'It’s very rare one like this comes to market' - smart prospect with King Rasko Grey form brings £360,000 as Malone and Skelton link up

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Tom Malone made no secret of his desire to land the promising Kaiser Ball during Wednesday’s session of the Goffs UK Spring Horses-in-Training and Point-to-Point Sale. The agent stood front and centre of the packed auditorium and proceeded to kick off the bidding with an opening offer of £100,000. 

It took a moment for his rivals to get back on an even keel, but before long the price was increasing at a rate of knots. Noel Fehily initially kept Malone company, but when he checked out of the running it was left to the pairing of Kevin Ross and Gavin Cromwell to keep the back and forth going. 

At the £300,000 mark it looked as though Malone had done enough, and even turned to retreat to his ringside office. However, the Ross-Cromwell axis continued to up the ante until Malone eventually sealed the deal with another determined nod of the head at a cool £360,000. 

Kaiser Ball has made just the two racecourse starts but has compiled some notably smart form in the process. His first outing was in a Fairyhouse bumper for Willie Mullins, where he came home seven and a half lengths to the good. He then switched from Closutton back into the care of his vendor in Doncaster, Tony Costello of Treannahow Stables. 

He made his debut over hurdles at Limerick in late December, where he finished a promise-filled third to King Rasko Grey, another Treannahow graduate who went on to land two Grade 1s, namely the Turners Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham and Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown. 

The runner-up at Limerick was Shuttle Diplomacy, who finished just five lengths behind King Rasko Grey at Cheltenham, while the fourth that day was I Started A Joke, who added further substance to the form by landing a maiden on his next outing. I Started A Joke was last seen finishing third in the Grade 1 Channor Real Estate Group Novice Hurdle won by Le Frimeur.

“It’s very rare a horse like that comes to market,” said Malone. “He won a bumper by over seven lengths and there were 140-rated horses everywhere around him in that race. He was third to a Cheltenham Festival winner on his first start over hurdles and hit the line hard, and all the horses around him on that day are all rated in the 140s too. 

“He’s going to be a high-class black-type horse, if not better, in this country, and if he stays sound he’ll end up at Cheltenham next year. To me, considering what some point-to-pointers can make, he’s actually good value. It might sound like a silly thing to say, but he is.” 

He added: “He’s a lovely horse and handsome is as handsome does. He has the pedigree and the form in the book and he’s sound. He comes from a very good camp in Tony Costello’s. He sold King Rasko Grey when I underbid him at the Arkle Sale, so we’ve had good fun together, me and Tony. I’m delighted to get him.”

Asked about his bold bidding strategy, Malone said: “I came here with the intention of: I’m owning him tonight. I was going to buy him so what’s the point in messing around? It was almost famous last words [at £300,000] as I turned to walk away but then I had to come back to the table! But you can’t water it down when you come back.” 

Malone later revealed Kaiser Ball will head into training with Dan Skelton.

Tom Malone: 'It’s very rare a horse like that comes to market'Credit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

Kaiser Ball had been to the sales on two previous occasions. He was signed for by Hubert Barbe’s Horse Racing Advisory at just €15,000 at the Osarus Maisons-Laffitte National Hunt Sale in 2021, the same auction King Rasko Grey graduated from. He was reoffered at the Arkle Sale two years later, but was bought back by his vendor at €60,000. 

Kaiser Ball is a son of Nom De D'La, a brother to Nickname, sire of talents such as Cyrname, Frodon and Yala Enki. Kaiser Ball's siblings include the black-type pair Lili Ball and Fifty Ball. 

“It's been a day of days, what can you say?” said an emotional Costello. “I knew he’d sell well. He’s a proper Grade 1 horse with proper Grade 1 form. He ran once for Willie Mullins and he beat a Grade 1 horse by seven and a half lengths, and he ran once for me. I’ve never trained a winner under rules, but he finished third behind King Rasko Grey who was also mine. We gave him 8lbs and we were beaten five lengths. What was a maiden hurdle turned out to be a Grade 1.” 

Tony Costello: "He’s a proper Grade 1 horse with proper Grade 1 form"Credit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

Expanding on the decision to train Kaiser Ball himself, Costello said: “Very simply, my son Thomas had been working with Willie and we had Asian Master in training there. He’d done two seasons there and wanted to come back home to his roots, as we had a lot of store horses, so the horses came home with him. 

