Why Tattersalls catalogue should be sounding major alarm bells for the National Hunt sector

Whisper it quietly but in a few weeks the National Hunt sales season will be under way once again. A bit niche, I know, but the goings-on at these sales provide a pertinent barometer for the wider industry. The Tattersalls Ireland offering is the traditional start of what is a condensed schedule. 

For breeders, it has been an unforgiving environment over the past few years. The store sales this summer provided a glimmer of positivity, and the hope would be that might spark a similar upturn in the foal sector because it could do with one.

After the Tattersalls sale two years ago, in a piece heralding the start of the jump season and its various attendant ills – small fields, Grade 1s confined to two trainers and the stark contraction in the number of stakeholders – I discussed how sober trade at the foal sales illustrated how deeply the headwinds had permeated the industry's base.