GORDON ELLIOTT was left ‘disappointed’ after being outdone by a record-breaking bid by Alex Ferguson for a star horse at Fairyhouse.
The Meath handler witnessed 29 horses he has trained being sold for close to €5.3million at a Tattersalls Ireland sale on Monday.
They had belonged to Andy and Gemma Brown – who announced their shock exit from the sport last month.
The couple announced they were winding down their Caldwell Construction racing operation days after being left bereft following the tragic death of one of their most promising runners.
Five-year-old hurdler D B Cooper – whom they had bought for €225,000 – died on the racecourse on just his third run.
Their most famed horse Mighty Potter had previously also been fatally injured in a fall at Fairyhouse last April.
Elliott did manage to secure several of the horses that were put up for auction.
However, he missed out on the day’s star attraction as he was outbid for Caldwell Potter by legendary footy boss Alex Ferguson as well as Ged Mason, John Hales and Peter Done.
They forked over €740,000 to secure rights to the six-year-old – making him the most expensive National Hunt horse ever sold at a public auction.
He will now ride for leading British trainer Paul Nicholls.
The previous record was set in 2019 when Darren Yates shelled out €620,000 at Doncaster to acquire Interconnected.
The final output on the day for the entire string amounted to €5,290,000.
Although Elliott, who had served as the Brown’s main trainer, saw his hopes of landing the brightest star dashed he did at least succeed in buying the second, third and fourth dearest animals.
The 45-year-old did so while teaming up with Eddie O’Leary – brother of Ryanair CEO Michael– and other owners with deep pockets affiliated with his stable.
WIN SOME, LOSE SOME
He remarked: “I was disappointed to lose the big horse, but that’s the way it is – hopefully he will be lucky for the new owners.
“Pied Piper is coming back and we have got all the ones we wanted apart from Caldwell Potter.
“Staffordshire Knot is an exciting six-year-old and we are delighted he is coming back to us.
“The horses all looked great – we only had a week’s notice for this sale and it is a credit to the staff.
“We can get back to concentrating on the day job now.”