'I've seen grown men in tears' - how the point-to-point sales became such a phenomenon

The giddy roar of the Cheltenham crowd is a muted rumble of distant thunder at the RDA stables, where the 30 horses entered in the Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival Sale await their appointment in the winner's enclosure.

Half of these youngsters have come under the hammer at Tattersalls Ireland and the store sale graduates of last summer who have demonstrated latent talent on the pointing fields of winter are drawing viewers hoping to purchase spring glory.

While this is a Tattersalls Cheltenham production, it is very much in tandem with Tattersalls Ireland, the teams from both sides of the Irish Sea working together to assemble a catalogue of select young point-to-pointers who have given glimpses of a future laden with promise and potential.