Amelia's Dance takes the lead at £90,000 to top Ascot June Sale

A humdrum session of trade at the Tattersalls Ascot June Sale on Tuesday was topped by Amelia's Dance after Michael Lynch, an owner with County Monaghan trainer Anthony McCann, stretched to £90,000.

The once-raced filly formed part of the sale's wildcard catalogue, having finished a well-backed runner-up in a Southwell bumper for trainer Peter Fahey late last month.

Lynch declined to comment on his purchase, but McCann suggested the horse would now be aimed at the Galway Summer Festival.

View full Tattersalls Ascot June Sale results and stats

Bred by Kieran Cotter, the four-year-old daughter of Flemensfirth is the first foal out of Madame McGoldrick, a Catcher In The Rye half-sister to prolific chaser Mister McGoldrick. Her sole bumper run had done wonders for her value, as her previous appearance at public auction saw her go unsold at just €9,000 at last year's Goffs Land Rover Sale.

Ramsay collects Kilcrea

Amelia's Dance brought by far the highest price of the session, with high-class chaser Kilcrea Vale next best at £37,000 after owner and amateur jockey Will Ramsay struck the decisive bid.

"He's been bought to go hunter chasing and maybe for the Grand Military Gold Cup," said Ramsay, who is based near Kelso.

"I'll train and ride him myself. He's a soft ground horse, which you need for Sandown. If he qualifies, he'd have a great chance in the Aintree Foxhunters' too if he keeps to his 2018 form - he had two very good runs last year and they came over the Grand National fences in the Topham and the Sefton."

The nine-year-old son of Beneficial was offered by Nicky Henderson's Seven Barrows, for whom he won three of his 21 starts under rules.

He achieved a peak Racing Post Rating of 150 for his 19-length defeat of Zamdy Man in a Ludlow novice chase in December 2016. He also finished a close third to Warriors Tale in the 2018 Grand Sefton Handicap Chase.

Will Ramsay: buyer of Kilcrea ValeCredit: Debbie Burt

"He'll be stablemates with my other horse, Mr Mercurial, so I'll have a great hunter chase armoury," continued Ramsay. "Hopefully he'll be able to win the Grand Military, which I've been trying to win for nearly 30 years."

Ramsay, who finished third in this year's Grand Military Gold Cup aboard Mr Mercurial, was a soldier in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards earlier in life, and has spent the last 20 years running Affordable Art Fair, a business that stages art fairs around the world and aims to make the collecting of art more accessible.

Godolphin draft delivers again

The ever-popular Godolphin draft provided another of the session's flash points, as Hamish Macauley saw off Ted Durcan with a bid of £25,000 to secure the unraced Kingman filly River Sands.

Although she didn't bring any form to the table, the three-year-old boasted arguably the strongest page in the June Sale catalogue, as she is not only by a red-hot sire but is out of the Group 2-winning The Miniver Rose, a High Chaparral half-sister to the Group 2 scorer and Group 1-placed Belle De Cercy.

"She's going to Tally-Ho Stud," said Macauley. "She's by a very good stallion in Kingman, she's got a very good pedigree as it is, and hopefully there could be some updates to come as the mare has two Dubawis to run for her as well."

River Sands had been through the sales ring on one previous occasion, having been signed for by Bobby O'Ryan at 45,000gns at Tattersalls in October 2017.

Final figures

The top price of £90,000 comfortably surpassed the high mark set in 2018, when Nick Wright parted with £28,000 for Sugar Baron, and other year-on-year metrics showed increases too.

The clearance rate improved from 82 per cent to 84 per cent, with 119 of 141 offered lots finding a buyer.

In turn, the aggregate increased by three per cent to £726,700, while the average was up by 13 per cent to £6,105, as was the median, which closed at £3,500.

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