'We have to do our best by it' - Cheltenham Festival-entered horses among those up for grabs as Browns disperse string

The first Monday in February would have been earmarked in the calendar as a day to relax after the Dublin Racing Festival and opening weekend of the Six Nations, a bank holiday to savour after a January that felt interminable.

However, the news last month that Andy and Gemma Brown were to sell their entire string of young horses was a seismic shock to the industry and ensured thoughts of a quiet bank holiday in Ireland were quickly replaced by plans to travel to Fairyhouse for a dispersal that is unprecedented in its nature.

Tattersalls Ireland was entrusted with the auction of the 29 horses by the couple and their racing manager Joey Logan, and it takes place on Monday at 3pm following an intense build-up that has seen the sale become the focus of attention from around the racing world.

"Everyone is so enthused by it, there hasn't been anything like it before and there might not be again and we have to do our best by it – it has really captured the imagination," says Richard Pugh, of a catalogue which stars the Grade 1 Future Champions Novice Hurdle winner Caldwell Potter.

As director of horses-in-training sales for the company, it has been a hectic time for Pugh, who was on commentary duty for RTE Racing at Leopardstown over the weekend, and the Tattersalls Ireland team, who were in the midst of welcoming horses and vendors to the sales complex for their February National Hunt Sale while organising the logistics of this unique event.

The entire bunch of horses are in training with Gordon Elliott and a substantial number of them, including Caldwell Potter, would have been expected to appear at Leopardstown over the past 48 hours rather than at Fairyhouse on Monday, but plans changed.

Pugh, however, understands that the decisive nature of the sale and the desire for it to take place quickly made sense and is in keeping with the efficiency the Browns have displayed in three seasons as owners.

"Once the decision was made to stop, it made sense to sell the horses as soon as possible," he says. "The decisiveness shown throughout their time in the sport is the same as they have shown in their approach to their sale.

"They arrived into the industry a little over three years ago, they have chosen one manager and one trainer, and look what they've achieved."

Richard Pugh is director of horses in training at Tattersalls IrelandCredit: Laura Green

Running the sale straight after the most important weekend in Irish National Hunt racing was also an ideal time, with future targets for the horses uppermost in everyone's mind.

Pugh says: "It makes sense to do it on the back of the Dublin Racing Festival with the momentum of the weekend. You have British trainers, agents and owners over, and you have the longest possible window from when we could have run the sale to the Cheltenham Festival.

"If Gordon [Elliott] gets some of them back he has time to continue on his journey, but if new trainers get them they have time to get to know the horses and maximise them."

And what potential to maximise.

Caldwell Potter (lot 5) is one of ten horses in the draft with entries at next month's Cheltenham showpiece, with the six-year-old, who is entered in both the Supreme Novices' and Baring Bingham Novices' Hurdle, one of the most exciting young horses in training.

He is also a full-brother to the ill-fated Mighty Potter, a quadruple Grade 1 winner for the Browns who raced under their business name of Caldwell Construction, and a half-brother to the Grade 2 winners French Dynamite and Indiana Jones, and Grade 3 winner Brighterdaysahead, who topped the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale in 2022.

Staffordshire Knot (25) holds entries in the same two Cheltenham races as Caldwell Potter and the six-year-old by Shantou has form that ties in with the best around. 

Out of a full-sister to Grade 1 winner The Tullow Tank and a half-sister to Many Clouds, he was third on his debut over hurdles at Cork in November to Readin Tommy Wrong, who subsequently won the Grade 1 Lawlor's of Naas Novice Hurdle. 

Pied Piper: the smart dual purpose performer has attracted global interestCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Staffordshire Knot won a bumper and then was successful by 21 lengths in a Down Royal maiden hurdle, which transpired to be the final victory for a horse carrying the Caldwell Construction colours.

Firm Footings (11), a Walk In The Park half-brother to Grade 1 winner Monalee, has impressive novice chase form and is entered in three races at the festival, including the Turners and Brown Advisory. 

