Having emerged from the economic shock of the pandemic with record business last year, the Goffs UK Doncaster Breeze-Up once again raised the bar as investors seemingly remain impervious to dramatic new volatility in the geopolitical environment.

The juvenile sector had been first to take the Covid broadside in 2020, and no meaningful comparisons can duly be made with the auction salvaged—in conjunction with one hosted by Arqana—that July. But last year this sale seamlessly resumed the bull run that had animated trade before that trauma, with £6,219,500 turnover breaking down to a £48,590 average and £34,000 median (128 sold of 144 into the ring).

Well, on Thursday those indices were in turn effaced, albeit narrowly, by transactions totalling £6,495,500 for a £49,208 average and £36,000 median, the only slippage coming in the clearance rate at 132 sold of 158 offered (81.6%). Following a very strong start to the European circuit at Tattersalls last week, and with unmissable momentum on the racetrack, consignors can dare to believe that the good times really are back.

“As ever with a breeze-up sale, vendors can only expect to be paid for those that perform their very best when galloping prior to sale,” said Goffs UK Managing director Tim Kent. “And those that ticked all the boxes sold very well today. A record-breaking 17 horses sold for £100,000 or more, with three making more than £200,000, which helped to return a record average price that was just shy of £50,000 for the first time in the sale's history.

“It has been a fantastic few days in sunny Donny and, as ever, we would like to thank our loyal band of vendors who again prepared some truly exceptional horses to showcase their talents on Town Moor. Much of the talk during the last few days has been the search for Royal Ascot runners as this sale has an unrivalled record of success at that meeting.”

Byrne Family Helps Whyte Pick up the Pieces

There are three things indispensable to a breeze-up consignment: horsemanship, horsemanship and horsemanship. Scale doesn't come into it. True, scale doesn't get in the way, and this was duly another fertile day for those masters of all trades at Tally Ho Stud. But top billing this time should surely be reserved for Michael Byrne and his family at Knockgraffon Stables—not just for a fine result with their own, solitary offering, but also for a service rendered to another small operation in what is, after all, a community of colleagues as much as rivals.

Matty Whyte of Bushypark Stables in Co Kildare similarly breezed just the one horse here on Tuesday, a Tasleet (GB) colt found in the same ring for just £14,000 last August. But he went so well as lot 97 that Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock was forced all the way to £230,000 in his quest for a new Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) for Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum.

After shaking hands with Brown, however, Whyte candidly diverted all credit to Byrne and his family.

“I'll be honest,” he explained. “I got badly broken up in a fall in January, cracked vertebrae and the lot, and I had to spread seven horses among friends and colleagues. And all the credit for this one goes to Michael Byrne. He prepped the horse, I was just getting weekly videos.”

Though he joked that he might have to delegate the work routinely in future, Whyte naturally remained entitled to congratulation for having started the process—most notably in having found the horse so cheaply.

“No, he didn't cost much,” Whyte said. “But he costs enough now! Look, he was up there in the top corner, the consignors had done a lovely job with him but he was just a little immature, a little raw, and I thought there might be a bit of improvement there.”

Brown, for his part, will be hoping that this colt can emulate Perfect Power, who had similarly multiplied his yearling value (16,000gns out of Book 2) when bought for £110,000 at this auction last year—but nonetheless went on to prove a bargain in winning at Royal Ascot, plus two Group 1s before his successful reappearance at Newbury last weekend.

This colt will carry the same colours. “We bought Far Above (Farrh) from Matty three years ago,” Brown said, recalling the 105,000gns purchase of that brief-but-bright sprinting star at the Tattersalls Guineas Sale. “He was extremely talented, and is now at stud with I have to say some pretty exceptional foals in his first crop. This is a gorgeous colt and, for me, he did an absolutely outstanding breeze.

“He did a very good time, which is important in a horse bred as he is. But he also showed a great attitude, which is something we place a big emphasis on, and a great stride and action. Tasleet was a very tough, talented horse, and Ardad was another first-season sire last year, of course—and the rest is history. It's been well documented how we got Perfect Power at this sale, and Sheikh Rashid was keen to try and find another very nice colt. Let's hope we've done so, because this horse has plenty of scope: he's not just a whizzbang.”

As for Whyte, asked how he was feeling a few months on from his accident, he replied: “Euphoric! Look, I'm back in one piece. I'm alive and well, and meanwhile all thanks to Michael.”

