How sales season's most unwelcome trends were bucked at Tattersalls

It would be fair to say the bloodstock industry had held its breath ahead of what could so easily have been a difficult edition of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, with vendors reporting a mix of anxiety and trepidation before the two weeks of selling in Newmarket.

However, what transpired surpassed just about all expectations. Over nine sessions of selling across Books 1, 2, 3 and 4, some 1,507 yearlings changed hands. Remarkably, particularly considering 37 less lots were offered, that means five more yearlings were sold at the 2020 October Sale compared to the previous year's edition.

In turn, those transactions brought turnover of 138,268,200gns, a 12.5 per cent year-on-year drop on the 158,155,600gns spent on 1,502 yearlings at the 2019 October Yearling Sale.