and upwards. They say they are taking a break from the game but there is no reason why they won't be back in the game in the future."

The Caldwell colours have been carried to victory 53 times in Ireland over the past three seasons, with a further four wins being recorded in Britain. Last year, Jazzy Matty provided them with a first Cheltenham Festival winner in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, two days before their most talented prospect, Mighty Potter, finished third in the Turners Novices' Chase.

Mighty Potter suffered a fatal injury when he fell at Fairyhouse on his next start, but in Caldwell Potter they appeared to have a similarly talented prospect. The six-year-old grey is entered to run in the Tattersalls-sponsored Grade 1 novice hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival but, if he turns up at Cheltenham in March, he will be sporting someone else's colours.

Fil Dor and Jordan Gainford on their way to winning the Grade 3 Red Mills Trial Hurdle at Gowran Park last yearCredit: Patrick McCann

Caldwell Construction lost another talented youngster when D B Cooper was fatally injured at Fairyhouse on Wednesday. With the likes of County Hurdle and Cesarewitch runner-up Pied Piper, Imagine, Sa Fureur and Fil Dor also in their ownership, they have a fine team of jumpers with which to go to market, but the X account associated with the firm tweeted on Thursday that the losses were linked to the decision to offload their stock.

"Further to the sad loss of one of our young horses D B Cooper again as a family we are absolutely heartbroken," the social media post read. "Also we lost Smooth Player only just two weeks ago. Having a young family it’s hard to cope with such losses and therefore we feel it is time for a break from the sport. We would also like to thank Gordon and his team for their hard work and support the last few years and wish them all the best."

Despite the setback, Elliott was phlegmatic about the situation and hopes the Browns might return to the sport in the future.

"You never know what's around the corner," he said. "They have built up an amazing team of horses but at the moment they want to take a break. There are bigger problems in the world and all I want to do is look to the future."

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