TATTERSALLS chairman Edmond Mahony put it bluntly when the final hammer fell at the Tattersalls Breeze Up Sale on Thursday evening. He said: “It is clear that there are challenges in the current marketplace, challenges which reflect wider economic realities.”

These forces combined to produce a disappointing clearance rate of 72%, though the average was largely unchanged. The median declined by 10%, and with many fewer horses sold, turnover fell by some 17%.