I have a golden rule when it comes to finding bargains in the sales ring - and it can help punters too

This morning I sent a message to someone relating to a potential horse of interest at this week’s Tattersalls July Sale and the response was: ‘X has questions to answer after his last run; I’d sooner have something with a more progressive profile.’

Horse X has had just a handful of runs, winning once, and overall had been steadily improving until his most recent start, when he beat only a couple of horses home.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with this attitude, but it is something of a safety-first approach, with an in-built recency bias, and without this latest blip I can guarantee Horse X would cost quite a lot more through the ring and probably be unaffordable for a syndicate/owner working within a relatively tight budget. The ‘blip’ might make him affordable and personally I’d rather focus on the full body of evidence of a horse’s career than focus on their most recent start alone. It gives you a better chance of getting good value.