SENSATIONAL TRADE AT THE 2015 DERBY SALE

"He is the most expensive store horse I have ever bought!" smiled Kirk.

Trainer Henry de Bromhead started the bidding, but it soon narrowed to David Minton, Kirk, Eddie O'Leary and de Bromhead, who walked away at one point only to return, with phone pressed to his ear, at €270,000.

Kirk, who was standing by the ring, went head to head, the bidding proceeding to €300,000. Eddie O'Leary added some late bids, but Kirk was keen to seal the deal, and the bidding concluded at €320,000.

"He is a lovely horse, a proper model, the most similar horse I've seen to Sir Des Champs," he reported, before joking: "We made the stallion and now we are paying for it! But this is a beautiful horse – let's hope he has an engine to go with it."

 

The horse certainly has a pedigree – he is a half-brother to Publican, a Grade 2 bumper winner, and to the dam of Clondaw Warrior, Grade 2-placed and recent Royal Ascot winner of the Ascot Stakes for Willie Mullins.

Understandably, vendor John Bleahan of Lakefield Farm, who pinhooked the horse as a foal out of the field, was thrilled with the result.

"It is what you dream of – usually you then wake up and realise it was a dream! I knew everyone was in on him, but you never know what will quite happen. I just have to thank my staff – it is massive effort from them," said Bleahan.

Lakefield Farm enjoyed a very good session – the farm’s Mahler gelding (Lot 258) fetched the second-best price of the day at €160,000 and was bought by MV Magnier.

At the end of the day, Aiden Murphy matched the second highest price by going to €160,000 for Mount Brown Farms son of Yeats (Lot 401). “He is a fabulous walker and the nicest Yeats in the sale.”

Gerry Hogan spent €130,000 on a son of Flemensfirth (Lot 252) from Rathturtin Stud on behalf of owner Barry Connell. “This is a lovely horse and the sire has been lucky for Barry,” reported Hogan.

Day 2 ended with a record median for the second day’s trade of €36,000, an increase of 13% on 2014. The two days of the Derby Sale produced a record overall median also of €36,000, an increase of 11% on 2014, while the average price of €42,893, is the fourth-best ever recorded at the Derby Sale.

Over the two days, 16 lots fetched six-figure sums and the clearance rate was a strong 85%.

At the conclusion of The Derby Sale, Managing Director of Tattersalls Ireland Roger Casey commented;

“In the last 40 years the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale has become a NH institution and has firmly established itself as the NH venue of choice for those selling select stores. This year’s sale again achieved the top priced store anywhere in the UK and Ireland at €320,000 and indeed the highest store price anywhere in the last four years but this sale is about much more than that as evidenced again by the guaranteed level of quality and recurring depth of trade witnessed again in 2015 with 80  lots achieving prices greater than €50,000,  16 lots achieving prices greater than €100,000, a diverse bench of purchasers, a record median of €36,000 and the fourth highest average in the history of the sale at €42,893. The 2014 Derby Sale returns were the fourth best set of results in the history of The Derby Sale and we are very pleased to have essentially mirrored these results in 2015.

We must thank our ever loyal vendors who continue to send their best stock to The Derby Sale on an annual basis. Tattersalls Ireland has uniquely served these vendors for the last 40 years and we will continue to do so for many years to come. We must also thank the ITM team who provided such firm support to our industrious team in promoting the sale far and wide with the €100,000 George Mernagh Memorial Sales Bumper also continuing to be a very attractive incentive.

We look forward now with enthusiasm to Part II of The Derby Sale which commences tomorrow at 10.30am.”