Tattersalls Ireland backs champion lady rider for new season

Tattersalls Ireland has announced its sponsorship of 2025/26 Champion Lady Rider Nicole Lockhead Anderson for the new autumn point-to-point season, giving the bloodstock auctioneer a visible presence at the head of a sport that showcases graduates of its sales ring as the campaign opens this weekend. The Scottish-born rider rode 13 winners last season and is attached to the stable of Sam Curling, who landed the handlers' title with a record 49 winners. She joins nine-time champion rider and bloodstock inspector Barry O'Neill as a Tattersalls Ireland-sponsored rider this season.

Tattersalls Ireland is a bloodstock auctioneer based on Fairyhouse Road in Ratoath, Co Meath, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Newmarket-based Tattersalls group, which traces its origins to 1766. Chief executive Simon Kerins leads the business, whose sales include the Derby Sale, the September Yearling Sale and the Breeze Up Sale, which has posted record turnover of €9,599,500.

Nicole Lockhead Anderson is a Scottish-born point-to-point rider who was crowned Champion Lady Rider last season, and rides for the stable of Sam Curling, the leading handler of the season with a record 49 winners.

The deal places the auctioneer's name alongside a champion rider rather than a single race, extending a sponsorship model that already runs through the fixtures Tattersalls Ireland backs across the autumn and spring point-to-point schedules.

Lockhead Anderson said it was a great privilege to partner with Tattersalls Ireland, adding that she is reminded on a daily basis of the quality that goes through its ring, given the number of Derby Sale graduates trained at Skehanagh Stables.

The 2026 spring season showcased graduates of the 2025 Derby Sale, with Palinca, Monster Truck and Monzon Sport delivering headline performances, while the autumn schedule is expected to feature a large number of four and five-year-old graduates who may progress to the Tattersalls Cheltenham November and December Sales.

For the sector, the sponsorship shows how bloodstock auctioneers use point-to-point as a live shop window for sale graduates, pairing rider backing with fixture sponsorship to keep results visible to buyers and vendors between sales.

Source: Tattersalls Ireland