First Stage Entries for the Tattersalls Cheltenham April Sale Online

The first stage entries are online now for the Tattersalls Cheltenham April Sale and are available for viewing at www.tattersallscheltenham.com

The sale, which has produced such smart graduates as the Grade 1 winner APPLE AWAY, the Grade 3 winner SHECOULDBEANYTHING, the Cheltenham Festival Grade 3 winner CHIANTI CLASSICO, is due to be held on 17th April after racing at Cheltenham racecourse.

This first stage of selected entries boasts a smart batch of 43 talented young point-to-pointers from Britain and Ireland, featuring particularly strong drafts from leading point-to-point stables.

The entries include 19 four-year-olds, who have all won or placed on debut, with three impressive winners from last weekend’s point-to-point meetings, two by the exciting young jumps sire Crystal Ocean.

FRESHERS WEEK won at Taylorstown for Cormac Doyle’s Monbeg Stables, while CRYSTAL ISLAND, who is out of a half-sister to the Grade 1 winner J’Y Vole, was a winner at Rathcannon, trained by Eamonn Doyle for the Mossy Fen Stables Partnership.

Crystal Ocean has already impressed in the Tattersalls Cheltenham sale ring as sire of this year’s Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival Sale top lot, CRISTAL D’ESTRUVAL. The four-year-old was sold for £400,000 and is the most expensive point-to-pointer sold at public auction through this pointing season.

Sunday’s Westmeath meeting at Castletown-Geoghegan saw a smart winning performance by the Walk In The Park four-year-old gelding MYRIGHTHANDMAN, who won the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale-sponsored four-year-old maiden for trainer Garrett Murphy, while at Dromahane, the five-year-old UNFLINCHING, a gelding by Montmarte, stood out when breaking his maiden tag by over two lengths on debut for Colin Bowe.

The meeting at Rathcannon was headlined by handler Sam Curling’s stunning hat-trick, and all three winning horses hold sale entries. Curling kicked off his afternoon with a debut victory for GOWITDFLOW (Policy Maker) in the four-year-old mares’ maiden, collected the five-year-old geldings’ maiden with KAZANSKY, who is a son of Milan, and rounded the winning day off with victory in the five and six-year-olds’ mares’ maiden with debut runner TANTIVY VAVOOM, a daughter of Order Of St George.

Further entries at this stage include:

• GAELIC HEATHER: an Order Of St George four-year-old filly who finished second on debut at the Monksgrange meeting for Denis Murphy and is out of a half-sister to the two-time Grade 1 chase winner Cooldine.
  
• KARAKA DE THAIX: by the champion French jumps sire Cokoriko, the five-year-old debut winner won the Tattersalls Cheltenham-sponsored maiden at Charm Park for jockey-trainer Dale Peters.
  
• KILNEW SUPREME: four-year-old by Harzand, second to Crystal Island at Rathcannon on debut.
  
• MALINA ROAD: a five-year-old mare by Malinas, winner of the mares’ maiden at Liscarroll for handler Michael Griffin and an own-sister to Yellow Car, winner of this season’s River Don Hurdle (G2) and fourth in the Grade 1 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle.
  
• VANGO CAN GO: by Ocovango, this four-year-old is out of the black-type mare Our Katie and collected a second place on debut at Ballyragget for Robert Tector.

Entries will be taken from this coming weekend’s point-to-points in Britain and Ireland, with racing due to take place in Ireland at Stradbally, Tattersalls and Dromahane, and in Britain at Hornby Castle, Chilfrome, Shelfield Park, Overton, Dunsmore and at Edgcote, which is due to host the last of this season’s series of Tattersalls Cheltenham-sponsored young horse maiden races.

Tattersalls Cheltenham graduate Hiddenvalley Lake wins Grade 1 at Aintree

The smart staying hurdler HIDDENVALLEY LAKE galloped to a first, and well-deserved, Grade 1 success at Aintree on Saturday, the eight-year-old collecting the Liverpool Hurdle (G1) in style.

Trained by Henry de Bromhead, previously Hiddenvalley Lake had twice finished placed at the highest level, including when third in the same Aintree race last year.

“We were worried about the quickening ground here, but he seemed to appreciate it and improve for it,” said de Bromhead after the race. “He deserved that, we will think about Punchestown.”

The son of Sholokhov was bought as a four-year-old at the Tattersalls December Sale 2021 by Mags O’Toole from Marie Harding’s Glen Stables for £200,000. He’d had one start in a point-to-point at Ballindenisk – going easily and with a 3l advantage over his field he had looked the likely winner until carried out by a loose horse at the last.

He had previously been sold as a foal at the Tattersalls Ireland November NH Sale 2017 by Ms. Mai Kinsella from Ashwood Stud when bought by Castleboy Farm for €28,000.