Public trade of pointers remains robust despite increase in private acquisitions

Cristal d'Estruval sells for £400,000 to Ed Bailey and Harry Derham

A hive of activity - the Tattersalls Cheltenham sales ringCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

The catalogue for the first public sale of point-to-pointers from this season was released this week. As of now, 38 lots are poised to be consigned to the Tattersalls Cheltenham November Sale, which takes place next Friday, with additional wildcard entries likely to emerge from this weekend’s three fixtures.

Last season, close to €32 million was spent on Irish point-to-pointers at public auction, as the overall market to secure those proven performers has remained particularly strong. In recent seasons, it has been fascinating to watch the split of horses being sold between public auction houses and those who are traded away from the public spotlight on the private market.

The six-figure transactions which take place within the spotlight of the public arena bring with them a whole burden of expectations from both the media and public, something that many vendors and purchasers have become apprehensive about when it comes to the trading of those horses at the very top of the market. Despite that, trade in the public domain remained robust last season, as is evident from the overall 2024-25 yield, which represented an upswing on the figure from 12 months earlier.

Exciting point-to-point winners among strong early intake for Tattersalls Cheltenham November Sale

The final catalogue for next week’s season-opening sale will give the first indication of how that split is likely to play out. However, that strong public sales figure of €32m continues to demonstrate the value of point-to-pointers and could, in part, be responsible for the positive signs within the hunter certificate numbers.

As of the beginning of the week, 1,084 horses held an active hunter certificate, a 12 per cent increase on the figure from the corresponding point 12 months earlier.

The four-year-old category continues to dominate the overall number of hunter certificates, but the increase is helped by the number of older horses point-to-pointing. Right now, there are 286 horses aged six or older with an active hunter certificate, which equates to a greater than 20 per cent increase within that particular category.

Admittedly, we remain at a very early stage of the season, and it is increasing off a low base following a number of years of decline, but this is a positive start which will hopefully continue into the weeks and months ahead.