The gloves are off as Lets Go Champ brings £375,000 at Goffs UK Spring Sale

Following an afternoon when trade had merely simmered, the Goffs UK Spring Horses in Training and Point-to-Point Sale reached boiling point on Wednesday evening, with a rapid-fire string of six-figure prices led by a £375,000 top lot.

Even among a punchy supplementary catalogue, Lets Go Champ's profile stood out like a sore thumb, as a three-parts brother to Our Conor who had landed a Bartlemy maiden in authoritative fashion for point-to-point master Donnchadh Doyle of Monbeg Stables.

A packed auditorium looked on as the athletic four-year-old son of Jeremy strutted around the ring, and after an opening bid of £100,000, the likes of Tom Malone and Goffs UK director Jeremy Mactaggart, taking instructions on the telephone, kept the bid board ticking over.

But the most significant blow was struck by Roger Brookhouse, who bid the decisive £375,000 from down in the packed gangway.

View full Goffs UK Spring Sale results and stats

Brookhouse was yet to decide who will take care of his latest pricey purchase, and when asked what appealed about the horse he simply said: "I went over to see him before he ran while I was at Punchestown and I've liked him ever since then. We'll take him home for a summer off now."

Roger Brookhouse signs the docket for Lets Go Champ at £375,000Credit: Sarah Farnsworth

The result rewarded a bold pinhook by Doyle, who parted with €90,000 for the sales-topper as a store at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale last June.

"He's been very popular ever since he ran," said Doyle. "He was a €90,000 store, he's got a great pedigree and the sire is flying so I was hoping he'd bring plenty of money, but I didn't think he'd make that much. He's a lovely laid back horse, he was a beaut to do anything with."

When asked for his recollection of his initial impression of the horse at last year's store sales, Doyle said: "I loved him as a store, he was a standout even at the Derby Sale, and he's still a standout today.

"It was a massive risk at the time [€90,000 pinhook price], but it's just about seeing what trade is like on the day, that's all you can do. I didn't go up to buy him specifically, but I'd been beaten on so many others I thought I better buy one!"

Donnchadh Doyle (pink colloar) watches on as Lets Go Champ brings £375,000 from Roger BrookhouseCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

The £375,000 price tag eclipsed last year's top lot, the £280,000 Ask For Glory bought by Tom Malone and Paul Nicholls, but remained some way off the sale record £530,000 paid by Timmy Hyde on behalf of JP McManus for prolific cross-country winner Garde Champetre back in 2004.

Lacey hot on Coffey

Hot on the heels of Lets Go Champ was Mister Coffey, a four-year-old son of Authorized who created a big impression when readily landing a Huntingdon bumper for Harry Whittington on debut last month.

Tom Lacey dug deepest to see off a host of interested parties with a final bid of £340,000 delivered from the top tier of the packed sales ring.

"He's a lovely horse and Harry's done a good job of bringing him through this campaign," said Lacey, who secured the youngster on behalf of an existing client of his Herefordshire yard.

Tom Lacey signs on the dotted line after bidding £340,000 for bumper winner Mister CoffeyCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

"He's very athletic and is a big frame of a horse, so you're paying for the potential. I loved the look of him, I like the sire, the horse has everything; he has size, scope and action.

"He's an outstanding individual but he won't get a lot of racing next year. We'll just hope he's progressive and fills that frame and turns out to be a very good horse. He'll go and have a good summer on a stud farm and we'll go from there."

Mister Coffey, a half-brother to the Listed-placed hurdler Myboy, was signed for by Church Farm at €42,000 as a yearling at Arqana in November 2016, and was retained by his vendor, Oaks Farm Stables, at €48,000 at last year's Land Rover Sale.

Mister Coffey in the Doncaster ring before bringing £340,000 from Tom LaceyCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

Those headline lots contributed to an intense end to proceedings, and by the close of trade 170 of 208 offered lots had changed hands for a solid clearance rate of 82 per cent.

Those transactions brought an aggregate of £4,756,100, up 21 per cent on the corresponding session last year. However, average and median prices went in the other direction, with the former down five points to £27,977, while the latter dipped by eight per cent to £15,000.

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