NEW TOP LOTlot 97 @GoffsUK @BrzUps Sale sold for £230,000 to @BlandfordBldstk. This colt is by first season sire Tasleet , @ShadwellStud, and was consigned by Bushypark Stables. The colt was a £14,000 yearling purchase from the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale. pic.twitter.com/K373tBxZyh

— TDN (@theTDN) April 21, 2022

Knockgraffon's own offering was scarcely less impressive. Remember this is very much a family operation, with Byrne, wife Kitty and sons Michael Jr. and Stephen assisted only by rider Evan Dwan at their yard outside Cashel in Co. Tipperary. Between them they'll reckon on pre-training around 15, with another 10 to breeze. Nonetheless they had a right touch at this sale four years ago, when catapulting a €12,000 Tamayuz filly to £140,000, and they had another cracking result with the Havana Gold (Ire) filly they brought here as lot 31.

This time it was Stephen Byrne doing the honours, having picked her out for £22,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland sale (transferred to Newmarket) last September. He was relieved by not surprised by her flashy breeze on Tuesday, which caused her value to stretch to £120,000 from Stroud Coleman Bloodstock.

“She did exactly what I thought she would,” Byrne said. “She's never disappointed me, she's always done everything so easy. I loved her the moment I saw her, she had that big round scopey action. We got her home and she's been a queen ever since.”

Brown Tries To Improve On Perfection

Brown's investment in the sale-topper crowned a hectic few minutes in which he doubled down on the success he has enjoyed at this auction, not just with Perfect Power but also in finding that horse's sire.

And he went back to the same well in giving £160,000 for another son of Kodiac (GB) (lot 92) from the farm that sent Ardad here in 2016, when he co-topped the sale at nearly the same price (£170,000). This time Tally Ho had sent the son of an unraced Bushranger (Ire) half-sister to the dam of Ardad.

“So he's closely related to Ardad, and obviously from the same consignors, but he's a different type of horse,” Brown remarked. “He's a May foal, he'd be a little more backward than Ardad was, and will probably take a little more time. Myself, I'd be keen to put a line through Ascot but that's not my job now and we'll see what the trainer says.”

Who will enjoy that privilege remains to be seen, but the silks will be those of Sheikh Hamed Dalmook Al Maktoum, brother to Sheikh Rashid and Sheikh Juma. And their good friend Saeed Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi will also be competing through a brother to last year's G2 Queen Mary S. winner Quick Suzy (Ire) (Profitable {Ire}) acquired from Oak Tree Farm for £125,000 (lot 99). Al Qassimi has a smart young sprinter in Caturra (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), who made a promising reappearance when second in the G3 Prix Sigy for Clive Cox only the previous day.

“All these guys are unbelievable horsemen in their own right,” Brown emphasised. “Sheikh Rashid is a championship endurance rider. They're great to buy for, and great to train for: if a horse needs time, the horse will be given time.”

Brown's commitment to the sale, incidentally, had been marked by his unanimous selection by the Goffs UK Board as winner of the Willie Stephenson Memorial Trophy for the biggest contribution to the company's profile over the past year.

“Richard has been a great friend to DBS/Goffs UK over the years,” said managing director Tim Kent. “And it's entirely appropriate that we present him this trophy at the very sale from which he has bought so many wonderful horses. Perfect Power is one of several and it's indeed fitting that it was Richard who bought Ardad's first Group 1 winner, having also bought Ardad in 2016.

“Perfect Power continues to do wonders for the Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale, following his brilliant win on Saturday, and there is plenty to look forward to with his Classic clash next month and we wish Richard and connections the very best of luck. We thank Richard for all his support over the years and we are sure he will be unearth many more Group 1 talents in the years to come.”

lot 92 sells for £160,000 @GoffsUK @BrzUps Sale. This colt by Kodiac, who is very popular at the sales, was consigned by @HoStud and bought by @BlandfordBldstk. pic.twitter.com/lNelf60scC

— TDN (@theTDN) April 21, 2022

Another Back to the Tally Ho Well

Repeat business for Tally Ho was again central to one of the other big transactions of the day, with breeze-up regular Michael O'Callaghan forced to £200,000 for the Mehmas (Ire) colt they presented as lot 94.

This is the first foal of an Epaulette (Aus) half-sister to the dam of Epsom Icon (GB) (Sixties Icon {GB}), from the Cheveley Park family of Red Camellia (GB).

“He's a lovely colt and did one of the best breezes of the day,” O'Callaghan observed. “Visually, he's very impressive—and he's obviously by a sire conquering all before him. He's from a hotel we've had a lot of luck buying from, and came highly recommended. Hopefully he can make an Ascot horse: he looks early and fast, but has enough size and power that you'd hope he'll not just be early.”

