Phenomenal increases across the board produces record breaking Breeze Up Sale

For the third year in succession the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze Up Sale, Ireland’s only Breeze Up Sale, has successfully broken all of its own records.

The highly successful breeze day on Thursday at Fairyhouse racecourse preluded a vibrant and cosmopolitan sale day with the excellent trade producing a record 18 lots sold for a six-figure sum, while four horses fetched €200,000 and above.

Tremendous trade was seen right from the start of the one-day sale and created a new best-ever turnover of €8,563,500, breaking the €8 million barrier for the first time. The average price of €43,033 was an increase of thirteen per cent on last year’s record average and a debut for the statistic over €40,000, while there was also a new record median of €30,000, an increase of 36 per cent on 2022’s result. The 239 horses offered were sold at a clearance rate of 83 per cent.

The session’s top price of €270,000, the joint third-best price ever given at the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze Up Sale, came from Ross Doyle for the son of Zelzal sold by Donovan Bloodstock (Lot 79). It is the best sale ring result for the consigning team headed by Danny Donovan, and a fine pinhooking return on their autumn investment of €35,000.

Adam Potts, who is part of the Donovan Bloodstock crew, said: "We saw this colt as a yearling in France and he was just a frame, but he had this amazing walk and loads of scope. He has done nothing but fill out since and he has thrived.”

After his purchase, Doyle enthused: "He is an outstanding physical, he boxed dramatically above his weight on his breeding when he breezed. He did it in a nice way, and he was not flat out and what I saw visually impressed me.

"He was magnificently turned out and looked fantastic, the lads have done a good job. He is for an established client and it looks like he is going to France, the sire has been going well out there."

The second lot in the ring set the tone for the day when Mark McStay of Avenue Bloodstock outbid Richard Ryan at €240,000 for the Sioux Nation colt sold by Katie Walsh’s Greenhills Farm (Lot 2).

"The early bird gets the worm!" said McStay after securing one of the expected highlights of the session. "I thought it was clearly the best breeze I saw yesterday. I came on Wednesday afternoon having been around some of the best trainers’ yards in Ireland and I probably had not seen as nice an individual as this.

"He is a stand-out, I vetted him before he breezed as I knew he was a lovely horse and Katie recommended him. His breeze did not disappoint, and his sire is flying. This colt has got size and scope – he is not just a two-year-old – he is a powerful horse. He has been bought for a relatively new client and he has not yet decided on a trainer.”

The sale provided Walsh with a fine return on last autumn’s pinhook investment of €40,000. She said: "He was always so straight forward and easy to do. I kept him for this sale, he could have gone a lot of places. This sale has been lucky for me across the board, I felt he was a big rangy colt who needed to mature and fill out and this sale gives a bit of time to do that."

Lot 128, another by Sioux Nation, caught the eyes of the buying bench and Global Equine Group had to go to €230,000, the six-figure sum giving another young consignor a best-ever result in the sale ring.

A thrilled Darragh Lordan of Innishannon Valley Stud, who bought the colt as a yearling for €25,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, said: "I was hoping for €100,000 as I really liked him, but to get that price is fantastic. 

“To have the horse for top tier trade is unreal, and all the right people were on him. He breezed savage and all year he has been so straightforward, everything was so smooth, he has been a very easy horse to do, I think he is a very good horse. Hopefully, he can go to the track and do it there."

When recalling the colt as a yearling, he said: "He had a good walk, he was very unfurnished, he just thrived once I got him home. Work never phased him and you could keep weight on him all the time. He is a proper sales horse with a good step."

The colt is out of the Noverre mare Dotada, the winner of four races and placed eight times. She is a half-sister to the Listed-placed duo Give Back Calais and Ribbons And Bows.

Commenting on the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze Up Sale, Simon Kerins CEO of Tattersalls Ireland said;

"Incredible is the word that springs to mind when I reflect on today. The Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze Up Sale is truly going from strength to strength, the second lot into the ring making €240,000 set the tone for the day and the six-figure lots didn’t stop coming after that. To sell a record 18 lots for €100,000 or more is remarkable and our sincere thanks must go out to every single vendor who entrusted us with their top-quality two-year-olds. It was also fantastic to see so many young consignors rewarded for their hard work and determination, and I congratulate all of those who returned with profitable pinhooks. 

"We must also thank our overseas buyers who flocked to Tattersalls Ireland in their droves, it was wonderful to see everyone and to welcome a wealth of new faces as well. The footfall seen across the last two days at Ireland’s only Breeze Up Sale has been phenomenal and the figures achieved were driven by an international buying bench with a huge contingent of overseas buyers from UAE, Scandinavia, Germany, Spain, and Italy taking on lively bidders from the UK and Ireland. 

"The logistics that go into staging a Breeze Up Sale are huge and we would not be able to do it without the support of Fairyhouse Racecourse and Irish Thoroughbred Marketing. Charles O'Neill and the team at Irish Thoroughbred Marketing have worked so hard to attract overseas buyers and the team at Fairyhouse Racecourse provided us with a safe surface and excellent facilities. It was great to hear vendors being so complimentary about the new stretch of ground that had never been used for this sale before. 

"We have no doubt this year’s graduates will go on to be top-class performers across the globe and we look forward to following their journeys. We now turn our attention to compiling our catalogue for the September Yearling Sale and attracting a strong bench of purchasers back in the Autumn."