Superb Tattersalls Cheltenham December Sale Concludes Record-Breaking Year
The one-day Tattersalls Cheltenham December Sale brought the European sale year to a close in superb style with 15 lots sold for over £100,000, two lots over £300,000 and a top price of £335,000.
The sustained demand seen for the flagship sale’s best lots produced an aggregate of £3,448,000, and a best-ever average for the sale of £104,485, the first time it has achieved a six-figure sum. The median of £85,000 was also a record and over £70,000 for the first time.
The session contributed to a new record annual aggregate – the seven Tattersalls Jockey Club Sales held in 2023 achieving a turnover of £20,965,500.
An impressive winner of his debut maiden at Lingstown when posting an authoritative performance, TUMUCH (Lot 8) was widely anticipated to be a highly sought-after lot and the four-year-old by Buck’s Boum did not disappoint
Bidding opened up at £100,000 and swept up through the ranks courtesy of bids from Robbie Power, Tom Malone and Gordon Elliott, who was standing with Mouse O'Ryan; it was the last named who was successful at £335,000.
"He is a lovely horse, he is a well-made horse, who won well," said O'Ryan. "He was very eye-catching. We had seen him in January, and we were waiting for him to run.
"We are building up a big team of young horses and they are starting to come to fruition."
Tumuch is out of the Maille Pistol dual-winning mare Pistol Girl, a half-sister to the dam of the Grade 2 winner and Grade 1-placed Sir Valentino. He was sold by Matthew Flynn O’Connor’s Ballycrystal Stables, a previous Tattersalls Cheltenham December Sale top consignor when selling subsequent Grade 1 winner Stay Away Fay for £305,000 in 2021.
O'Connor, who purchased Tumuch for €65,000 as a store horse at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale, said: "It is great result, and he has gone to a good home with Gordon."
He added: "All his work had been very good, we had him in a couple of schooling hurdles and everything he had done was nice. It is great to see them back up when they get to the point-to-point. He was a bit raw when we bought him and he is still a big shell of a horse, I think there is loads of improvement in him."
An impressive winner of his debut maiden at Lingstown when posting an authoritative performance, TUMUCH (Lot 8) was widely anticipated to be a highly sought-after lot and the four-year-old by Buck’s Boum did not disappoint
O'Connor, who purchased Tumuch for €65,000 as a store horse at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale, said: "It is great result, and he has gone to a good home with Gordon."
He added: "All his work had been very good, we had him in a couple of schooling hurdles and everything he had done was nice. It is great to see them back up when they get to the point-to-point. He was a bit raw when we bought him and he is still a big shell of a horse, I think there is loads of improvement in him."
The wildcard entry PORT JOULAIN (Lot 20), a four-year-old gelding by Cokoriko and out of the dual-winning, ten-time-placed Mansonnien mare Apple’s Noa, a half-sister to the dam of the former Willie Mullins-trained 11-time Grade 1 winner Apple’s Jade, was bought by Harold Kirk for £300,000.
Port Joulain was purchased at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale for €78,000 by today’s consignor Denis Murphy of Ballyboy Stables, who said: "It is a great result, a nice horse. He has gone to great hotel. He has a pedigree and he is a big fine horse, it is good when it works out.”
A delighted purchaser Harold Kirk said: "He is going to Willie’s; he was my pick of the sale. I love the sire, he gets the most winners in France. We have a very good horse by him who won in Navan last week called Indiana Dream. Apple's Jade is in the pedigree, and I love this horse as an individual. I think he has got loads of class.”
The four-year-old BELLIANO by Black Sam Bellamy (Lot 18) was bought by Tom Malone and Paul Nicholls for £255,000 with the underbidder Gerry Hogan.
The Boulta winner is out of the Prix de Flore (G3) winner Miliana (Polar Falcon), the dam of five winners from eight runners and a half-sister to the Grade 1 Galway Hurdle-placed Mirpour and the Swinton Hurdle (G3) winner Mirjan.
Purchaser Tom Malone said: "It was a strong maiden, he got left out of his ground three out and then circumnavigated the whole field and quickened well. It takes a lot to do that at Boulta – to go that wide and quicken like that was impressive. He is a beautiful horse and we have had a bit of luck with Black Sam Bellamy.”
The horse was bought for just €25,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale by the County Cork-based Terence O'Brien, who said: "You dream about these things. He performed well on the day, and we got a bit excited then that the dream was alive. It is amazing, it just happens in the space of five minutes – before the race we were hopeful but not sure, and he has walked the walk.”
Matthew Prior, Tattersalls Head of Sales, commented: “The Tattersalls Cheltenham December Sale has, as always, delivered and to sell two horses for over £300,000 and 15 over £100,000 at tonight’s sale is a fine reflection of the quality offered at the Tattersalls Jockey Club Sales.
“The impressive session has concluded a superb year at Cheltenham racecourse and has produced a record annual turnover touching £21 million for the first time.
“We would like to thank our consignors for bringing such a fine selection of point-to-pointers and bumper horses to us to offer on their behalf. It is a privilege to be able to sell such future stars in this sale ring.
“As always, the support we have had from our enthusiastic buyers is never taken for granted. We are sure they will soon be rewarded on the track, and we take great pleasure in their success. We look forward to seeing the next ten Tattersalls Cheltenham December Sale Grade 1-winning graduates have their names engraved on jump racing’s top trophies.
“Finally, we would like to extend our thanks to our partner The Jockey Club following another successful year, where both the results in the sale ring and the success of our graduates have further reinforced Tattersalls' position as the market-leader within the point-to-point sector.
“We look forward to continuing to develop our exclusive and long-standing association with The Jockey Club and providing further investment in our sales hosted at Cheltenham Racecourse, the home of jumps racing."