The Curragh trainer has learned to appreciate the groundwork of Tally Ho through, among others, a couple of horses found at this sale: Classic-placed Now Or Later (Ire) (Bushranger {GB}) cost just £45,000, while only last year the tough and classy Twilight Jet (Ire) (Twilight Son {GB}) co-topped the sale at £210,000 before proceeding to win the G3 Cornwallis S. on the 10th of 11 starts at two.

lot 94 sells for £200,000 @GoffsUK @BrzUps Sale. This colt is by Mehmas and was consigned by @HoStud, who are having a good sale season so far. @MDOCallaghan was the lucky bidder. pic.twitter.com/SrpI0aPxu6

— TDN (@theTDN) April 21, 2022

Fresh Travels Beckon Munnings Migrant

The breeze-ups have for some reason become the one surviving route into the affections of European investors for American stock, and the latest to boom in value for a transatlantic journey was a colt by the flourishing Ashford sire Munnings presented by Ballinahulla Stables as one of the last into the ring as lot 177.

Signed for at Fasig-Tipton last October by Shamington Farms at just $32,000, the grey was strongly contested by Johnno Mills of Rabbah but eventually fell for £205,000 to Colm Sharkey.

Tadgh Ryan of Ballinahulla was keen to stress the partnership of Micky Cleere, while both expressed a debt to Donal Keane who was doing the legwork in Lexington.

“And it was really Micky who saw the video,” Ryan said. “Donal does it on the ground, and Micky sends me a shortlist of the videos he likes. That video work can be brutal! But this was a gorgeous horse as soon as he came over, with a great mind and a great constitution. He loves the game, and I really think he could be pretty good. We took a gamble bringing him here, they wanted him for Dubai, but it's worked out and Colm is one of the best judges out there.”

In the event, the colt will be heading out to the desert after all, as Sharkey was acting for clients in Dubai—perhaps aware that Ryan and Cleere had also been behind another American import in Summer Is Tomorrow (Summer Front). Sold here by Arqana last year for £120,000, he finished second in the G2 UAE Derby and has been flown back to his native land for the GI Kentucky Derby itself.

“He's the only horse I wanted to buy, so I've waited all day for him,” Sharkey said. “He's got a nice pedigree, did a nice, even breeze and vetted well. He'll head to Dubai now and hopefully race at the backend, once they get going in October or November.”

Underbidder Mills did secure a notable U.S. import, and quite a celebrity too: a half-brother to California Chrome himself.

The emigration of the dual Horse of the Year to Japan could well prove a good career move, breeders out there having repeatedly made their Bluegrass counterparts regret their commercial prejudices. In the meantime, however, his sibling by Accelerate—himself an absurdly generous fee, and a far more accomplished animal than California Chrome's sire Lucky Pulpit—was also exported, from Keeneland last September, to Powerstown Stud for just $62,000.

Here he advanced his value, as lot 36, to £110,000. His breeze having shown him to be functioning well, at this stage of his development, that may well turn out to be something of a bargain. “He's a May 16 foal, and will be given all the time he needs,” stressed Mills. “But he's the right stamp of horse, very solid, and his ultimate destination will be Dubai.”

That makes a lot of sense, given this horse's dirt antecedents, though it's possible that he will get an initial grounding on turf in Europe.

Top Hats Booked Down Under

An abrupt opening bid of £125,000 from Stuart Boman for the Kessaar (Ire) colt offered by Star Bloodstock (lot 26) put any dozing competition on the back foot in the morning session, and though one or two recovered briefly it was the Blandford Bloodstock agent who completed the job at £160,000.

Boman explained that this calculated, “disruptor” flourish had been imported on behalf of his good friend James Harron, who had jointly instructed him and Martin Buick from Australia.

“James got in touch with Martin and myself with a view to finding a runner for Royal Ascot,” he explained. “Like so many Australians they'll be glad to be able to leave the country and it sounds like they're all coming! We had very strict criteria and identified this as the one horse we wanted to buy, hence the bidding tactics. He's a very mature horse, he was the quickest colt in the sale and, while time isn't everything, in this instance you're looking for a five-furlong horse and he was particularly quick. He'll be joining Richard Hannon.”

After a “shocking” start to their cycle at the Craven Sale, according to Matt Eaves, this was a welcome touch for Star Bloodstock on a £25,000 pinhook in this ring last August by Byron Rogers. Here was yet another case of investors returning eagerly to Tally Ho, also the source of two headline successes for Star Bloodstock in G2 Norfolk S. winner A'Ali (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}), found here for £35,000 before his £135,000 sale at this auction in 2019; and GI Breeders' Cup Fillies Juvenile Turf runner-up Malavath (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), a £120,000 private sale at the refugee Arqana auction staged here last year, after her £29,000 acquisition the previous August. Malavath has meanwhile contributed to a breeze-up spree in the Classic trials with her reappearance success in the G3 Prix Imprudence.

