BEST EVER SET OF RETURNS FOR ONE-DAY FEBRUARY NH SALE

"Trying to find foals out of mares such as Pomme Tiepy is like trying to find hens' teeth!" said Murphy, before adding: "She was an exceptional racemare and this colt has been bought for owner Diana Whateley to follow on from her good horses such as Captain Chris and Wishful Thinking. He is a good walker, a good type of colt and he will come back to my farm from here."

It is the second time that Cleaboy Stud & Coppice Farm has topped this sale – in 2011, the farm’s King’s Theatre colt out of J’y Reste sold for €62,000.

Rathbarry Stud’s Sholokhov colt (Lot 151) was sold to Harold Kirk for €42,000 and will also be retained for racing.

"I've seen a lot of Sholokhov’s progeny in France," said Kirk. "He is one of the best sires there, I am a big fan and this colt's dam has already produced two winners by him. This colt has been bought to race – I thought he was the stand-out today. He will end up with Willie Mullins in time."

Pinhookers were busy and Tom Lacey went to €40,000 for Lot 127, the Stowaway colt sold by Sunnyhill Stud, out of a sister to the farm’s Gold Cup winner Kicking King.

"He'll be back in June in a couple of years for the Derby Sale," said Lacey.  "He is coming back to England now and has been bought for a syndicate. He has a top pedigree, is a great goer and is as good as I've seen here today.”

Roger Casey, managing director of Tattersalls Ireland, said: “We have been delighted with the robust level of trade witnessed throughout the sale as illustrated by the 58% clearance rate, which is the highest for this sale since 2005. The abundance of buyers in the ring was more akin to our November National Hunt Sale and vendors who held on or reoffered lots in this sale were extremely pleased with their results.

“It was heartening to see what is historically a domestic sale having such a strong set of UK buyers. There was a real positive feeling to the market today and certainly both vendors and purchasers alike seem optimistic about the year ahead.

“We are right in the midst of inspections for this year’s Derby Sale which will take place on Wednesday and Thursday 25-26 June and after last year’s outstanding set of results and the start to this year’s sale we now eagerly look forward to our flagship National Hunt Sale.”