Gordon Elliott and Tom Malone land £410,000 touchdown for Wide Receiver

History repeated itself at the Tattersalls Cheltenham Sale on Thursday as the boutique auction supplied a £410,000 top lot for the second year in succession.

Last year it was Joseph O'Brien who signed for the sale-topping Dlauro, and 12 months on that task went the way of Tom Malone and Gordon Elliott, who got the better of a war of attrition with Harold Kirk to secure Cragmore maiden winner Wide Receiver.

The son of Sholokhov brought a sizeable reputation to the Prestbury Park sales ring having broken his duck by eight lengths earlier in the month, but the bidding was allowed to open up at a mere £20,000.

Malone, seated at the back of the bidders' area with Elliott, traded minimum bids with Kirk, who stood on the stairs behind the partition. Repeated increases of £5,000 kept the bid board ticking over until Kirk drew an audible intake of breath from the audience with an offer of £400,000.

But Malone was swift to react, and having countered with a final £10,000 raise, his rival turned and exited the auditorium.

View full Tattersalls Ireland February Sale results and stats

"He's a lovely type and he's the one horse here today who really quickened away from the pack to win very well," said Malone. "Sholokhov is a top-class sire and this is a lovely young horse."

The agent has enjoyed some notable success with his previous February Sale purchases, as last year he parted with £400,000 for Envoi Allen. The Elliott-trained runner has since won three bumpers, including a Grade 2 at Leopardstown, and now shares favouritism for next month's Champion Bumper.

"He's the best horse here in my eyes but you have to pay for them," continued Malone. "We came here and bought Envoi Allen for £400,000 the last day – which looked expensive, but he doesn't so look dear now, does he? I sincerely hope this horse is another good one. He's a raw horse like Envoi Allen was so I don't think he'll run again until next season."

The result provided Cormac Farrell of Leamore Horses with an almighty pinhooking touch, having picked Wide Receiver up for just €25,000 at last year's Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale.

"He was a real athlete, a big, rangy horse who was weak and backward, but we thought he was very well bought at the time and that's proved to be the case," said Farrell.

Despite his faith in the horse, the Bunclody-based trainer said the four-year-old's price was still a shock.

"No way!" he said when asked if such a sum had been expected. "We had £250,000 in our heads, and even that would've been amazing. This is a once in a lifetime situation. This horse was never coming home though, because all we do is trade.

"We have five or six pointers and ten two-year-olds for the Flat season. We had a couple of good Flat horses that we sold to the States and Hong Kong last year, horses like Max Velocity and Young Dandy."

Quickfire brace for Kirk

Kirk, talent scout for the all-conquering Willie Mullins, may have missed out on the sale-topper, but enjoyed better fortunes earlier in the session, including when landing Ferny Hollow from Colin Bowe's Milestone Stables for £300,000.

The four-year-old son of Westerner got off the mark at the first attempt when landing a Knockanard maiden last Sunday, having been picked up by Bowe's cousin, JJ Bowe, for €38,000 at last year's Derby Sale.

"It's a brilliant price, you can't describe that feeling because there's nothing else like it, it's unreal," said an elated JJ Bowe shortly after the hammer came down. "We were always hoping he'd sell well but but so many things can go wrong. Colin is a brilliant trainer, but the whole team there is fantastic, right down to the lad who empties the dung heap."

On sourcing Ferny Hollow, JJ added: "He was recommended highly by Ken Parkhill – who bred him – and I just loved him, he's compact but big enough for a Westerner and has a good set of legs on him."

Ferny Hollow is out of the Good Thyne mare Mirazur and descends from the same Parkhill family of Champion Hurdle winning-brothers Morley Street and Granville Again.

Kirk also secured another of the sale's talking horses, Deploy The Getaway, for £200,000 to bring his total outlay to £500,000. The son of Getaway, offered by Donnchadh Doyle of Monbeg Stables, ran out a wide-margin winner of a Tallow maiden on debut earlier in the month.

"I've bought two horses by Getaway before; Getareason and Getabird, and they're both Graded horses so he's been a very lucky sire for me," said Kirk. "Hopefully this horse can carry that on. He's a lovely, quality, athletic horse and he could do no more than he did on debut.

"What he does next is up to Willie Mullins, but I think he'll be next season's horse as we're buying for the future. He jumps well and should be a three-mile chaser in time, but he doesn't look slow, he looks like a horse who could win over any distance."

