A licence to print money or a monumental risk? Inside the breeze-up sales

Some 781 two-year-olds have been presented at the five major European breeze-up sales this year, and consequently there has been a wide range in fortunes enjoyed and endured.

There have been soaring highs (and profits) along the way, as well as some sobering lows (and losses), while the majority of transactions have fallen somewhere on the spectrum between these two outcomes. That, in a nutshell, is the nature of public auction; you win some, you lose some.

When all the details are analysed in the round, there appears to have been a real solidity to this year's breeze-up market. However, with five major sales, 781 lots offered and 684 juveniles changing hands in recent weeks, a few additional layers need to be peeled back before we have the full picture.