Imagine (12), who won the Grade 2 Craddockstown Novice Chase at Punchestown this season, also holds entries in those two contests, while Sa Fureur (23), winner of the Grade 3 Michael Purcell Memorial Novice Hurdle, could run in the Turners or Arkle at Cheltenham.

Both Fil Dor and Pied Piper are Grade 1 performers at the Cheltenham Festival, finishing second and third respectively behind Vauban in the Triumph Hurdle. 

The seven-year-old Fil Dor (10) is a multiple Graded winner over hurdles and the son of Doctor Dino is out of a half-sister to recently retired Gold Cup hero A Plus Tard. He holds entries in the Champion and Ryanair Chases.

Pied Piper (21) was second in the County Hurdle last year and the Champion Hurdle entrant is an intriguing dual-purpose prospect having mixed it with the best over hurdles, winning Graded contests, and finishing second in the Cesarewitch at Newmarket.

The presence of horses with profiles like Pied Piper's has attracted a wider spread of buyers.

"It's drawing interest from not just National Hunt countries, which is fantastic," says Pugh.

The dispersal also offers the opportunity to purchase a Cheltenham Festival winner in Jazzy Matty (14), successful in the Grade 3 Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle. The five-year-old is a Doctor Dino half-brother to the multiple Grade 1 winner Delta Work.

Andrew (third right) and Gemma Brown (third left): with their first festival winner Jazzy MattyCredit: GROSSICK RACING

What is notable about many of the proven horses in the draft is the consistency of performance, and Pugh attributes that to a combination of trainer, talent-spotter and breeder.

"The horses perform to a high level on a regular basis, they keep coming back," he says. "That takes a good eye to find a tough horse, a good pedigree to be robust enough and a good trainer to be able to produce that level of relentless consistency, so that they don't bottom out in any way. 

"That the team is able to pick them up is a testament to Gordon and his staff."

While some of the horses were purchased for six-figure sums as stores at sales in Ireland and France, or as horses in training, others were even younger when they were sourced by Logan.

Pugh says: "There are plenty of well-bred good-looking stores to be found at the sales, but Joey has bought some of the best of them for Gemma and Andy, and that's before you consider his record with Finian's Oscar, Champers On Ice and Grangeclare West, among others."

Indeed, Staffordshire Knot was a €60,000 purchase as a weanling by Logan at the Tattersalls Ireland February National Hunt Sale. The four-year-old Mighty Bandit (18), the first winner over hurdles by Order Of St George, was also acquired by Logan as a foal.

Fil Dor: another Grade 1 performer coming under the hammerCredit: Caroline Norris (racingpost.com/photos)

In addition to the Grade 1 and festival winners, there are a trio of youngsters who have yet to race and their potential is enormous given their pedigrees and the track record Logan and Elliott possess with the 26 other horses for sale. 

Near the start of the sale is Aviation (2), a five-year-old son of Martaline out of Keep Face. She is an unraced Poliglote half-sister to the exhilarating Master Minded and the Listed winner Positive Thinking. Keep Face is also a full-sister to the Listed winner and Grade 1-placed Lucky To Be.

The positioning of the unnamed Yeats (29) full-brother to Grade 1 Turners Novices' Chase and Mildmay Novices' Chase winner Chantry House is certain to ensure buyers remain to the very end. He is also a three-parts brother to Red Rum Handicap Chase winner The Last Day.

While Monday afternoon's dispersal provides others with the opportunity to chase their dreams, it is also one family's farewell to the sport, and that is uppermost in Pugh's thoughts.

"I would be conscious of the mixed emotions they have," he says. "I really hope the occasion of it all will provide them with a good memory, that it was a good experience and, while the horses are now gone, we wish them well and it was a good show to be involved with.

"As an industry, we would have loved them to stay longer."

More to read:

‘We were bang on the money’ - classy Clearpoint brings 75,000gns as home team stems international tide at Tattersalls