Harold Kirk: a fan of GetawayCredit: Debbie Burt

The four-year-old, out of the Deploy mare Gaelic River, had been sold on two previous occasions, having brought €11,000 from Stow Stud as a foal, before he was sold on to Monbeg Stables for €25,000 as a store.

"I bought him at the Derby Sale for €25,000 and he's a nice bit of a horse and the stallion's been lucky for us before, so at that kind of money he wasn't dear," said Doyle. "He went on and won well on debut, he'd been awesome when we schooled him before, and I'd say he's a very good horse.

"He's gone to Willie Mullins so he has every chance of being a proper racehorse."

Williams bags pricey Balko gelding

The £200,000 marked was also reached when Evan Williams got the better of Noel Meade to secure Belharbour maiden winner Fado Des Brosses, who was offered by Pat Doyle's Suirview Stables.

"I thought he was tough and genuine when winning his point," said Williams, whose acquisition will carry the familiar colours of Angela and William Rucker.

Despite securing such an eye-catching new recruit, Williams was pragmatic when asked about parting with such a sum, saying: "He's still a raw horse but hopefully he'll improve for a summer out. We don't know anything that anybody else doesn't know, but you've got to throw your hat into the ring."

Fado Des Brosses, a son of Balko, was a €45,000 purchase by Suirview Stables at the Goffs Land Rover Sale.

De Bromhead strikes gold

Henry de Bromhead was among the busier buyers on the day, as he signed for three lots for a total spend of £310,000. That trio of new recruits was headed by Oldtown runner-up Bold Assassin, who brought £150,000 when offered by Warren Ewing's Bernice Stables.

Jamie Codd was in the saddle when Bold Assassin went down by just a short head on debut, and the leading amateur made no secret of his high opinion of the horse, saying: "He's a future Gold Cup winner."

Ewing holds the son of Golden Lariat in similarly high esteem, as he added: "I think he's a serious horse. I bought him out of a field off a good friend of mine, John Flood. He had great movement and size, he's a very athletic horse and he's always shown a lot at home."

Golden Lariat, who stands at Tullaghansleek Stud in County Westmeath, may be unfamiliar to many, but the son of Mr Prospector has already produced some smart performers despite limited opportunities, most notably Dingo Dollar and Fayette County.

Russell reloads

Grand National-winning trainer Lucinda Russell made the long journey down from her Kinross yard, and returned with an exciting addition to the string having gone to £110,000 for Offtheshoulder, who was offered by Monbeg Stables' Sean Doyle.

The sizeable five-year-old made a winning debut at Cragmore earlier in the month, and it was his imposing frame that caught the eye of Russell, albeit she hadn't witnessed his win in the flesh.

"I can't say I was there when he won his point-to-point, but we were in Ireland and we saw him straight after in the car park of a service station!" said Russell, who was accompanied by partner Peter Scudamore and the stable's race planner and handicapper Paul McIvor.

"We loved him and Sean told me all about him and highly recommended him. We've bought a few from him before and he's always been very accurate in his assessment.

"He's for an owner, Gerry McGladery, who wants to get a really good horse so hopefully he'll fit that bill. He needs a bit of time but he's typical of our type of horse, a big chasing type."

The son of Gold Well was another to take his third turn around the sales ring, having cost Kilmoney Cottage Stud €21,000 as a foal before setting Monbeg Stables back €30,000 at the 2017 Derby Sale.

Final figures

The session produced an afternoon of high-intensity trade, as ten lots brought six-figure sums. A total of 35 horses came under the hammer and 25 of those sold for a clearance rate of 71 per cent.

The aggregate stood at £2,542,000 - down 17 per cent on 2018's total, while the average was down by four per cent to £101,680 and the median closed at £66,000, up slightly from £65,000 12 months ago.

At the close of trade, director of horses in training sales Richard Pugh said: "It's a true testament to this sale that for the second year running it sells the joint second-highest priced point-to-pointer on record.

"But these results don't come without the success on the track, which has been evident by recent graduates. Just 12 months previous, the current Cheltenham Champion Bumper favourite Envoi Allen was purchased at this sale.

"We look forward to returning here in three weeks where we host the Cheltenham Festival Sale on Thursday, March 14, and offering further future champions."

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