News

Chairman’s horse among Donny runners

  • Posted: Tuesday, 17th September 2019

Doncaster’s annual September Horses-in-Training (HIT) Sale will be a magnet for point-to-point buyers when it takes place tomorrow.

Staged by Goffs UK, and preceded today by a single session of yearlings, the 268-strong HIT catalogue involves a collection of proven Flat and Jump performers, including a strong draft of graded-race winners from Michael O'Leary's Gigginstown House Stud.

Among British and Irish point-to-pointers on offer is nine-year-old Knight Bachelor (Lot 136), who won a mixed open race at Brampton Bryan last season (pictured above, chasing runner-up Hidden Charmer) in the colours of Point-to-Point Authority chairman Andrew Merriam. Knight Bachelor was subsequently placed on his next two starts for Shropshire trainer Philip Rowley, and then returned to Warren Greatrex for a novices' chase run at Ffos Las. A winner of four races under Rules for Greatrex, he was unplaced on his latest start.

Andrew Merriam, PPA chairman and owner of Knight Bachelor

Also set to come under the hammer tomorrow is the Robert Luke-trained five-year-old mare Spark To A Flame (Lot 226 – pictured below), who won her first and only race when landing a maiden point-to-point at Hereford in April. She is out of a mare who won five races and was placed in a Gr.3 hurdle in France.

The Gigginstown House Stud draft includes Gr.1 winners A Toi Phil (Lot 179), Ball D'Arc (Lot 180), Valseur Lido (Lot 191) and Blow By Blow (Lot 244), plus a number of horses placed at the top level and with victories in Gr.2 and Gr.3 races.

Spark To A Flame, winning rider Zac Baker, trainer Robert Luke and his wife Lucy