Tag: Auctioneer

Tributes Flow For Former Goffs Managing Director Jonathan Irwin Who Dies Aged 82

Goffs has paid tribute to its former managing director Jonathan Irwin, one of the most influential people in the history of the sales house, who died aged 82 on Sunday.

Irwin joined Goffs in 1975 and oversaw the construction of the world's first purpose-built bloodstock sales complex in Kill, County Kildare.

He was also appointed CEO of the Dublin International Sports Council (DISC) in 1993 and established the Jack and Jill Foundation along with his wife Mary Ann after the birth of their son Jack.

Since 1997, the foundation has supported 1600 families throughout Ireland. It has raised €36 million from the private sector while receiving €4.5 million from the Irish health service. Awards received include Charity of the Year 2003, Irish Personality of the Year 2004, Irish Fundraiser of 2011 and Global Fundraiser of 2011.

A statement published by Goffs on Sunday read, “Everyone at Goffs was saddened to learn of the death of the former Managing Director, Jonathan Irwin.

“Jonathan was appointed Managing Director of Robert J Goff & Co plc in 1975 at the age of just 33 and oversaw an amazing period for the company over the next 15 years, not least the construction of the iconic Kildare Paddocks which remains one of the finest bloodstock sales complexes in the world.”

It continued, “Jonathan was certainly one of the most colourful bloodstock characters of his generation and his legacy lives on in the modern day Goffs. As well as overseeing the design of the complex, he approached the whole business in an innovative and charismatic way. Shouting bid spotters, international guest auctioneers, black tie select sales and the first multi-currency bid board at any auction in the world, an innovation that was almost instantly copied by the likes of Sotheby's and Christie's, were amongst his ideas that have stood the test of time.

“European records were regularly set from the outset with the first sale setting the trend with the IR127,000 Guineas Be My Guest being followed nine years later by a Shergar (GB) colt realising IR3,100,000 Guineas (equivalent to €4.2M today), an Irish auction record that stood for 39 years.”

Goffs chairman Eimar Mulhern and chief executive Henry Beeby also put on record their heartfelt tributes to the man who revolutionised the company.

Mulhern said, “It is with great regret that we hear of the passing of Jonathan Irwin. Jonathan was a titan of the bloodstock industry, transforming and modernising a business which heretofore had been rooted in tradition. He inspired a whole generation, of which I am one, as to a new way to market and promote the business in a truly innovative way. His contribution to Goffs was immense and we are still the beneficiaries of his vision to this day. On behalf of the shareholders and board of Goffs we send our deepest and most sincere sympathy to his wife Mary Anne, his children, his extended family and wide circle of friends.”

Other notable achievements in Irwin's long and distinguished career include being elected a member of the Irish Turf Club in 1976, and launching the Irish Horseman magazine in the 1960s. He was also a director at BBA Ireland.

Beeby commented, “Jonathan was a truly inspirational character who revolutionised the way European thoroughbred auctions were conducted. A true showman, he oozed charisma and I learned a huge amount from him over the years so much so that we still aspire to his lofty standards to this day.”

The post Tributes Flow For Former Goffs Managing Director Jonathan Irwin Who Dies Aged 82 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Longtime Fasig-Tipton Auctioneer Steve Dance Passes At Age 78

Steve Dance, a senior member of Fasig-Tipton's auction team for five decades, passed away suddenly on Tuesday morning, May 25, at his home in Jarrettsville, MD, he shared with his wife Nancy. He was in his seventy-eighth year and it was suspected he suffered a massive heart attack. Steve worked until the last day of his life and the many sellers and buyers at Fasig-Tipton's 2-year-old sale, just a week ago in Timonium, MD, would have seen him plying his lifelong trade in the auction stand at Timonium in his beloved home state.

Hiram “Steve” Dance was born in 1943 in the small, country town of Towson, just a few miles north of Baltimore. The then-struggling Thoroughbred auction company, Fasig-Tipton, in the late 1940's had appointed Humphrey Finney, another Towson resident, as its president. Although Finney left Towson in 1953, Steve's uncle, “Laddie” Dance, Humphrey's son John Finney and Larry Ensor, all subsequent luminaries at Fasig-Tipton and all “Towsonites,” befriended the younger Steve and found a variety of jobs for him at a rapidly expanding number of the company's nationwide auctions.