"There was no falling out with Willie or anything like that. Willie is a gentleman, you couldn’t fall out with him if you tried. Willie has given us the greatest days of our lives at Cheltenham with Asian Master and we’re hugely indebted to him. We were lucky that he bought King Rasko Grey off us as a store and now he’s a dual Grade 1 winner. We took a gamble on bringing Kaiser Ball home and now it’s paid off.”

O’Neill and Russell go toe-to-toe

There was another marathon bidding duel just a few lots earlier when AJ O’Neill and Lucinda Russell clashed over Peter Flood’s Dromahane runner-up L’Horizon. The O’Neill camp eventually took the chocolates at £280,000. 

The four-year-old son of Capri made his debut at the end of April when he showed significant promise to finish a never-nearer second under Georgie Benson. The winner of that maiden, Star Affinity, was subsequently sold to Gordon Elliott for €280,000 at the Goffs Punchestown Sale. 

L’Horizon left connections with a handsome bit of profit having been bought by Flood at last year’s Arkle Sale for just €26,000. 

“We were hopeful he was going to make a few quid,” said Flood. “It’s the best result we’ve ever had, we’re delighted. The girl who rides him at home, Georgie Benson, has been with me for five years and she rides all the point-to-pointers. She works hard and puts a lot of effort into these horses. She’s a great help, as are all my family at home. 

“Jonjo bought him and I’ve known young Jonjo from when we worked together in Gordon Elliott’s for a couple of summers. Lucinda Russell was the underbidder and she’s bought a couple of nice horses from me in the past, so all the right people were on him. It’s brilliant.” 

Dromahane runner-up L’Horizon went the way of the O'Neill camp at £280,000Credit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

He added: “Gearoid Doyle owned half of him with me. We had a good result here last year and now we’ve this lad, so we’ve been lucky together. This is unreal. We’ll have to go back and spend it all now! The last year or two have been kind of tough but we’ve managed to keep it going and we’ve had a good year this year. There’s a lot of jobs to do at home and a lot of bills to pay.” 

L’Horizon is from the second crop of Capri. The Irish Derby and St Leger-winning son of Galileo spent the first four seasons of his stallion career at Coolmore’s Grange Stud. He has spent the last three years at Willow Wood Farm in Cheshire, where his fee has been held steady at £2,500. 

Flood certainly seems to have the cheat code to the sire’s offspring as he also pinhooked and sold Boycetown, who finished fourth to The Mourne Rambler in the Champion Bumper. 

AJ O'Neill (left): 'His performance in his point-to-point was very strong'Credit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

“He's a gorgeous horse, we really liked him,” O’Neill said of his new recruit. “His performance in his point-to-point was very strong: he made up a lot of ground up the straight. Capri is a sire we like, he’s still reasonably young but he certainly seems to be going the right way. This horse moved lovely, he had a lot of physical attributes we like, and he seemed to have a great attitude in the race. 

“The stable had a fantastic time in the spring and we're looking to improve and build on that. Hopefully this fellow is a great addition to the yard and will help us do that.” 

The joint trainer added: “We’re big believers in buying horses we feel passionate about as it makes it easier to sell them to new people and current owners in the yard. We certainly feel passionately about this lad, as was reflected in the price. We don’t have an owner for him yet though, so he’s very much for sale!” 

Asked about the sales ring rivalry with the Russell-Scudamore team, O’Neill said: “They outbid us earlier in the day so all’s fair in love and war! It can get very competitive at a public auction and that was a good example of it today.”

Ferguson plays it Cool

The first of three lots to go beyond the £200,000 mark was Cool Companion, who was offered by Derek O’Connor’s Fiddaun Farm. O’Neill filled the runner-up spot on that occasion after giving best to Ian Ferguson at £235,000. That transaction will see the youngster continue his career under the care of Gordon Elliott. 

The four-year-old son of Pether’s Moon came to grief on his debut at Necarne when unseating his trainer-rider at the last. However, O’Connor explained the letters beside Cool Companion’s name did little to illustrate the scope of his talent. 

“There were a couple of calamities in the race,” O’Connor said. “A bit of white railing came in his way and he tripped, then a horse fell in front of him at the last and he unseated me. From the outside looking in you might look at the whole performance and question it, but there were a whole host of different things during the race that stopped him shining. I really like him though and always have done. He’s always stood out head and shoulders at home. 

“He’s going to a good home with Gordon but these fairy stories need a whole group of people to come together. We really appreciate the buyers but we also really appreciate the O’Neills for underbidding him too because that’s very important.” 

