‘There’s been plenty of competitive tension’ - leading buyer Bromley reflects on £1,064,500 Doncaster spend

No buyer was busier at Doncaster’s Premier Sale than Anthony Bromley as the Highflyer Bloodstock agent signed for 15 lots for a combined outlay of £1,064,500. That total equates to seven per cent of the whole-sale aggregate of £14,972,500. 

The lion’s share of those purchases were made with Phil Cunningham of Rebel Racing, with the pair combining on ten lots that fetched an aggregate of £1,010,000 – the biggest spend by a single entity across the two days of trade.

The priciest acquisition heading to trainer Richard Spencer is the Mehmas colt out of Red Box secured for £210,000 on day one. Day two’s haul was led by the £150,000 Night Of Thunder colt out of Incharge offered by Barton Stud on behalf of Brightwalton Stud. 

Reflecting on his Rebel Racing recruitment drive, Bromley said: “It’s my second season buying for Phil Cunningham but he’s been an owner for a long time now. He’s got a strong affinity with Doncaster going way back to Cockney Rebel. Since Richard’s been training for him there’s been Rajasinghe, who won the Coventry, and Rumble Inthejungle, who won the Molecomb. They’ve all come from Doncaster. 

“We felt we bought a good bunch of horses here last year and think there’s a big future for some of those, horses like Yah Mo Be There and Righthere Rightnow. They obviously have the big sales race as well [Harry's Half Million], which is a nice carrot, so we wanted to work the sale hard and by Sunday tea time I’d seen every colt in the catalogue.” 

Bromley and Cunningham’s combined purchases generated an average price of £101,000 and a median of £100,000. 

“We’ve bought some for slightly over budget and others for under budget,” he continued. “The higher quartile of the market is still strong, and we always thought that would be. We got totally blown out of the water on the horse who made £350,000 so we haven’t had it totally our own way. But we think we’ve bought a really nice bunch of athletic horses who’ll hopefully make nice two-year-olds.” 

The Night Of Thunder colt from Barton Stud who was Anthony Bromley's priciest purchase on day two in DoncasterCredit: SARAH FARNSWORTH

The agent also signed alongside the likes of James Owen, Harry Dunlop and Eve Johnson Houghton, with his purchases ranging from the six-figure Rebel Racing signings through to a £6,000 filly by Lope Y Fernandez. 

Bromley echoed the view expressed by the vast majority of buyers that trade had been stronger than anticipated, although he acknowledged that life was less than straightforward at the lower reaches of the market. 

“I’ve bought for other people today as well and there’s been moments where the lower end of the market is patchy,” he said. “That’s going to be magnified throughout the sales season as I think the yearling crop is as big as it’s been for a number of years, and demand is definitely lower this year. It’ll be an interesting sales season but it will be feast or famine for the vendors. If you tick every box you have every chance of doing very, very well, but it’s going to be up and down. 

“We can’t live in a bubble in racing though and the outside world has to have an impact. I’ve seen it on the jumps side, where we haven’t been buying as many. Orders for jumpers are down and it won’t be any different on the Flat, although there are a lot more Flat horses to be sold. I think this has been a good renewal of the sale though and there’s been plenty of competitive tension.”

Read more from the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale:

‘We never thought she’d make that much’ - small breeders land a big result as Havana Grey filly hits £240,000 in Doncaster 

‘I’ve been in horses all my life and I’ve never had anything like that’ - dreams come true in Doncaster as major pedigree update sees Tasleet colt sell for £350,000