Honing his horse auction skills under the likes of George Swinebroad, Laddie Dance and Ralph Retler was a daunting task but Steve's hard work, reliability and enthusiasm paid off and he became a full-time auctioneer and bid spotter for the company in 1972.

From that time forward, Steve did not miss a single Fasig-Tipton auction in a career which lasted for an enviable fifty years.

But the glamor and celebrity of the Thoroughbred world did not monopolize Steve as it did with many of his peers. Again, until the day he died, Steve owned and operated the company founded by his grandfather in 1912, the Milton J Dance Auction Company. From the company's present base in Towson, Steve sold everything from pots and pans, to antiques, to multi-million dollar mansions. And, if there was such a thing as spare time, he traveled the length and breadth of the country selling and bid-spotting at celebrated motorcycle auctions from Daytona, FL to Sturgis, ND.

His “metier” was undoubtedly the Thoroughbred horse, but his passion was motorcycles – BMW motorcycles to be precise. Steve was a riding encyclopedia of BMW bikes and owned up to 20 at a time in his busiest years. He rode them all over North America – Alaska to New York to Florida. He converted me to BMW's in the mid 1980's and, without question, our ride together from the two-year-old sale in Miami to the two-year-old sale in Dallas was the greatest road trip two friends could make.

Steve found great happiness in later life, when, in 2011, he married his soul-mate and loving companion Nancy, who survives him in Jarrettsville, MD. Steve is also survived by his two daughters Erica and Whitney, his son Lee, step-daughter with Nancy, Layne, and three brothers, Andy, Scott and Tom.

Notice of funeral arrangements will follow.

The post Longtime Fasig-Tipton Auctioneer Steve Dance Passes At Age 78 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Fasig-Tipton’s Steve Dance Dies at 78

Steve Dance, a senior member of Fasig-Tipton's auction team for five decades, passed away suddenly on Tuesday morning at his home in Jarrettsville, MD, which he shared with his wife Nancy. He was in his 78th year and it was suspected he suffered a massive heart attack. Steve worked until the last day of his life and the many sellers and buyers at Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, just a week ago in Timonium, would have seen him plying his lifelong trade on the auction stand in his beloved home state.

Hiram “Steve” Dance was born in 1943 in the small, country town of Towson, just a few miles north of Baltimore. The then-struggling Thoroughbred auction company, Fasig-Tipton, in the late 1940's had appointed Humphrey Finney, another Towson resident, as its president. Although Finney left Towson in 1953, Steve's uncle, “Laddie” Dance, Humphrey's son John Finney and Larry Ensor, all subsequent luminaries at Fasig-Tipton and all “Towsonites,” befriended the younger Steve and found a variety of jobs for him at a rapidly expanding number of the company's nationwide auctions. Honing his horse auction skills under the likes of George Swinebroad, Laddie Dance and Ralph Retler was a daunting task, but Steve's hard work, reliability and enthusiasm paid off and he became a full-time auctioneer and bid spotter for the company in 1972.

From that time forward, Steve did not miss a single Fasig-Tipton auction in a career which lasted for an enviable fifty years.

But the glamor and celebrity of the Thoroughbred world did not monopolize Steve as it did with many of his peers. Again, until the day he died, Steve owned and operated the company founded by his grandfather in 1912, the Milton J Dance Auction Company. From the company's present base in Towson, Steve sold everything from pots and pans, to antiques, to multi-million dollar mansions. And, if there was such a thing as spare time, he traveled the length and breadth of the country selling and bid-spotting at celebrated motorcycle auctions from Daytona, FL to Sturgis, ND.

His “metier” was undoubtedly the Thoroughbred horse, but his passion was motorcycles–BMW motorcycles to be precise. Steve was a riding encyclopedia of BMW bikes and owned up to 20 at a time in his busiest years. He rode them all over North America–Alaska to New York to Florida. He converted me to BMW's in the mid 1980's and, without question, our ride together from the 2-year-old sale in Miami to the 2-year-old sale in Dallas was the greatest road trip two friends could make.

Steve found great happiness in later life, when, in 2011, he married his soulmate and loving companion Nancy, who survives him in Jarrettsville. Steve is also survived by his two daughters Erica and Whitney, his son Lee, step-daughter with Nancy, Layne, and three brothers, Andy, Scott and Tom.

Notice of funeral arrangements will follow.

The post Fasig-Tipton’s Steve Dance Dies at 78 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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