“I'm delighted,” Eaves said. “We've had so much success buying from Tally-Ho and bringing them here to sell. At home, this horse has just been fast all the way. At the end of the day it's racetrack results that we want, so let's hope he goes and wins the Norfolk for them.”

lot 92 sells for £160,000 @GoffsUK @BrzUps Sale. This colt by Kodiac, who is very popular at the sales, was consigned by @HoStud and bought by @BlandfordBldstk. pic.twitter.com/lNelf60scC

— TDN (@theTDN) April 21, 2022

Boman and Buick returned to the fray for lot 130, on behalf of the same clients, in the process completing another fine pinhook for Longways Stables, who had picked out this Zoustar (Aus) filly for £26,000 here last summer—even though her dam Ainippe (Ire) (Captain Rio {GB}) won twice in group company and was placed at the highest level. This time, with the benefit of a lightning breeze, she raised £150,000.

“Sharp filly,” Boman said. “She went very quick, one of the top five times, and she's very fit and forward so we can expect her to be early and hopefully we can get her to Ascot. Obviously you don't have to explain Zoustar to Australians, and this filly also has some residual which you can't say of every horse in this sale.”

Longways had also rolled the dice on a Zoustar colt here last August, and were again well rewarded in converting his value from £35,000 to £130,000 from Bryan Smart lot 135.

Overall this catalogue is unabashedly promoted on the Royal Ascot record of its graduates and the same handful of races, now barely two months away, were duly on the mind of investors throughout the day.

Fawzi Nass was one, when giving Kessaar (Ire) another significant boost in the £160,000 acquisition—the docket signed in the name of Oliver St Lawrence Bloodstock—of a February colt found here for just £20,000 last summer and recycled as lot 114 by Bansha House Stables.

“Royal Ascot is always the plan,” Nass said with a grin. “But it's not that easy. The way he's built, well put together with a nice stride, he looks a proper 2-year-old type—so he should be sharp enough to come out very soon. He'll be trained by Roger Varian.”

His pedigree is certainly more commensurate with his April price than his August one: his dam is a half-sister to the three elite winners—Iridessa (Ire) (Ruler Of The World {Ire}), Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}) and Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB})—produced by the O'Briens' blue hen Senta's Dream (GB) (Danehill).

A couple of lots later Robin O'Ryan was endorsing another young sire in Sioux Nation, giving £130,000 for a colt consigned by Gaybrook Lodge as lot 116.

“We've two and we like them,” said Richard Fahey's assistant, here representing an established patron of the yard. “This one was well recommended before coming here. And while he breezed a little bit green, we liked him. They're all Royal Ascot horses at the moment. But he does look racy.”

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First and foremost, of course, the G3 Greenham S. success of Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) was another win for the whole breeze-up sector, reiterating consignors' ability not just to showcase precocity and professionalism, but to lay a foundation for continued development. At the same time, this colt had long ago served the principal agenda of a sale that unabashedly aims to corral stock ready to roll for Royal Ascot.

So while he went on to win Group 1 prizes at Deauville and Newmarket, it was Perfect Power's success in the G2 Norfolk S.—by a satisfying head from Craven alumnus Go Bears Go (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire})—that has made the cover of this catalogue. He is, after all, the third winner of that race found here in the past six runnings; and the sixth overall at the royal meeting since 2016.

Perfect Power was brought here by breeders Tally-Ho Stud, who had another stellar sale at Newmarket last week. Having been retained as a Book 2 yearling, at 16,000gns, he was instead sold here to Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock for £110,000. For the agent, a lightbulb had come on: he had bought the sire here, also from Tally-Ho, in 2016.

“There were a lot of similarities with his father,” Brown said. “Not just physically but in temperament. It was definitely something Sheikh Rashid [Dalmook Al Maktoum, owner] and I spoke about at length before he decided to pull the trigger.”

Brown is unsurprised by the serial endorsements of breeze-up stock on the track this spring.

“These guys do an extraordinary job,” he said. “They're exceptional judges, exceptional at getting horses to show us what they can do over two furlongs, while also going on. The proof of the pudding is that two of the top four in the 2000 Guineas betting are breeze-up horses. That's hugely to the credit of the guys that prepare these horses.

“I'm actually a big believer that the whole process can make a good horse: the grounding they have, the hoops they have to jump through to get to the point of the hammer coming down, it's a huge test of a young horse. The fact is that you not only have horses that can come out and run early, you've also had Gold Cup winners, and now we're talking about genuine Classic horses.”

Horses acquired at this sale, with Ascot in mind, do tend to be “oven-ready” and go straight into training.

“But we only ever give them a chance to show whether or not they can be an Ascot horse,” Brown said. “If they say they're not ready, you back off immediately. And we will buy horses at the breeze-ups for the summer or back-end, and they'll always get turned out for three weeks.”

In the case of Perfect Power, however, trainer Richard Fahey received an unequivocal response.

