Agents take to Newmarket as UK bloodstock sales ready for return
Buyers will be allowed back into the sales rings of Europe for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic hit when the combined Tattersalls Craven and Tattersalls Ascot Breeze Up Sales take place in Newmarket later this week, with the auction potentially providing a guide to the northern hemisphere buyers’ appetites to invest in new stock in light of the health and economic crisis.
Socially distanced breeze-ups were held at Newmarket on Monday as agents started their inspections and assessed the merits of the respective lots ahead of tomorrow’s first lot going through the ring.
This sale, and next month’s Tattersalls July Sale that is regularly attended by Australasian agents seeking racing and commercial breeding prospects to bring to the southern hemisphere, may also indicate the willingness of the international market to participate in next month’s Inglis and Magic Millions sales in Australia, even from afar.
At Monday’s breeze-ups, despite an easing of lockdown measures across Britain where some shops have reopened and people being allowed to meet in groups of six in outdoor spaces, Tattersalls implemented strict protocols to allow the breeze to be conducted in as safe a manner as possible.
Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock was among the agents in attendance on the Rowley Mile, and said of his experience: “I had my temperature taken at the entrance to the sales ground, the entrance to the racecourse and again when I got back to Tattersalls.
“I’ve never had my temperature taken so many times. Tattersalls have put in very strict protocols, and rightly so.”
Bloodstock industry professionals are generally a tight-knit bunch, but Brown reported that the social distancing measures were being adhered to, with buyers and sellers alike acutely aware of how fortunate they are that sales are going ahead at all.
“There’s social distancing measures everywhere and from what I could see everyone was taking it very seriously,” he said.
“At one stage it looked like a very real possibility that there wouldn’t be breeze-up sales, so to be here and having them happening is great. We get this chance now and everybody understands that they’ve got to be very responsible.”
Those sentiments were echoed by leading consignor Brendan Holland of Grove Stud, who is set to offer three lots at this year’s Craven Sale.
He said: “It’s a huge relief that the sales are on. At the start of lockdown I don’t think we realised how bad it was going to get, no one did, but once we got into it it was horrendous. It’s been an extremely anxious time for everybody.”
Although those within the breeze-up sector have endured a tough time of it during a sales season ravaged by uncertainty, Holland stressed that he and his fellow vendors had not lost sight of the bigger picture during a global health crisis.
“There’s no doubt it’s going to cost us money but it’ll be tough on a lot of people, and not just financially,” he said reflecting on the last three months of disruption.
“We were lucky that it was easy for us to self isolate on our farms and we were in a healthier situation than a lot of people in Britain and Ireland.
“We were thankful for that and appreciated our rural life more than ever before. As far as I know, we’ve all come through this healthy, and at the end of the day that’s the main thing.”
Holland added that the increased safety protocols had not presented any issues for vendors, either in terms of showing horses or accessing the Park Paddocks site.
He said: “You have to be on the pre-authorised list to come in, but that’s not a big deal because it’s being run efficiently and is well organised so there’s no aggravation.
“It’s a very big complex here so it’s very easy to maintain social distancing. That was never going to be an issue with viewing horses.”
While some semblance of normality has resumed in Newmarket, what impact the coronavirus pandemic will have on the bloodstock market remains to be seen.
Brown, whose past breeze-up buys include Group 1 winners Dream Ahead (Diktat) and Teppal (Camacho), offered a pragmatic prediction as to the state of trade at the Craven and Ascot sales, but highlighted the ongoing success of breeze-up graduates as a reason to be optimistic.
He said: “It’s highly unlikely the market will be up, I don’t think anyone is expecting that. I think the top will be relatively unaffected but that we might see very polarised trade.
“But trying to predict bloodstock markets is notoriously difficult; they’ve been amazingly resilient over time. And we’re not dealing with a huge number of horses this year and the breeze-ups have been extremely successful over the last three years.”
Holland said the buying bench already on the sales ground was a source of hope rather than confidence, and added that he would be taking a watching brief as to how that translated into prices in the ring.
He said: “I’ve never had less expectations because I’ve never had less of a handle on what trade is going to be like.
“There are people here looking and with orders to fill so there will be trade, I’m just not sure at what level.
“We’re just glad and grateful that the sale is taking place and we hope it comes to a successful conclusion.”