Michael O’Leary offered (pre-race) to buy the winner of the Irish Champion Point To Point bumper at Fairyhouse for 100,000 Euros (provided it wasn’t six-year-old Roebuck.)
The answer from the owner of the winner Simonsig, described in the paddock by RP correspondent Jessica Lamb as ‘quite angular and not really much to look at’, was a polite ‘No Thanks’, reportedly.
Good on him, and may he live not to regret the decision.
Bartlett has only just bought the horse off Simon Tindall.
Was originally trained over here in the UK but his original trainer adjudged him to be too good for UK points (he was entered up in them in 2010) and sent him to Ian Ferguson.
Would be surprised if he paid less than £100k for him anyway after the way the horse won at Limavady.
Poor renewal or not the winner was still pretty impressive.
I assume the Gigginstown runner (very weak in the market) has some sort of physical problem as he appeared to go from travelling to nothing in the matter of a few strides.
Unless the horse is a stud and you want to lose more money by using him to breed nobody should refuse that kind of money for a horse.You get the same fun watching him as if you owned him plus you have pocketed good money.What I call a win win situation.
Better to go to public auction than accept only 100k, seems on the low side to me. Think you would get more than that, if you didn’t you could always keep. 200k might be a different matter.
I’d have accepted the offer but if O Leary wanted the horse in shoes, that would be extra; if a jockey ever came up overweight that would be an extra £50 & there would be a 10% transaction fee.
Didn’t Mr O’Leary have a proviso in the offer that would reduce it by £10k if the horse turned up at his new yard with anything more than hoof luggage?