A LONG week for me comes to an end, one that since last Sunday encompassed a Limerick stud farm visit, the Foxhound Show at Stradbally, a trip to Roscommon for the opening of their new weigh-room facility and three days in Newmarket. No shortage of variety.

Newmarket in July is a great place to be, centred on top-class racing and selling at Tattersalls. The July Sale always has gems among the large numbers on offer, and a feature of this year’s renewal is the clearance rate which, with a session to go, was running north of 90%. This is healthy in the current Brexit scenario, with British politics in turmoil.

Meanwhile, reading about the sales in Japan only serves to reinforce my desire to make visiting there a priority. What happens in Japan, a quite unique market, is not necessarily indicative of what happens in the rest of the global equine world, but the numbers emerging this week will hopefully have a positive resonance elsewhere.

The numbers are mind-blowing. A day each of foals and yearlings saw trade much the same for both groups – this is not pinhooking territory! The top price for a foal of US$4.3 million and US$3.3 for a yearling were headlines, as was the US$450,000 average and US$275,000 median for both foals and yearlings. A total of 39 lots realised the equivalent of $1 million or more.

Thoughts in this part of the world are turning now towards our yearling sales, with the first catalogues arriving. With a mid-August kick-off date, Arqana’s catalogue is out and force of habit meant that my first port of call was to check how many Galileo’s and how many Dubawi’s are catalogued. There are eight by the perennial champion; two out of Group 1 performers, half-siblings to four group winners, and one out of a half-sister to the Arc winner Danedream.

The two by Dubawi are a colt out of the Group 1 winner Giofra, and a half-sister to Chiquita and Magic Wand. The latter is out of Prudenzia who, by my calculation, has had seven offspring sell as yearlings, averaging a bid short of €940,000. The best to date has been Galileo’s daughter Magic Wand at €1.4 million. What are the odds about this year’s offering topping that?

Breaking news

We are breaking the news today that Curragh CEO Derek McGrath is to step down at the end of the racing season. This will undoubtedly generate much comment. Bear in mind, no matter what your views about the new Curragh may be, that he has delivered a world-class facility, one that his successor will hopefully be able to build upon and bring racegoers back to headquarters in large numbers.