Dreams result for Ellis’s stable

Man Of My Dreams lived up to his name for Tom Ellis and his wife Gina Andrews when they sold him for £100,000 at Tattersalls Cheltenham on Friday.

The sum involved is thought to be the highest paid for a four-year-old British point-to-pointer at public auction after they had been beaten in two races.

Man Of My Dreams (pictured above), a son of Champs Elysees out of the Kalanisi mare Storm Away, had finished third at Brocklesby Park on heavy ground in March, and was then second at Chaddesley Corbett five days before his ring appearance. That race, sponsored by Tattersalls Cheltenham, was the sole event restricted to four-year-olds in the British point-to-point calendar and attracted nine runners.

However, Man Of My Dreams had the imposing size and presence beloved of buyers at specialist auctions of young point-to-point and bumper horses, and his runner-up performance had been full of promise. The winner Il Pino, who was trained and ridden by Will Biddick, was given a rating of 105 by Martin Harris and is likely to be seen running in races under Rules before long.

After Tessa Greatrex of Highflyer Bloodstock had signed the buyers’ sheet on behalf of licensed trainer Ben Pauling, Ellis said: “We’ve always thought a lot of this horse, and to be honest we did a terrible job of training him. Running him last year was very naïve because he was so big and rangy and the improvement after the summer was massive.

“In hindsight we should not have run him last season. He then ran a very good race to be second to a smart horse on Sunday so hopefully he has a bright future.

“We bought him as a store for €40,000 [at Tattersalls Ireland’s Derby Sale in June 2021] so we are delighted with this result and going forward it is another good mark for British point-to-pointing and will give us confidence to up the game a little bit. He’s been beaten, but we have managed to turn a profit.

“He was second to a good horse and the strength of the race means we have sold him for a good price. Ben [Pauling] has been lucky with one or two horses he has bought off us in the past, including Harper’s Brook, who won the same race at Chaddesley Corbett two years ago. We had great faith in this horse and I was prepared to stand behind him and say to Ben we really like him.”

This was not the only example of a beaten horse selling for very good money at Friday’s sale. Rainbow Trail, who had finished second in an Irish point-to-point at Corbeagh House the previous weekend, was sold to Gordon Elliott for £220,000. The horse who won that race by half a length, Mint Boy, was led from the ring unsold when bidding halted at £195,000.

Man Of My Dreams, an imposing young horse who has joined Ben Pauling’s yard