Cool Companion will continue his career under the care of Gordon ElliottCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

Cool Companion was last offered during part two of the Derby Sale but went unsold at just €17,000. Expanding on how he came to unearth the youngster, O’Connor said: “We bought him privately out of a store sale in Ireland. The sire caught my attention as I have a real soft spot for his stock. He’s out of a King’s Theatre mare too and the pedigree is solid. He’s a gorgeous individual. 

“When you get lucky buying a horse, they’re always going to be lucky. I bought him from the Dawsons from Nunstainton Stud. They’re a lovely family and wished us all the best, and we could see he’d been well handled and well reared all the way through. They did a great job with him and that’s so important.” 

After signing the six-figure ticket, Ferguson said: “I've known Derek O’Connor for a long time and he recommended the horse to me. I didn’t think he’d make that amount of money but that’s the way the market is. AJ seemed desperate to have him and we had to dig deeper than we thought to win the battle. He’s going to Gordon Elliott for a new customer.

“I haven't had many Pether’s Moons but the Twiston-Davies’, who I’m very friendly with, say he's alright and I’m happy to take their word for it.”

Elliott and O’Ryan put their faith in Certain Escape

The fourth-top lot is also heading to Elliott’s Cullentra House base after agent Aidan ‘Mouse’ O’Ryan went to £170,000 for Rob James’ Necarne winner Certain Escape. 

The four-year-old son of Getaway, who also shaped with promise before falling on debut, was knocked down to Monbeg Stables at £75,000 during last year’s Spring Store Sale. 

Gordon Elliott (centre) will train Rob James’ Necarne winner Certain EscapeCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

“He’s a lovely horse who came well recommended by Rob,” said O’Ryan. “You’ve got to go on trust with these boys, and we’ve been very successful putting our trust in these lads before. I thought he was among the nicest physicals in the sale, and you have to pay for the best. 

“He’ll go to Gordon and he’s been bought on spec, so he’s for sale. There’s no owner yet, but hopefully that won’t take too long. Getaway speaks for himself, he gets loads of winners and loads of decent horses.” 

Elliott and O’Ryan finished the session as the day’s joint leading spenders with eight new recruits sourced for an aggregate of £440,000. Malone also dropped £440,000 on two signings. 

Henderson and McGrath on the mark

Nicky Henderson was also among the leading trainers in attendance and the master of Seven Barrows walked away with three purchases made in conjunction with agent Jerry McGrath. The trio cost a combined £375,000, a haul headed by the £160,000 Tactic. 

The four-year-old was offered by Mick Goff, who saddled the daughter of Prince Gibraltar to make a successful debut at Ballindenisk under the handler’s son, Harry. 

“We’ve had luck buying from Mick Goff, we bought Jango Baie from him,” said McGrath. “She’s a real nice filly with a lot of size and scope. She looks a bit like a gelding, which you’d always like in a filly. 

“Prince Gibraltar is a sire doing very well in France, he's probably not on everyone’s radar in Britain and Ireland yet, though he’s getting there thanks to Dan Skelton’s Triumph Hurdle runner-up Maestro Conti. He's a sire we’re keeping on the right side of. Nicky liked her a lot. We don’t have an owner for her at the moment, but hopefully she'll be easy to sell. Trade is strong for the nice fillies.” 

Nicky Henderson and Jerry McGrath walked away with three purchases on WednesdayCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

Earlier in the day McGrath and Henderson combined at £135,000 to secure Robert Tector’s Lastbutnotleased. The five-year-old son of Harzand made it third time lucky when scoring by clear water at Lisronagh. 

“Lastbutnotleased sold early in the day and I’m glad we got him as trade got very strong afterwards,” said McGrath. “Olly Murphy underbid him and came up to us afterwards and said he was a typical Henderson horse, and he's right. Even though he’s had three runs he’s a big, raw, immature horse. I showed him to Nicky yesterday and he loved him straight away. Rob Tector is a fella I’ve had a lot of luck buying from, he's a young up-and-coming point-to-point trainer and he recommended him.” 

The Goffs UK Horses in Training and Point-to-Point Sale concludes on Thursday, with the second session starting at 10am.

More to read: 

‘It’s terrifying’ - Nicky Henderson opens up on sales ring pressure and the search for the next Constitution Hill 

‘You always have to push the limit when it comes to the good ones’ - Nicholls camp collect Spring Store Sale top lot at £140,000 

'Everything my kids have ever eaten, every time I switch on a light or put petrol in my car, a horse has paid for that'