Paul Nicholls bolsters his title-winning stable with £165,000 headliner

With England's racecourses among the venues included in Monday's great public unlocking, there would certainly be worse moments to broach the subject of buying a new horse.

Paul Nicholls was able to attend the Goffs UK Spring Sale with particular confidence in any event, having reached a record seasonal tally when the jumps campaign ended last month, and the newly-anointed 12-time champion trainer was responsible for the two most expensive stores to be knocked down at Doncaster in quite some time.

Allied with agent Tom Malone, Nicholls topped the bill with the £165,000 acquisition of a Kayf Tara half-brother to black-type hurdler Gayebury and Fergal O'Brien's recent Grade 2 Altcar Novices' Chase winner Silver Hallmark.

The pair had earlier been successful in a spirited battle for a Mount Nelson half-brother to classy chaser Charbel, whose £150,000 tag eclipsed the £140,000 of Centurion Steel here three years ago. Those sums were shy only of the record-holding £185,000 set in 2002.

All eyes, however, were on the Kayf Tara (lot 101) - much to the astonishment of consignor Libby Snell - with O'Brien, Highflyer Bloodstock and trainer Kim Bailey indicating interest before Malone outlasted them from his position on the balcony.

"I knew Silver Hallmark is a smart horse and he looks a real athlete," said Nicholls. "He's for an existing owner in the yard, we knew he'd probably be top lot and he's a nice racy sort to join our production line."

Elaborating, Nicholls added: "Each year now we've been buying a dozen three-year-olds. Will Biddick has them for a year, then we mix them in with ours and run them in the autumn when they're four.

"It's something we've been doing for four years, the likes of McFabulous and Enrillo were the first ones I suppose. We've had around a dozen individual bumper winners go novice hurdling now, and have another lot of four-year-olds now for next year."

Libby and George Snell of Lulham Bloodstock, who consigned the session-topperCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

Snell, whose day job is with Lambourn trainer Ed Walker, was gaining a dream result for Lulham Bloodstock, a reasonably new business based in Herefordshire with her father George, a farmer and member of the point-to-point fraternity.

"He was bred by Scarlett Knipe, she's from the next-door stud farm back home," explained Snell. "She took him to the sales at Newmarket as a foal, she didn't sell him so Dad and I said we'd go and look at him.

"We loved him and bought him privately, and it was the day before Silver Hallmark won his point-to-point. We knew there was a lot of excitement about him but we weren't expecting that much. I'd say a lot of it is just luck, but he has become a beautiful horse.

"Dad kind of does all the hard work and the prep during the week, and I go back at the weekends to check up and boss him around! He gets all the credit."

Charbel sibling also Ditcheat-bound

Malone faced stiff competition from Bailey and Aiden Murphy, who were predictable faces in the crowd for lot 77 given that the former trained the handsome Charbel to land a Peterborough Chase and now has his younger half-brother Ajero, who showed abundant promise coming through the novice hurdle ranks last season.

The Mount Nelson gelding out of Eoz who went the way of Tom Malone and Paul Nicholls for £150,000Credit: Sarah Farnsworth

"Win, lose or draw we wanted him, so we bought him and we'll get him sold when we go home," said Malone.

"[Bailey] had the two best in the pedigree, Charbel and Ajero, one's a 140-plus horse and the other's a 160, so the pedigree speaks for itself.

"One was by Iffraaj and the other Red Jazz, so it's a pedigree that can get you a good horse regardless of what you may think of the sire - that was a way of looking at it anyway.

"He wasn't a big, strong, robust horse but he was all action, he just floated. An easy one to catch your eye."

Malone promptly signed up the next lot, Park Farm's Shantou gelding out of a sister to the popular Theatre Guide, to go to the Nicholls yard for £78,000, and added: "They always get a good store selection here and the cream is rising to the top."

Tom Malone signs the docket on a day when he and Paul Nicholls snared three of the top five lots including the leading duoCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

The sibling to Charbel, who was bred by Peter and Sandra McCarthy out of winning Sadler's Wells mare Eoz, had been bought for €46,000 as a foal from Tattersalls Ireland by Johnny Collins.

Although his Brown Island Stables might be more recognisable as a source of Flat breeze-up horses, Collins explained that he sells just as many stores, with his roll of honour including Irish Champion Hurdle winner Petit Mouchoir and 2018 Champion Bumper heroine Relegate.

"He was a beautiful foal and is now a beautiful three-year-old - there was no mystery to him," said Collins. "He was nice from day one and just progressed nicely. The champion trainer is looking for some of the best horses here, I'd say he probably ticked most of the boxes."

Success on the mind for Bromley

The headline acts were only part of what appeared a buoyant auction, with an average and median more than commensurate with recent years at the halfway stage.

Anthony Bromley of Highflyer was busy sourcing for various clients, his most noteworthy signing being the session's most expensive filly at £88,000.

Ballincurrig House Stud's daughter of Presenting is out of a half-sister to the brilliant two-miler Master Minded, who Bromley also discovered in France before he went to Nicholls.

"I suppose I'm sentimental about the family as I've bought quite a few of them," said Bromley. "But she was an absolute stand-out, the best filly in the sale.

"She's been bought for Simon Munir and Isaac Souede and will go to Stuart Crawford, who has been bringing a few of their young horses through."

Ross Doyle also made an £80,000 play for a filly, recognising the qualities of Goldford Stud's lot 27 as he had been involved in buying Barnane Stud’s Listed-class hurdler My Sister Sarah, who is out of a half-sister to the dam of a filly who can also claim the decorated jumping mare J’y Vole among her immediate relatives.

After signing the docket the agent was quickly joined by Joe and Colin Tizzard, to whom she will be assigned.

"I had a couple of clients looking for a well-bred filly, so they decided to go in together and told me to look for one," said Doyle.

"Walk In The Park is more than capable of producing a good horse, and they’re very impressive-looking individuals - one of his fillies [Ashroe Diamond] won very nicely for Willie Mullins at Wexford yesterday. She came from a great farm and My Sister Sarah has done well; she’ll probably start breeding next year."

At the time of her sale she had knocked a particularly striking looking grey Montmartre gelding (18) from the top of the tree.

Buyer Ronnie O’Leary explained that the £75,000 purchase would be heading point-to-pointing. "Mad man’s game," he smiled. "But he’s a gorgeous horse."

Half-time report

Goffs UK managing director Tim Kent, reflecting on Monday's trade, said: “The Goffs UK Spring Sale has been billed as the first and last word in British National Hunt sales, which makes it particularly gratifying to have achieved a top price of £165,000 with a British-bred horse, by the champion British-based National Hunt sire, offered by a relatively new British-based vendor and sold to the champion British National Hunt trainer, with another leading British-based National Hunt trainer acting as underbidder.

Tim Kent: delighted with trade on Monday and hoping for more of the same for the rest of the week

“Today has been a great start to the annual Spring Sale and we have achieved some vibrant results at all levels of the market. We look forward to more of the same tomorrow, when we continue with the second session of National Hunt stores, before two days of horses-in training and pointers on Wednesday and Thursday.”

Read more

St Mark's Basilica a Classic actor for dam Cabaret

Friends reunited - Galileo Gold and Palmer team up again for sire's first winner

Derby credentials on show for sons of Frankel and Camelot at Newmarket and Navan

Olive O'Connor on a high after breeding German Guineas-bound Belcarra