“Richard sent me the video, there was what has now become quite a well-known piece of work,” Brown said with a smile. “He'd sent eight or 10 2-year-olds away for a piece of work on the grass and, out of nowhere, this colt came to the front and galloped three lengths clear of the whole bunch. I'm very cynical, I thought rest of them must be useless—but as it turned out, it was obviously pretty unfair on the rest of them to have to gallop with him.”

What's so heartening about the maturing profile of breeze-up stock is that they are plainly progressing in the round. There was a time, as prices started to rise, that many consignors were feeling uncomfortable with the slavish obedience of some investors to their stopwatches. But Brown argues that the European environment remains geared towards a fuller package.

“I'm vehemently against official times,” he stressed. “I think if we went down that route, we'd very quickly find ourselves in an American situation where it would become very hard for us sell a horse to client if it hadn't done one of the top breezes. Perfect Power wasn't in the top 10 times, nor was Ardad. Here everybody gets their own times and disseminates them in their own way. And it works. You can see that in the clearance rates here, compared with America. If we went down the route of official times, I'm absolutely convinced that clearance rates would reduce by probably 25%.

“Remember there are also plenty of guys out there buying good horses that don't use times. Everyone does it in a different way. Yes, we use times—but we use lots of other things as well. And if you asked me what the number one factor is, for me it would still be temperament. And there's no better test of temperament than this.”

Certainly the emergence of Perfect Power has enabled Henry Beeby and Tim Kent, respectively chairman and managing director of Goffs UK, to introduce this catalogue with due pride. “Facts are facts and spin is spin,” they write, before wryly conceding themselves to be “well capable of the latter”. But here, they continue, “Facts need no spin. Whatever you may have heard elsewhere and whatever gimmicks may have been rolled out, the fact is that the Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale's record at the royal meeting is simply second to none.”

No need, plainly, to specify which “gimmicks” they might have in mind. This was transparently an aside directed at the lucrative bonus schemes nowadays enhancing the Craven Sale, including one expressly focused on juvenile races at Ascot.

But just as the whole market prospers from the success of breeze-up graduates on the track, so the extremely strong performance of the Craven Sale sets an auspicious tone for this one. The breeze-up sector, after all, was viciously exposed to the economic tempests of the pandemic and even new tremors in the geopolitical environment do not discourage the hope that consignors may finally be back on something like an even keel.

In 2020 this auction found itself one of the first canaries in the mine for the bloodstock industry. A diminished catalogue was eventually offered alongside one for Arqana in July—hardly an ideal date, for a sale with Royal Ascot as its avowed priority—and actually gave some early hint of the remarkable resilience that emerged from the overall market that year. Sure enough, last year a record £48,590 average outstripped even the £45,750 peak of what had become a sustained bull run, at this sale, in 2019.

Simply keeping the show on the road over the past couple of years often required competing sales companies to co-operate for the greater good of a traumatised industry. So just to be removing the gloves again, with a little friendly jousting, actually feels quite heartening.

“In troubled times, of course we pulled together,” Beeby remarked. “We live in very small world, a very insular world, and of course we're competitive. Some people have said in the past that we shouldn't fight so much, but I don't think we do at all. Yes, we are competitive—but that's what creates such a strong and vibrant market, the fact that we all work so hard, try so hard. And when people have been saying over the past couple of years how well we were getting on with Edmond Mahony [of Tattersalls] and Eric Hoyeau [Arqana], I said, 'We always have: we're roughly the same age, we've been doing exactly the same thing for 30 or 40 years, we understand each other intricately.' As I've always said, I want our sales to go really well—and everyone else's to go… okay! I don't want anybody to get hurt, I just want ours to be the best. And I'm sure everyone else is the same.”

That said, nothing ever stays quite the same for these restlessly ambitious rivals. This time round, Goffs has already staged a breeze-up sale, meeting the exotic challenge of hosting an auction in Dubai during World Cup week.

“That was wonderful,” Beeby said. “It was a huge learning curve, both for ourselves and the vendors. Going forward, a particular type of horse will be required. But it was a massive success. The vendors were wonderful, stepping into the unknown; and the Dubai Racing Club were fantastic. To use the vulgar phrase, they put their money where their mouth is, flying the horses out, and they were just so proactive and encouraging.”

A less welcome break from business as usual came in a fatal injury suffered during Tuesday's breeze session. However innocuous the tasks assigned to a Thoroughbred, there will always be some perennial element of hazard at the gallop.

“It was just one of those terribly unfortunate things, a freak accident,” Beeby said. “But we had everything in place, just as if it was raceday, and I've heard a lot of praise today for the speed and professionalism of the teams that had to deal with what was a deeply upsetting situation for everybody.”

There were poignant moments later on for Beeby himself, in presiding in the sale ring over a celebration of his late father Harry, formerly managing director and chairman of DBS and president of Goffs UK. The family having observed its private grief in November, this was an apt opportunity to honour the memory of the much-loved figure who had, besides many other accomplishments, been pivotal to the inauguration of this market.

