October Sale - unprecedented levels of demand but reality check at top of market

There has been plenty of promise throughout the summer and autumn yearling auctions, but it is debatable whether anyone could have realistically foreseen such an energetic market at the four books of Tattersalls' flagship October Sale. What we can say for certain, however, is that no one following the figures closely will have mistaken the sheer strength of trade on show.

Over the nine sessions that comprised Books 1 to 4, 1,809 yearlings came under the hammer in Newmarket and 1,542 found a buyer for a clearance rate of 85 per cent. In turn, a massive 151,658,350gns was spent, representing a ten per cent year-on-year increase in turnover.

These results mean that £271,363,820 has been spent on 3,825 lots at the major European yearling sales in 2021, 58.7 per cent of which was spent at Tattersalls in the last fortnight.