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Eleven Four-Year-Olds Headline Superb Early Entries for the Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival Sale
Sixteen exceptional entries have been selected for the Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival Sale, including 11 four-year-olds, nine of whom are debut winners, as well as three debut-winning five-year-olds.
The sale is to be held on Thursday, 12th March in the Cheltenham winners’ enclosure after racing, pedigrees and race videos can be viewed online at www.tattersallscheltenham.com.
Pictured: Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival Sale graduate No Drama This End wins the Grade 1 Challow Hurdle. Click here to watch him in training with Paul Nicholls at his Ditcheat yard in our "Road to Cheltenham" video series
The four-year-old debut victors include two from Pat Doyle’s Suirview Stables, both Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale graduates and both owned by new point-to-point syndicates.
Monzon Sport, the smart winner of the Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival Sale four-year-old geldings’ maiden at last weekend’s Borris House meeting, was a €67,000 three-year-old store horse purchase by Highflyer Bloodstock and Jet Bloodstock. The gelding has a fine pedigree being by the exciting French sire Goliath Du Berlais and a half-brother to the talented Leader Sport, winner of last November’s four-year-old Grade 1 Prix Maurice Gillois.
Seanchai is owned by Carsena Bloodstock Ltd and the Walk In The Park four-year-old was an impressive debut winner at Lisronagh for Doyle. The gelding also boasts a top-class pedigree being out of a Presenting half-sister to the dual Cheltenham Festival Grade 1 winner Simonsig.
Also by the champion sire is Foxy In The Park, a seven-length debut winner at Kildorrery for handler Jim O’Neil and an own-sister to the Grade 2 bumper placed Itswhatunitesus. O’Neil produced El Cairos to win his point-to-point and the son of No Risk At All, top lot at October’s David Maxwell Dispersal, is a 11/2 chance for the Grade 1 Supreme Novices' Hurdle next week.
Cleverfox (Berkshire) unseated when eight lengths clear in a competitive four-year-old maiden at Ballygogue House, but that did not take anything away from the gelding's impressive performance. Trained by Adam Leahy at Kedrah House Stud, the gelding is from the immediate family of the 18-time winner, two-time Grade 1 Queen Mother Champion Chase winner Sprinter Sacre.
Donnchadh Doyle’s Monbeg Stables, which has enjoyed previous top lot success at the Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival Sale with Romeo Coolio, sends the Farmacaffley debut winner Blue Rebel (Blue Bresil), who is out of the dual Grade 3 winner Oscar Rebel (Oscar), while Sam Curling is set to offer Jezebel Eyes. The filly by Motivator won at Ballycahane last weekend, a race won previously by Curling with Echoing Silence, the Tattersalls Cheltenham 2024 Festival Sale top lot and a leading fancy for the Grade 2 Mares’ Novices' Hurdle.
Kiss Rose (Team Flight), a Tattersalls Ireland July Sale graduate and a winner at Lisronagh in the day’s fastest time for Ian McCarthy, and the Paul Pierce-trained 64-length Oldtown winner Different Story (Poet’s Word), are both five-year-olds who won on debut.
The British-trained entries include two smart four-year-olds who scored on debut in National Hunt Flat races – Tony Bulgin's Wincanton bumper mare NATHANNAH, by Nathaniel and out of the Listed-placed mare Hannah’s Princess, and Mojito Lido. The gelding by Kitkou was the easy winner at Ffos Las and is trained by Tom Weston, who sold the four-year-old Mortal Coil at this year's Tattersalls Cheltenham January Sale for £170,000.
Tom Lacey’s Seven Kites, a four-year-old son of Poet’s Word and out of the winning Shantou mare Our Valentina, was a winner at Larkhill on March 1.
It has been a brilliant jumps season for Tattersalls Cheltenham graduates with 21 graded race winners, the Festival Sale leading the way with the Grade 1 victories of Romeo Coolio and No Drama This End.
The pair head up a host of Tattersalls Cheltenham-sold horses with leading chances in the feature events over the four days of racing next week, including three in the week’s showcase, the Grade 1 Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday.
We look forward to watching them on the track, and selling some exciting jumps prospects and future Festival winners in the winners' enclosure on Thursday.
We are taking entries through to Monday, 9th March and the team will be at this weekend’s point-to-points in Ireland at Tyrella, Castlelands, Belclare and Lingstown, and in Britain at High Easter, Didmarton, Charlton Horethorne, Friars Haugh, Guilsborough and Bangor-on-Dee.