“Yes, he was the one who pioneered breeze-ups in Europe in 1977,” Beeby reflected before taking to the rostrum. “If he hadn't done it, none of this would have happened. He wasn't just my father: he was also my teacher and mentor, my inspiration. He was my hero. He was everything I wanted to be. He allowed me to be that, but also to be my own person. And that was very important.

“At 60 he decided, of his own volition, that the time had come for him step back and for me to take a step forward. And the great thing was that still he was young and vibrant enough to be this absolutely reassuring presence, while also strong enough to give me my head and say, 'Kick on, I'm with you.' We worked together 35 years, two very strong personalities, but we hardly ever had a cross word.

“In the hundreds of letters and emails and messages we received, the one word that recurred most was 'gentleman.' That's not just somebody who opens doors to ladies and doffs his cap. It's somebody who acts with decency and integrity. It means someone who treats people the right way. There are a lot of people in this industry who've been kind enough to say they would never have made it but for him. In fact, there's a breeze-up consignor who calls his home 'the house that Harry built'. And he brought a great sense of joy. Everybody loved seeing Harry. He had a welcome for everybody, and looked after big men and the little man in the exact same way.”

It's not just on the racetrack, then, that this environment is producing a model for everyone to emulate.

The sale, in a single session, opens at 10 a.m.

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So while it remains poignant to see the condition of some of the mansions built along South Parade to accommodate grandees of the Victorian Turf, collectively we persevere in the hope of better times ahead. And even after just one sale, the European breeze-up circuit does feel as though it might be rocking back towards an even keel.

Last year, this was the sector first broadsided by the pandemic, and this auction, which prides itself as a source of horses precocious enough to have Royal Ascot in mind, was only salvaged for July. The Craven Sale at Tattersalls last week offered one or two very auspicious markers: not just a very purposeful clearance rate (88%), for obvious reasons a familiar feature of an uncertain trading environment over the past year, but more importantly a sturdy middle market. So while there were no fireworks, the median was historically competitive (68,000gns, compared with a range of 70,000-77,500gns during the first four of the five years of the bull run that started in 2014) and shored up precisely the area that often feels most porous at bloodstock sales. So if trade on Thursday can consolidate that initial impression, then vendors and hosts alike will surely be well satisfied.

On the eve of the sale John Cullinan of Horse Park Stud, who has done such sterling work at the helm of the Breeze-Up Consignors' Association, had a grimly humorous analogy for the sector's exposure to the first wave of the pandemic.

“We were the canary in the mine for the bloodstock industry last year,” he said. “So I think everyone had a big sigh of relief just that we got through it, and survived in such difficult circumstances. We were the pathfinders for all the protocols and precautions, and I think it was a help that we are relatively small, in terms of numbers. That meant that the sales companies had been able to test and prepare everything before the autumn. So while it was stressful for everybody, it was great having somewhere to trade—as it is now. And it says it all that I think every one of the breeze-up consignors, to a man, was back in play in the autumn.”

Cullinan agrees that last week's sale provided a positive springboard.

“Though one thing that was notable was that there weren't many who wanted to buy big numbers,” he cautioned. “There were a lot of clients on the ground who had only one or two to buy. That meant orders got filled easily, and it got a bit patchy at times. But overall I thought the standard of horse was good, the standard of breeze was good, and if we didn't hit the heights of previous years the overall spread through the market was encouraging.”

It's an ill wind that blows no good, and consignors contrived to derive some underlying positives even from the traumatic market of 2020.

“What was interesting, doing our analysis afterwards, was that we discovered that we had increased the buying bench quite considerably,” Cullinan said. “Which means more people are buying breeze-up horses than ever before. We did lose some of the big names for various reasons, especially from overseas because of travel restrictions. But despite losing a cohort that between them spent £10 million the previous year, the average price only dropped by a couple of thousand quid.”

And, necessity being the mother of invention, there have even been some incidental benefits.

“To be fair, the sales companies were fantastic,” Cullinan said. “The online element had to go from nought to 100 very quickly, and it was a learning curve for everybody, but now you'd say it's something that's here to stay. And among the vendors, even the Neanderthals like myself are on social media, filming them at home, putting up videos online pre-sale. It's all optional stuff, but people are also putting up vets' X-rays and scopes. There are different ways of doing things, and hopefully it's helping to engage people from afar.”

Less helpful, he feels, were misplaced theories about such private sales as took place when the whole calendar seemed in question.

“Some people had a misconception that we were selling our best horses at home,” Cullinan said. “That was completely untrue. The fact is that people sold horses at all ranges. We sold only two, and one of those was for eight grand. They weren't being cherry-picked. Everyone was very conscious of coming back to the sale, and didn't want to do that with half a draft. Certainly I don't think there's much hunger to do more of that: it was a unique year, and the catalogue sizes are well up to normal.”

