'Taking bids is like taking an illegal drug' - how to be an auctioneer

Wear your runners.

It's the first, and only, piece of advice everyone offers, unsolicited, when they hear I am to shadow Goffs Group chief executive Henry Beeby for a day at the Orby Sale, the company's flagship yearling auction.

Duly warned, a battered pair of trainers, functional rather than fashionable, are retrieved from their resting place down the back of a cupboard in the garage. Later, I will be glad I paid heed to the advice.