Fabulous February for the second year in a row

Tattersalls Cheltenham 2019 sales season opened with fabulous results at the Cheltenham February Sale. The joint second highest price for a point to pointer was recorded for the consecutive year of £410,000. The sale concluded with an increased median of £66,000 (+2%), an exceptional average of £101,680 and an aggregate of £2,542,000. The clearance rate concluded on 71%.

The star of the show was Cormac Farrell's Sholokhov four-year-old Wide Receiver. The Sholokhov gelding impressed at Cragmore when taking the four-year-old maiden by eight-lengths and this was duly noted by his audience. Bidding was between agents Tom Malone and Harold Kirk and it was Malone, who was determined to land the winner, signing the docket along with trainer Gordon Elliott for £410,000 (Lot 36). Wide Receiver made a tidy profit for his connections; he was bought at the Derby Sale just eight months previous for €25,000. 

Kirk however did not leave the sales arena empty handed. Earlier in the sale, he was successful in purchasing the next two highest priced lots. Entered as a wild card after his 15-length winning performance at Knockanard, Colin Bowe's Ferny Hollow, a four-year-old by Westerner was knocked down to Kirk and Irish Champion Trainer Willie Mullins for €300,000 (Lot 34). Kirk and Mullins also secured Donnchadh Doyle's Deploy The Getaway, a four-year-old Getaway who produced a 20-length victory at Tallow for £200,000 (Lot 17).