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Hillberry Hill, who holds multiple entries at the Cheltenham Festival, topped Wednesday’s ThoroughBid January Sale, selling to Ed Bailey Bloodstock and Mat Nicholls for £70,000.
The Kingston Hill gelding, offered by Mags Mullins, had impressively landed a maiden hurdle at Thurles last weekend and holds entries for all three Grade 1 novice hurdles at the Festival. He is also qualified for the €75,000 Connolly’s Red Mills Irish EBF Auction Hurdle Series Final.
The four-year-old is set to join the yard of Nicholls and his training partner Kim Bailey and was secured on behalf of long-time client John Perriss.
“I thought there were a lot of positives to him,” Ed Bailey said. “He put in a lovely performance on his second run when he won, he hit the line very hard, and I thought that for what you can often find in a Cheltenham sale he represented a bit of value. He looks a fine big horse, let’s hope he can improve with a bit more time. The connections are a big fan of the sire.”
He said the gelding fell within expectations on price: “I thought he made sense at that price personally, we thought he’d be around that. We felt he represented value from a proven under rules run. We were happy to pay that.
“We’re trying to think outside the box a little to try and find value in what is a very competitive market for proven form types, so we felt he made sense.”
While Hillberry Hill holds multiple spring options, Bailey suggested a patient approach.
“I don’t know if [the Cheltenham Festival] is necessarily the route he’ll be taking, but he still looks a nice horse for the future, which will definitely be over fences.
“He’ll go back to Mat Nicholls and Kim Bailey’s and he’s been bought for John Perriss, who’s a very long-standing owner of theirs. John actually picked him out, the horse really caught his eye. He’s got a nice horse by Kingston Hill we bought for him with Mat and Kim called White Noise, who looks like a really progressive mare. He was keen to buy another.”
Hillberry Hill winning the Connolly’s Red Mills EBF Auction Maiden Hurdle at ThurlesCredit: Patrick McCann
Mat Nicholls added: “We’re delighted to have picked up Hillberry Hill. He’s 16.3hh, he’ll jump a fence and get a trip in time. We thought he was very eye-catching.
“He obviously holds the Grade 1 novice hurdle entries at Cheltenham, which is something lofty to aim at, but we’ll get him home first before we make any decisions on where he’ll be targeted.
“Having qualified for the Red Mills Final at Punchestown, that could be a nice pot to look at with him this season, but we’ll know more once we get him home and settled in. Hopefully this guy can be lucky for John.”
The second top lot was the Olly Murphy-consigned filly Broken Vow, who went the way of agent Darren O’Dwyer for £50,000.
A winner over two miles on debut at Lingfield ten days ago, the Decorated Knight four-year-old was bought to race on in the United States under trainer Leslie Young for owner Bonnie Hamilton, who achieved Group 1 glory on the Flat in 2024 with the Jessica Harrington-trained Hotazhell.
O’Dwyer said: “It’s really pleasing to have purchased Broken Vow on behalf of Bonnie Hamilton. She’ll go out to Leslie Young in the US and we’re excited to see how her career goes. She came highly recommended by Olly Murphy, and she did it really well in her bumper at Lingfield.
“We think she’s the type who ought to suit American racing well.
ThoroughBid chief executive James Richardson said the January Sale had delivered an encouraging start to the year for the online auction house, with 22 of the 33 available lots selling for total receipts of £203,300, producing a solid clearance rate of 66 per cent.
“The January Sale has been a cracking start to the year,” Richardson said. “It was fantastic to see two horses make £50,000 or above, with Hillberry Hill topping the sale at £70,000. He looks a lovely, quality young horse for the future.
“Broken Vow is set to follow in the footsteps of fellow ThoroughBid graduate Grade 1 winner Belfast Banter as she’s been picked up by shrewd judge Darren O’Dwyer to continue racing in the US. Hopefully she can make her mark stateside for some top-drawer connections.
“Overall, the sale’s figures are really positive. An average of over £9,000 and a strong clearance rate of 66 per cent – we couldn’t have asked for a stronger start to 2026. We’re already looking forward to February’s sale.”
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