Well-known point-to-point trainer Fran Poste and her husband Charlie pulled off a remarkable pinhook at Tattersalls in Newmarket yesterday evening.
The Warwickshire-based couple, who have traded numerous young point-to-pointers, had long been toying with the idea of selling two-year-old breeze-up horses, and put the plan into operation last year when securing two yearlings, a son and daughter of upcoming young sire Blue Point.
Last night that turned into a giant windfall when the colt, who had been bought for €78,000 in Ireland, was sold for 800,000gns to Anthony Stroud representing Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin. The filly, who had cost 72,000gns in October, also changed hands when being knocked down for 100,000gns.
A colt from the final crop of outstanding sire Galileo headed trade when selling for 1,000,000gns, but for the Postes to sell the second-highest priced lot at Europe’s highest-grossing breeze-up sale at their first attempt was a phenomenal achievement. Charlie Poste said: “Francesca and I are absolutely over the moon, we can't believe it! I suppose we had the right people involved. It is far more of a kick than I ever got riding a winner, and the whole team at home has done an amazing job.
The Postes' Blue Point colt during his breeze on the Rowley Mile (Tattersalls)
"We have to thank the syndicate who backed us, especially as we have no pedigree for doing this. Tom Biggs helped us buy him, and mates such as Mark Grant helped us through the whole process. I was nervous before they breezed as I did not want to be embarrassed, Francesca and I pride ourselves on doing these horses well, and the fact that he pitched up and did what he did, and he galloped as straight as a gun barrel and was seriously quick - he backed up what we had seen at home.
"But the truth of the matter is we are used to training point-to-pointers and me thinking he is fast might not mean a whole heap - it is a long time since I was riding at Richard Fahey's as an apprentice! But he came and showed us that we were spot on."
Fortunately for followers of point-to-pointing Poste said the couple had no plans to walk away from the sport. He said: "We had been interested in doing this for a while, but lacked the capital. Some mates suggested it to us in the spring, Francesca and I said we were interested, we met up and we got a syndicate together. It meant we could be involved without having to risk an enormous amount of capital which we don't have.
"We have loved the process, and a change is as good as a rest! It has been seriously exciting for us, for all the team at home to be involved and I didn't think in my wildest dreams it would end up like this at our first go.
"We are definitely not going to neglect the pointers, National Hunt is our major passion, but it would be folly not to do this a bit more. We just want to do something that, if we do a job well, we are going to get our due rewards, and we got that and more this evening."
In the ring: the Blue Point colt who scored a bullseye for Fran and Charlie Poste (Tattersalls)