Monbeg Stables remain Derby Sale top purchasers

 Image © Healy Racing

The Monbeg Stables outfit of the Doyle brothers maintained their position as the Derby Sale’s leading purchasers at a record-breaking 2025 edition.

The Wexford siblings have held that position since 2018, and they retained that title after purchasing 27 horses for an outlay of €1,407,000, with the team spending €100,000 twice.

On the sale’s opening day, they went to the six-figure sum for the Nathaniel gelding from leading consignor Castledillon Stud (Lot 65) 

"He was our pick of the day, he is a lovely horse, by a very good sire and is the first by the stallion we have had," said Eamonn Doyle after purchasing the Nathaniel gelding. "He is for myself and Donnchadh."

The horse is the third foal out of Cara's Way, a winning daughter of Robin Des Champs, dam of a 2025 four-year-old point-to-point winner A Chara and a half-sister to two graded placed runners. 

In the sale’s second session, it was Cormac Doyle who was in charge of the bidding for Lot 386 – a Walk In The Park gelding out of the Listed-winning hurdler She Ranks Me from the family of Cooldine.

He said: "Golaith Du Berlais is by a very good French sire who is near the top of the jumps table this season in France. This horse was the one that we thought we'd push for. 

“We will get him home and see how he progresses, he might go down the point-to-point or the bumper route, the sale bumper gives us options."

The Doyle brothers were joined in the sale’s top ten purchasers list by fellow point-to-point handlers Sam Curling and Denis Murphy.

Curling’s Skehanagh Stables bought eight horses for a total spend of €374,000, with Lot 415, the already named Moise Teene, his most expensive individual purchase, having secured that French-bred daughter of Moises Has for €65,000 alongside Bashford Bloodstock. 

Murphy’s Ballyboy Stables had a busy two days as they bought 12 horses for a total spend of over half a million Euro. 

Three of those nine 12 purchasers were as joint bidders, with the Wexford handler combining forces with Colin Bowe to secure Lot 282, a Yeats gelding for €92,000, whilst he also bought a Harzand mare, Lot 249 with Bowe, before joining forces with Rob James to secure an Order Of St George gelding, Lot 293, for €48,000.

The sale recorded its highest turnover since 2022, with an increase of 25 per cent on 2024’s aggregate, while Thursday’s trade secured honours by producing the best-ever turnover for a single session at the Derby Sale, topping €10 million for the first time.

A record price of €285,000 for a Store sold anywhere in Ireland, combined with a record number of 38 lots, sold for over €100,000 and above, were among the highlights at this year’s Derby Sale. 

That top lot had a connection to the point-to-point sphere, as the son of the champion sire Walk In The Park, was out of Posh Trish, who had started her racing career winning a four-year-old maiden at Lemonfield by 14 lengths for Shark Hanlon. 

Murphy’s Ballyboy Stables had a busy two days as they bought 12 horses for a total spend of over half a million Euro. 

Three of those nine 12 purchasers were as joint bidders, with the Wexford handler combining forces with Colin Bowe to secure Lot 282, a Yeats gelding for €92,000, whilst he also bought a Harzand mare, Lot 249 with Bowe, before joining forces with Rob James to secure an Order Of St George gelding, Lot 293, for €48,000.
 
Tattersalls Ireland CEO Simon Kerins commented: “The Derby Sale continues to deliver – not just in headline prices, but in real depth of trade. This week saw the highest-priced Store sold this year, and across every key metric the sale has significantly surpassed last year’s strong figures. A record breaking 38 lots sold for €100,000 or more, while today’s session saw us exceed the €10 million mark for the first time. The confidence shown by leading buyers, both in Ireland and in the UK, is a direct reflection of the quality on offer.

“The 14 Grade 1 winners in the 2024/25 season tell their own story. That level of success isn’t a coincidence, and it’s what brings the best agents, owners, and trainers back to Fairyhouse year after year.

“The Irish point-to-point community were out in force once again, and that cohort of the industry make sure that the Irish point-to-point field remains a trusted nursery and source of racecourse talent.”