The silver lining to reduced gains was that the wider market, which had arguably appeared to be overheating anyway, made restocking somewhat less expensive.

“The yearling market was softer, except Book II which was very strong,” Cullinan said. “If you had your shopping done before then, it was a big advantage. But if you were behind coming to Newmarket, you were in bother. But being the fools that we are, I think the majority of us ended up spending every bit as much.”

There were mixed feelings on the grounds about the insertion of an entire day for viewing between Tuesday's breeze and the single-session sale. Those in favour included those having to liaise across time zones, as well as trainers who had been able to work horses before attending a breeze show that did not start until noon; and again the next morning before returning to view. On the other hand, not least with so many obliged to prospect remotely, the site was so quiet as to have a mild air of lethargy. Regardless, while conditions were quick enough for the time of year—”lively but safe” in one typical verdict—there were few reports of horses tender after their breeze.

This sector has certainly had a pretty wild ride over recent years. There were boom times, for sure, but there were also times when opportunists menaced that success by treating these sales as a sieve for unwanted yearlings. These learned the hard way that the sector has thrived only because of the professionalism and focus of both consignors and prospectors. The next temptation, despite the invariable fate of all those who have ever tried to reduce the Thoroughbred to a system, was to trust blindly in timing and stride data. But then, while that trend was still evolving, out of a clear blue sky came Covid.

But the breeze-up consignors are a resilient crew: in other words, well equipped canaries. “Risks are high,” Cullinan acknowledged. “Sometimes the economics can be tough. If you buy an expensive yearling and reveal that it's ordinary, or has an issue, there is no hiding place. But that's what we do. Our product has added value to the raw yearling. We reveal ability, or lack of it; action; attitude; soundness; wind. So we feel we should be getting a proper mark-up: one must balance out the other, or we're out of business.

“But we feel we have made a bit of ground in recent years. First by highlighting the broad appeal of the product. The perception was that we were all about five and six furlongs, and early 2-year-olds. In reality, we're about decent, sound racehorses at all trips: from Brando (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) to Trip To Paris (Ire) (Champs Elysees {GB}), durable old sprinters and Cup horses. I think people are more aware of that now, and we see that at the door as well. We have horses that wouldn't be spectacular breezers, time-wise, but still have their admirers.

“And then there's the durability of the European product. We all know the number of horses bought to go breezing in America, that don't make it into a catalogue; the number that make it into the catalogue and don't make the sale; and the number that make it to the sale but don't make it to the ring. It's a big attrition rate, over there. Here, far more get to the sales, and far more get through the process, and their careers are longer. A lot of it is because we aren't producing for the clock, and the clock alone. Because of that we can buy different kinds of horses, and don't feel we have to force them.”

The quest for a new Dream Ahead (Diktat {GB}) or Quiet Reflection (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), among the star graduates of this sale, or a new Steel Bull (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}), who was bought here last year for just £28,000 before winning the G3 Molecomb, begins at 10 a.m.

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Several Royal Ascot winners have been sourced from the sale in recent years, including G1 Princes Of Wales's S. hero My Dream Boat (Ire) (Lord Shanakill), G1 Commonwealth Cup S. winner Quiet Reflection (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), G2 Norfolk S. victors Prince Of Lir (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and A'Ali (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}) and Listed Windsor Castle S. winner Ardad (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). Steel Bull (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}), a Doncaster Breeze Up alumni, won the G3 Molecomb S. in 2020, while Bodhicitta (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) landed the GII Yellow Ribbon S. at Del Mar and Umm Kulthum (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) saluted in the G3 Firth of Clyde S.

Several notable lots include: lot 25, a Caravaggio half-brother to Group 1 winner Chachamaidee (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}); a More Than Ready colt (lot 47) who is out of a half-sister to Grade I winner Gift Box (Twirling Candy) and Grade II winner Special Forces (Candy Ride {Arg}) and a full-sister to Grade II heroine Stonetastic (Mizzen Mast); lot 76, a Kingman (GB) half-brother to stakes-winner Cloud Surfing (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and out of a half-sister to Group 1 winner Together (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}); a New Bay (GB) half-brother (lot 96) to Group 1 winner Wizz Kid (Ire) (Whipper); a colt by Dark Angel (Ire) (lot 166) who is a half-brother to the listed winner Tarana (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), the dam of champion and three-time Group 1 winner Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal); and a Blame colt (lot 172) out of a half-sister to Grade I winner Dance To Bristol (Speightstown).

In 2020, the sale was combined with Arqana and held in July due to the COVID-19 pandemic with a top price of £650,000. The aggregate was £12,980,100 for 153 juveniles sold from 176 offered (87%). The average was £84,837 and the median was £50,000.

