'It's in everyone's best interests' - buyers applaud breeze-up sale merger

Buyers have given the thumbs up to Goffs UK and Arqana's plan to merge their breeze-up sales and move them to Ireland in late June in response to government restrictions on travel and gatherings intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Matt Coleman, who with agency partner Anthony Stroud spent £1,113,000 on ten lots for various clients at last year's Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale and came away with Group winners A'Ali and Al Raya, said the move “made a lot of sense”.

“The large majority of breeze-up horses are stationed in Ireland so it makes more sense to move a select number of buyers to Ireland than to get the large number of staff who look after the horses to travel to sales in Doncaster and Deauville,” he explained.

“It's important the breeze-ups happen, as long as it's acceptable to do so in line with government restrictions, and it was a good idea to pick a date that's far enough in the future to look achievable.”

Coleman did add, though, that there would have to be more clarity on the racing programme by then to inspire buyer confidence.

“Racing will really need to have started up and a programme set in stone by the time the breeze-up sales happen – it would be hard to encourage a client to buy a two-year-old when they might not be able to race them until the late summer or autumn,” he said.

“Speaking to my clients, it's the structure of the racing programme that's of greatest importance to them. Take the Cool Silk Partnership, for example; their model is to race their two-year-olds early and get them in stakes races before trading towards the end of the season. They need to know they'll be able to do that to some degree this year before investing.”

Ascot warning

Coleman also sounded a note of caution about the early season two-year-old programme potentially clashing with the breeze-ups.

“The one thing I do hope is that if Royal Ascot takes place in its usual slot in mid-June and therefore before the postponed breeze-up sales, they don't run two-year-old races,” he said.

“The reasons are twofold: first, it would be unsatisfactory having fields full of unraced horses, and second, it could mean that the breeze-up vendors will pull their best horses from the sales and enter them at Ascot instead, to try to get them to run well and showcase their resale value there instead of in the sales ring.

“The breeze-up horses would probably fare well in those races, as they would be more forward and educated than many in training yards. It's important for the future confidence in the breeze-up market that the best horses aren't withdrawn in that way this year.”

Richard Brown: keen to give the breeze-up sector supportCredit: Peter Mooney

Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock, whose name appeared on the dockets of £910,000-worth of stock at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up last year and €550,000-worth at Arqana's equivalent sale a month later, was similarly complimentary of the amalgamated format.

“It's fantastic news, and shows the industry is willing to pull together,” said the purchaser of stars such as Ardad and Teppal at those fixtures. “These are tricky times – likely the trickiest all of us will face in our lifetimes – so to see two sales companies come together in everyone's best interests is good to see.

“Between the sales companies, vendors and purchasers, there's a massive will to make this work. Combining the sales into one larger auction makes perfect sense as there will be less travel, less movement of people and so less risk of the virus spreading.

“I'll be there trying to buy as many as ever, government restrictions on travel allowing. It's important we support the breeze-up sector; I recently saw statistics saying they bought around 700 yearlings last year, so you can guarantee they'll have been underbidder on just as many: that means they had a direct price impact on 1,400 yearlings. So hopefully we can all help keep them going.”

Brown said that if travel restrictions were not relaxed before late June, he would still support the sale remotely if needs must.

“Not being able to see the horses would be far from ideal, but then this whole situation is far from ideal,” he said.

“If the breeze-up had to take place in private, and if we couldn't travel and inspect the horses, there would still be a certain amount we could do – we're into our analysis of times and stride patterns and that could be taken from videos with the vendor's assistance.

“We'd be talking to the sellers about important things like the height and weight of the horses, too. I have good enough relationships with many vendors that they'd know whether it's a horse for me and they'd be honest about it.

“So I would participate in an online-only sale, but I hope that is very much a worst-case scenario.”

Online sale limitations

Coleman is also intending on being at the sale in person.

“As long as it's legal and safe to go, I'll be there but I'd be very careful with transportation and accommodation – keeping away from other people with no socialising,” he said. “If the number of people attending the actual sale is limited, along with the mixing and movement of people, it should be workable.

“I've been speaking to vendors about which horses they like, and many are putting more videos and photos of their horses out there, which is a good thing, although it's fairly hard to assess a horse's ability in a walk or in doing a gallop in isolation.”

Coleman went on to explain the constraints in seeing horses online only and not in person.

“You really need to see the horse in the flesh to get a feel for how it moves and to see all the 200 or 250 horses in the catalogue breeze at the same track on the same day to see how they compare,” he said. “You can also see the horses before and after their breeze, and speak to their riders.

“Online bidding is important to a degree, but many of the major buyers will want to see the horses and watch the breeze.

"It's important for an agent to be able to encourage their clients to buy as well; it's all about generating interest and enthusiasm, and that's achieved by being on the sales ground and getting bits of information, seeing the horses and so on.

“An online-only sale would not be impossible, but the market would be considerably dulled,” he summed up.

Tim Kent: consulted vendors and buyers before the amalgamation with ArqanaCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

Goffs UK managing director Tim Kent reported positive feedback from participants since the announcement of the joint-venture with Arqana on Saturday.

“We spoke to a number of vendors and buyers before the announcement to ensure we were doing the best for everyone,” he said. “We still have a few things to finalise, including when exactly is best to hold the breeze.

“With most of the horses already based in Ireland, Arqana and Doncaster combining just means less travel for all involved and all of the team at Goffs are looking forward to working with the Arqana team to hold the best possible sale while observing all government restrictions and guidelines.

"At the moment it's too early to know exactly how we will manage the numbers of people in attendance but we hope to be able to offer something close to normality and we will know more when Ireland announces plans after the current lockdown.

“The situation is changing all the time. The sale is seven or eight weeks in the future and if you look back seven or eight weeks from now we had no idea what impact the Covid-19 pandemic would have. So we'll have to take it week by week and continue to respond to developments by refining details of the sale.”

Despite the likely restrictions on the number of people allowed on the grounds at Goffs, Kent added that all buyers would be welcome to travel to see the horses at some point, with a number of days being built in between the breeze and the sale to give extra time for individual viewing arrangements.

“We'll facilitate any buyer, whether they want to buy ten horses or just the one – if they are willing and able to come to Ireland there will be enough time to view the horses while maintaining social distancing before the sale,” he said.

“Even if they don't manage to make it to the sale itself, we'll have online bidding facilities and both teams from Goffs and Arqana available to take telephone bids.”

The Goffs UK and Arqana breeze-up sales are set to take place together on June 29 and 30 at Goffs' Kildare Paddocks, with the breeze to be held at Naas racecourse a few days before.

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