Williams makes a splash with Cheltenham top lot Coconut at £180,000

Prestbury Park played host to a solid renewal of the Tattersalls Cheltenham April Sale on Friday, with nine lots fetching a six-figure price during a busy afternoon of selling.

The sums involved may have fallen just below the blockbuster level often associated with the venue, but there was still a top price of £180,000 and trade proved brisk across the board.

A total of 53 lots came under the hammer, with 44 finding a buyer for a clearance rate of 83 per cent.

Those sales brought turnover of £2,851,000 – up 125 per cent on 2018's renewal, which admittedly suffered after poor weather wreaked havoc on the Irish point-to-point schedule.

The average closed at £64,795, up 28 per cent year on year, while the median was £57,500, up from £47,000 12 months ago.

"The strong demand witnessed at today's sale has resulted in an increased clearance rate of 83 per cent," said Richard Pugh, director of horses in training sales for Tattersalls Ireland.

"The sale has showed real strength and depth at every level of the market. It was particularly pleasing to see British point-to-pointer Switch Hitter make £120,000, which highlights the increased quality of young pointers in the UK."

View full Tattersalls Cheltenham April Sale results

Owners William and Angela Rucker will have a new recruit to look forward to when they return from their holiday after Evan Williams went to £180,000 on their behalf to secure Castletown maiden winner Coconut Splash from Cormac Doyle of Monbeg Stables.

"He's a nice athletic horse and I liked him a lot; the one thing he is, is an athlete," said Williams. "We'll turn him out to grass now and see how we get on.

"We've had a couple by Stowaway before. He gets his winners, but the reality is we buy a horse that we like and I don't think we know any more than anyone else – if anything we probably know a lot less than most people!

Evan Williams: 'He's a nice athletic horse and I liked him a lot'Credit: Debbie Burt

"He's been bought for Mr and Mrs Rucker, who are on holiday at the moment. They said they didn't want any more horses but I loved this one and have been badgering them during their holiday, so let's hope he's lucky for them."

The four-year-old son of Stowaway is out of the unraced Presenting mare Presenting Chaos, and was signed for by Monbeg Stables for just £14,000 at the Goffs UK Spring Store Sale. The relation to Land Afar and Tramantano was owned by Cormac Doyle and his 19-year-old sibling Gearoid, the youngest of seven Doyle brothers.

Gearoid said of Coconut Splash: "He was very athletic and racy, even as a store, and we knew he was good when we got him home because he showed a lot of speed. I'm sure he can drop back in trip and be just as effective."

Williams was busy throughout the session, and came away with four lots for a total outlay of £337,000, making him the sale's leading purchaser by aggregate.

Meade and Mags combine

The second-top lot arrived late in the session when Mags O'Toole and Noel Meade parted with £155,000 for Idas Boy, a son of Dubai Destination offered by Eamonn Gallagher of Bride Park Stables.

The rangy five-year-old pulled up on debut at Knockanard, but made amends in no uncertain terms when running out an eight-length winner at Dromahane earlier in the month.

"He's just a lovely looking individual, he really is," said Meade. "His pedigree isn't exactly brilliant but he was very impressive when he won, he jumped super. He'll go and have the summer off and then I'd imagine we'll start him off in a bumper. He's been bought for an existing owner of the yard."

The gelding, whose page was completely clear of black type, is the first foal out of the placed Witness Box mare Witness Express. He was signed for by John Lynch at €9,500 at the Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale, but failed to sell for €6,500 when reoffered two years later.

O'Toole's name also appeared on the docket of the third highest price of the day, Ballyboy Stables' Grangeclare Native, with the agent and Gordon Elliott going to £125,000 for the Curraghmore maiden winner.

Nimmo and Poste deliver

Francesca Nimmo and Charlie Poste of Station Yard enjoyed a productive afternoon at Prestbury Park, with the couple selling two lots for a total of £173,000. The more expensive of the brace was Switch Hitter, a son of Scorpion who went the way of the Tom Malone and Paul Nicholls axis for £120,000, while Jonathon Bewley and Alan Udale gave £53,000 for Guilsborough scorer Whateva Next.

Poste said: "We're thrilled with both results. Switch Hitter has been a horse we loved from day one and we feel he has the scope to go a long way. I'm delighted he's going to Paul Nicholls.

"Whateva Next has been a really reliable horse to deal with – if he was a footballer he would be the type to turn out for the team every week. He's a very solid character."

Both horses were sourced at the inaugural edition of the Tattersalls Ireland May Store Sale, with Switch Hitter, who made a winning debut at Maisemore, costing €26,000 and Whateva Next fetching €11,000.

"The May Store Sale has been a roaring success for us – we've already booked our flights to go back there," said Poste. "We've sold these two today, we sold a Milan in the breeze section of the December Sale here, and we've got a very nice one by Masterofthehorse [Mister Moretti] who fell on debut and will now be kept back until the autumn.

"It's been very difficult getting these young horses ready when the ground has been so quick, and while other people will hate me saying it, I hope next winter is a wet one."

When asked about the purchase of Switch Hitter, Malone said: "I didn't think we'd have to give that sort of money for him.

Tom Malone: 'You either love or hate Scorpion but we've had a bit of luck with him'Credit: Debbie Burt

"You either love or hate the sire but we've had a bit of luck with him, and this horse is a beautiful-looking animal; they did a good job of buying him as a store.

"He's also shown he can jump and gallop. He's just a likeable horse."

Malone secures his Halo

Malone was back in action just two lots later when giving £110,000 for Broken Halo, a son of Kayf Tara consigned by Colin Bowe's Milestone Stables who made a successful start to his racing career when landing a four-year-old maiden at Inch.

"I liked what he did at Inch, there was three of them within three lengths of each other but he travelled like the best horse in the race and, given how weak and raw he looks, he may well improve the most," Malone said of the €60,000 Goffs Land Rover Store Sale graduate.

Broken Halo boasts an unusual pedigree for a Cheltenham sale lot, as he is out of the Invincible Spirit mare Miss Invincible, meaning he shares his page with a Cherry Hinton Stakes winner in Please Sing and Clive Brittain's Kentucky Derby runner-up Bold Arrangement.

Perseverance pays off for Murphy

Aiden Murphy and Kim Bailey got on the scoresheet late in the day when landing Dromahane maiden winner Bobhopeornohope for £105,000.

"He's a proper winter horse," said Murphy. "I'm pleased to get him because I've been trying all day but not getting a lot. Trade is plenty strong enough, whenever you try and buy one there's always someone there taking you on."

The son of Westerner was another six-figure lot consigned by Monbeg Stables' Cormac Doyle, who pinhooked the youngster for €15,000 at the Derby Sale.

"These cheaper stores have been lucky for me," said Doyle. "I'll have to get more of them!"

McCain restocks

Donald McCain was another to make multiple purchases on the day, ultimately walking away with five new recruits for a combined sum of £287,000.

The lion's share of the figure went on Chuvelo, who fetched £100,000 when offered by Sam Curling's Skehanagh Stables. The son of Milan ran a race full of promise when a close second to Uhtred on debut in the Tattersalls Ireland George Mernagh Memorial Sales Bumper at Fairyhouse on Sunday.

"He's got form on the track and it's good form too," said McCain. "Obviously the winner is very useful but this horse did very little wrong. He's not the perfect model, but because of that he fell within a price range that meant we could buy him.

"I've bought point-to-pointers here too, but at the end of the day Irish bumper form at big tracks when there's a big field is standout form. He's been bought for Tim Leslie."