Goffs UK Managing Director Tim Kent commented, “We are incredibly proud of the track record of this sale and the list of top-class graduates continues to grow each year, a fact that buyers are firmly aware of when buying their breezers. This sale is now the undisputed number one source of Royal Ascot winners with five Goffs Breeze Up graduates winning since 2016 and two of those at Group 1 level.

“The sale will again be held just eight weeks prior to the Royal meeting and the same window has been successful for buyers in recent years with A'Ali (G2 Norfolk S.), Prince Of Lir (G2 Norfolk S.) and Ardad (Listed Windsor Castle S.) all sold at Doncaster just eight weeks prior to the Royal meeting. This is a proven formula and, as ever, we are indebted to our loyal vendors who have again offered some outstanding horses who are guaranteed to continue to showcase this sale on the very biggest stage.

“Once again, all horses have been entered in the Swedish Derby and Oaks Series and we look forward to welcoming new buyers from this region whilst we will also be working in conjunction with GBRI to sell the Royal Ascot dream to all buyers, both domestic and international. The Doncaster Breeze Up Sale has a proven track record for Royal Ascot success and we are excited to offer buyers a genuine chance of getting in to the Royal winners enclosure later this year.”

For more information, please visit www.goffsuk.com.

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Andrew and Riona Lynch of Kilbrew Stables took just two horses to Doncaster and in fact it was the other one, a colt by Mehmas (Ire), who was initially the star package as he vastly exceeded his yearling price when selling for £165,000 to King Power Racing. Steel Bull, fetched the more modest sum of £28,000 from his trainer Michael O’Callaghan, though that was still an improvement on the £15,000 he cost at Tattersalls Ascot as a yearling.

Together, the pair has now provided a week to remember for the Lynch family. First out was Steel Bull to win a Naas maiden on July 22. Five days later the Mehmas colt, now known as Mystery Smiles (Ire) and trained by Andrew Balding, won convincingly on debut at Windsor before Steel Bull regained the upper hand during O’Callaghan’s bold raid on Glorious Goodwood.

Andrew Lynch is better known as a jump jockey, his career highlights including winning both the G1 Arkle Trophy and G1 Queen Mother Champion Chase on Sizing Europe (Ire) at the Cheltenham Festival. But he is quickly making his name in the breeze-up world and operates in tandem with his wife Riona from their farm in Co Meath.

“It’s been unbelievable,” said Andrew on Wednesday. “To be honest we were a bit disappointed with the price of the Clodovil colt because we thought quite a lot of him and there was a good bit of interest in him. Three or four people said they were going to follow him in and they actually never did. So we were disappointed with that but they must be sick over it as well. I’ve been raving about him since February, I felt he was a good horse.”

Reflecting on a trying season as sales were delayed and then relocated, he added, “At the beginning of the year when the pandemic arose we were worried and we didn’t know what way the market was going to be. But we were lucky enough to have a few good horses and good results, so we were probably the luckier ones, I suppose.”

Kilbrew Stables also brought four horses to Newmarket for last week’s Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Sale, an auction which should have taken place only a few miles from their home in Ashbourne.

“You don’t mind going anywhere if you have a chance to sell a horse and, to be honest, we were glad that the sales moved to England and that we were lucky enough that they were able to get clients there,” Lynch commented. “We’ve only been doing this in a small way for the last three or four years and we’ve gradually been having a few extra horses each year. We had seven altogether and six went to the sales. We also have a Zoffany (Ire) filly who just scraped her knee on the Wednesday before she was due to travel to Newmarket so she was withdrawn, but we think a lot of her, she was up there with the two boys.”

Like many jump jockeys, Lynch has been dealt his share of bad luck with injuries and he has been sidelined from race riding since February 2019 with a bad shoulder dislocation, though he has been able to ride out the breezers on his home gallop.

“I’m waiting to see the specialist in the next week or so but at least I have had something to keep me busy by doing this,” he said.

While the delays to the sales have been frustrating for the consignors, the Lynch team has clearly done an excellent job in keeping the youngsters under their care in good shape mentally and physically and in having them ready to run so soon after their turn in the ring.

Lynch continued, “In general terms a breeze-up sale is meant to be for that purpose, the horses should be ready to go and run a couple of weeks later, and they should be able to run well and, if they’re lucky enough, win. You hope that the horses should be able to take the work and be forward enough to run even in the back end [of the season] if that’s what the owners and trainers want them to do.”

He added, “Obviously we had them for a few months longer than normal but they progressed the whole time and Michael [O’Callaghan] has done a good job with Steel Bull, both in bringing him along and placing him in the right races. We were thrilled to bits by him even winning his maiden but to go on and win a group race at Goodwood a week after is just incredible.”

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