A COMBINATION of travel restrictions, copious amounts of paperwork and lockdowns caused by Covid-19 and Brexit has made selling horses from Ireland at thoroughbred sales in Britain less straightforward as it has been in previous years.
The National Stud is based right in the heart of Newmarket and just five minutes from Tattersalls. It offers a top-class consignment and yearling prep service which is available to Irish owners selling in Britain.
“We understand this year it is quite difficult for people with the recent changes and we are always willing to work with people to suit their particular needs.
“We can provide a consignment-only service where we meet clients at the sales or they can come to the farm a few days beforehand. Alternatively we are delighted to prep yearlings from start to finish also,” nominations manager Joe Callan explains.
The National Stud has been growing its yearling consignment in recent years and it has enjoyed great success, with Joe saying: “We’ve put a lot of work into our yearling consignment over the last couple of years and it has grown in quality and size.
Last year we sold our biggest and strongest draft yet with numerous winners already appearing from it – this year it looks like we’ve another very exciting draft ahead.
“This year we hope to consign about 50 yearlings in total throughout the season and it’s a split between yearlings we will meet at the sales and ones we will prep ourselves.”
Ideal location
“We understand the difficulties people are encountering now and we’re delighted that we’re based in Newmarket and we can really offer a tailored service to people looking to sell in the UK.
“We’re a National Stud and we’re here for everybody – the small owner with one horse to sell is equally as important to us as the owner with 10 horses to sell – we want to help people get the best results possible and provide the best service possible,” Joe continues.
Top staff
Joe is keen to emphasise the top-class facilities and staff on hand at The National Stud, as he says: “Tim Lane the stud director, Aonghus Ryan the stud farm manager and myself all work together very closely when it comes to sales time and the stud is extremely lucky with the team of excellent people on the farm for prep and to come to the sales – so we’re really very well-rounded in that sense.
“We also offer educational courses and we’re very lucky that some of the students stay on to assist with the prep and come to the sales.
“The National Stud has always had a strong presence when it came to the breeding stock sales and a few years ago we decided to push the yearling side.
“We had a strong existing client base and we already had the good relationship with the purchasers so it made sense to try to grow this side of the business.”
“We’re here to provide a service and we’re extremely lucky because we have everything here in place already.
“We’d love to be able to help by working with people to try to maximise the best return possible on their yearlings and make the process in these difficult times as seamless as possible,” Joe concluded.