Strong first edition of the New May Store Sale
The inaugural one-day Tattersalls Ireland May Store Sale got off to a positive start achieving an aggregate of €2,246,600 for 148 horses sold, a median price of €13,000, an average price of €15,180 and a clearance rate of 76%.
The top price of €65,000 was given for a gelding by the late Fame And Glory (Lot 110 above) offered by the day's leading consignor Peter Nolan Bloodstock (below).
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Widely expected to be one of the day's leading lights, and welcomed by a packed sale ring, the gelding did not disappoint the audience and it was agent Mouse O'Ryan who emerged victorious from the bidding process.
"He is a lovely athletic sort," said O'Ryan, secured the three-year-old for €65,000. "He was my pick of the sale - and he made his money! He will be trained in Ireland."
O'Ryan added: "The sire is flying - I have bought a few by him and he is a great loss."
The April-born bay gelding is the second foal out of the Flying Legend mare Flying Flame from the family of the talented NH and Flat performers Arctic Weather, Lady Lahar, Jallota and Miss Lahar.
Fame And Glory has enjoyed a rich vein of recent form courtesy of two impressive point-to-point winners and a Jonjo O'Neill-trained NH Flat race winner, Kitikat, who won on his career debut.
The next best price of €42,000 was a tie between another Fame And Glory gelding also bought by O'Ryan - a Gaynesford Stud offered three-year-old out of an Old Vic own-sister to the Grade 3-winning and Grade 1-placed Ninetieth Minute (Lot 215) and a son of Shirocco (Lot 121 below) bought by Kevin Ross Bloodstock with trainer Nick Gifford.
Out of the black-type placed mare Gli Gli and from the further family of the Gold Cup and Sun Alliance Novice Chase winner Garrison Savannah, he was sold by Castledillon Stud.
"He is a lovely athletic and scopey horse," said Ross. "He has a good pedigree and will be trained by Nick."
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Three horses fetched €40,000; another son of Shirocco (Lot 108) bought by Paul Cashman of Rathbarry Stud, who stand the son of Monsun; a Fame And Glory (Lot 43) gelding bought by Aiden Murphy, as well as a gelding by Blue Bresil named Smurphy Enki (Lot 91) purchased by the point-to-point establishment Monbeg Stables.
"We have not had one by Blue Bresil before," said purchaser Eamon Doyle of Monbeg. "This is a very racy horse and looks very sharp. We'll take him home, get him into the system and hopefully he will make up into an early four-year-old."
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At the conclusion of the sale, Tattersalls Ireland Managing Director Roger Casey commented;
"The May Store Sale has unquestionably been a success and the decision to move Part II of the Derby Sale to this stand-alone date in May has provided our loyal and supportive vendors with the opportunity for their horse to stand out at a one-day select sale where the focus was placed on the individual. It has also given purchasers an opportunity to buy stores early in the season and allows them the additional time to produce these horses for a spring campaign as four year olds next year.
"We welcomed an active bench of domestic buyers and an industrious contingent from the UK with many new faces at Tattersalls Ireland today no doubt also incentivised by eligibility of all lots catalogued for the George Mernagh Memorial Sales Bumper and the exciting Irish EBF Auction Hurdle Race Series.
"The results in the sales ring speak for themselves and it is extremely pleasing to conclude the sale with a healthy clearance rate of 76% backed up by an average of €15,180, an aggregate of €2,246,600 and a top lot of €65,000 in this sales initial year and this presents us with a real opportunity to progress the May Store Sale further in years to come. We now look forward with great anticipation to the next sale that forms part of the Tattersalls Ireland Store Sale Portfolio, the market leading Derby Sale which takes place on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 June."