Phenomenal Second Day Trade Sees Three Foals Fetch Over €100,000

The second day of the Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale produced phenomenal trade with three foals selling for more than €100,000 and 42 lots selling for €40,000 or more.

A remarkable turnover of €4,903,950 was an increase of 60 per cent compared to 2024. Today’s session also produced a record breaking average price of €25,675, a median of €18,500, and an impressive clearance rate of 79 per cent.

The day’s top price of €145,000 is the fourth-best price achieved by a foal at the November National Hunt Sale, while the day’s three top prices are the best given for foals at the sale since 2019.

It is also the first time since 2007 that three foals have sold for over €100,000 on one day of the sale, while through the two sessions of this sale so far, 48 lots have sold for €40,000 and above, already seven more than across the whole November National Hunt Sale in 2024.

The identity of the session topper was widely expected beforehand, and the Walk In The Park colt (Lot 433) out of the black type mare Posh Trish and sold by breeder Oliver and Eoghan Loughlin was following in the footsteps of his older full-siblings – his 2023-born brother was the top lot at that year’s November National Hunt Sale when selling for €100,000, while his 2022-born full-brother led the way as a three-year-old at this year’s Derby Sale when purchased for €285,000 by Ryan Mahon and Dan Skelton Racing.

The battle for this year’s colt foal out of Posh Trish was a head-to-head between Coolmore’s Gerry Aherne and Joey Logan, both previous purchasers of the mare’s foals, and it was Aherne who prevailed.

After the purchase, Aherne announced that the colt is to remain an entire, has been bought as a racing prospect and will be sent to be trained in France with hopes that, as a son of Coolmore’s dual champion and record-breaking jumps’ sire Walk In The Park, the foal one day could become a future stallion for the stud farm.

“The French system is where we live the dream of producing a stallion,” said the buyer. “We probably made a mistake gelding our earlier purchase out of the mare, we won’t be making that mistake twice!

“From the minute I saw him I thought he was an exceptional animal, by an exceptional sire, from an exceptional breeder and out of a really good mare. I am delighted for Oliver and his family – they are great people, and when you produce something like that you deserve to get paid.

“Walk In The Park has had his most successful year on the track, and also in the covering shed. He is a remarkable stallion – being able to stand one of his sons is the dream.”

Charles Shanahan and Ian Ferguson came together for the first time as partners to buy Lot 428, a colt by Crystal Ocean, the third foal out of Park The Jet (Walk In The Park) and from the top-class family of the Grade 1 stars Jezki, Jered and Jetson.

The new pairing had to go to €135,000 to secure the deal for the Yellowford & Drumlin-offered colt and Shanahan said: “Myself and Ian decided that, as we both loved the horse, it made sense to partner up on behalf of our existing, separate clients.”

He added: “He is more than likely be offered for resale here at the Derby Sale. The pedigree speaks for itself, and the stallion is having a lot of four-year-old winners – we think highly of him, we have been so impressed by his stock.

“Every year we try and buy a few off Frank Motherway, and he does such a great job – we weren’t expecting to have to give that much though!”

The foal was sold by Motherway with joint-owners and grandsons Joe and Cal Cashman, and Motherway said: “We have a good draft of foals this year and were quietly confident, and it has worked out nicely. We bought the mare as a foal and she is from a beautiful family.”

The first sold in the session for a six-figure sum, a son of Walk In The Park and out of En Vedette (Astarabad), was consigned by John Dwan’s Ballyreddin Stud on behalf of breeder Louis Vambeck (Lot 318). The colt was bought by Richard and JJ Frisby for €130,000, who was also the purchaser of the mare’s 2024 foal, a full-brother who cost €92,000.

En Vedette has a 100 per cent record with her progeny, all seven runners are winners. They are headlined by the Grade 2-placed pair Sabrina and Lady Adare, while her four-year-old daughter Lune Brillante, also by Walk In The Park, produced the latest of updates as winner yesterday of a Carlisle bumper on debut for trainer Dan Skelton.

“I am delighted,” said Vambeck. “We knew we were coming here with the real article. He was born on a wet February night, and he stood up half an hour later, and when he did, I said ‘wow, we have something special’.

“He has always had a lovely attitude, is a great walker, and there was never a hiccup with him since he was born.”

Dwan said: “It is a fabulous price, we were hoping for a big figure, he is a smashing foal, and anyone that saw him thought he was exceptional.”

The battle for ownership developed into a two-way fight between leading foal buyers Ian Ferguson and Richard Frisby.

“We were determined to get him,” said JJ Frisby. “We have the year-older full-brother and he is a smasher, this fellow is a smasher as well and is one of the best foals in the sale.

“He is by the right sire, and the full-sister won yesterday to give the pedigree another update. It has all fallen into place at the right time, but that made him a bit more expensive! He will come back for resale.”

The 2025 November National Hunt Sale continues tomorrow for Day 3 with an opening foal session, and concludes with a session of jumps’ broodmares.