It was a sales day of extreme lows followed by some great highs – and only some of them could be measured in centigrade.

When Nathan and James Corden arrived at Towcester at 6am on Friday morning for their Greyhoundtrader sale, they were high-fiving their genius. They had delayed their Pre Derby showpiece by two days for fear of bad weather.

Nathan Corden begins to question his weather forecasting skills

By 6.30am, they weren’t feeling quite so smug. .

Nathan said: “We had to make the decision on Monday to allow people to change their plans as there seemed a strong likliehood of a heavy frost. As it turned out, Wednesday didn’t turn out too bad and we could have got away with it.

“When we first arrived at Towcester on Friday, the weather was fine and the track was in superb condition. But within 20 minutes the snow started and I don’t think anyone could believe what they were seeing.

“The vendors had their own issues. There were delays in the ferries coming over from Ireland and they had to battle the roads. They would normally be at the track by 8am but the last of them didn’t arrive until 10am.

“Obviously we have to comply with GBGB rules so trials wouldn’t be able to start until 11.30, but then there was also the issue with all the snow on the track.”

Elsewhere, Central Park and Henlow both had their morning meetings cancelled. But work continued to prepare Towcester.

Nathan said: “Dave Boothby was on site by 8am and then Kevin (Boothby) arrived and was helping with the preparation.

“There was a lot of snow to be shifted but we were confident that the surface underneath was fine and I invited some of the vendors onto the track to ensure that they were happy with it. It took some extra work between the third and fourth bends but we got there.”

The quickest time in the trial session was recorded by Petersberg, one of the older lots in the catalogue as an October ’20 whelp. His Irish form included a 28.54 run at Drumbo Park and a 28.56 victory beating Callaway Pro Am at Shelbourne Park. The Micky Corr trained black produced an open class 29.45 run on a track that was surely all of the -20 allowed by the judge.

Magical Kyle, a handsome, near 38 kilo white and black June ’21 puppy had won the first trial of the day in 29.72. The only form on his Irish card was a 29.21 qualifying trial at Limerick.

The other notable clock of 29.69 was produced by The Other Dancer, a Jan 21 pup with five defeats on his Irish card but whose future – based on her breeding – seems likely to be over longer distances.

With trials completed the comparatively small crowd headed into the main bar for the auction.

The numbers might not have been big, but there was plenty of money about and internet business was brisk. In fact, from lot 1 onwards, the place was buzzing with puppy Magical Kyle making £20,500. He was snapped up by Darren Lewis, formerly with Charlie Lister and returning to greyhound ownership with Rosie Tungatt.

Top lot though was the day’s fastest trialist Petersburg who was bought by Nic ‘Antigua’ Jeal and is set to join Jason Heath. He made £24,000, a lot of money for a two year four month old dog, though Nathan Corden understood the thinking.

He said: “He is an instant Derby dog. He is proven in top class company in Ireland and that was some run first time around the track. I think he will do well.”

In total five hounds made five figure sums with Droopys Trophy and Ipad Warrior destined to join Kevin Hutton, Rapido George going to Laurence Tuffin and The Other Dancer also likely to remain with a local trainer.

The MWD Partnership spent almost £29K on three hounds to place with trainer Mark Wallis: Glideaway Hugo, Ballymac John and Rapido Lady.

Of the 43 dogs on sale, 36 found new owners with total proceeds on the day exceeding £188K.

James Corden said: “We are not absolutely certain of our facts, but Damien Matthews reckons it could be the biggest single day’s turnover ever in Britain or Ireland. We have to be delighted with that.

Of those that didn’t sell, most just didn’t get the best of runs on the day and understandably the vendors thought their dogs were worth more than those performances merited. But we still averaged over £5,000 per dog and we really feel that the Irish owners and breeders can see the momentum with the sales. We would like to think next year will be even bigger and better.”

Greyhoundtrader’s next sale is at Yarmouth on 27 April.

It turned out a decent day after all