AUCTIONEERING has been in the Botterill family for three generations, with my grandfather Jack Botterill, who decided not to follow in his father’s footsteps of training racehorses in Malton. His first auctions were held at the York Horse Repository, where horses were stabled on different floor levels, akin to a multi-storey car park. The family also conducted the selling races at many of the Yorkshire tracks, including York and Doncaster.

The Ascot Sales were established in 1954, a time when Tattersalls were still conducting sales at Glasgow Paddocks in Doncaster. The first auctions were held at the now nonexistent Ascot Royal Hotel Stables, and then moved with the racecourse stables to Winkfield Row until moving to their present site in 1977.

Following his death, the sales continued under the helm of my father Michael and uncle John who learned their trade in Ireland at the Ballsbridge Sales under the tutelage of Sir Peter Nugent, Cyril Myerscough and Captain Hall.

I started my career in bloodstock working for the Duke, David Nicholson at Condicote, an amazing trainer not only of horses but of any young person who had the privilege of working for him. I believe it was a great foundation for whatever career you went on to. This was followed by a season with Bob Woodhouse, a talented trainer in his own right on a smaller scale but by no means less successful. During my time with him he had 22 winners from 26 horses, which was a great year to be in his yard, and his ability as a natural horseman has never ceased to amaze me.

I learned my auctioneering trade with Goffs and, like a number of my colleagues, I first held a gavel to sell at the late Philip De Vere Hunt’s Cashel Market, an experience I will never forget. I used to ride out for Ted Walsh before going into work. Having had a few rides back in England, Ted kindly recommended to the great P.P.Hogan that he should give me a ride in a point-to-point. He probably regretted it and Enda Bolger still enjoys telling the story of a certain horse called Mr Turpin.

After five years with the family business at Ascot I started out on my own running Sport Horse Sales as well as staging the first ever National Hunt Breeze-Up Sale of New Zealand thoroughbreds for David Barons. My own business was short-lived as Brightwells approached me to join their company and bought my fledgling business.

Brightwells was a fascinating company to work for – being multi-faceted, you gained an insight to a business structure that was quite different to most.

The bloodstock at Brightwells started to build momentum when taking over the lease at the Ascot Sales in 1996 upon the retirement of my father and uncle.

In 2004 we staged the first sale in the Centaur at Cheltenham, alongside the April Race meeting. It was a huge step for a company which, at the time, was considered by the industry as less bloodstock orientated than others. I believe this was to our benefit, as we naturally thought outside the box and weren’t frightened at being innovative in our decisions.

The module for the Cheltenham Sales was unique and proved a win-win situation as the April Sale had found a niche to bring selected point-to-point horses to the market and offer them for sale in luxurious surroundings, which encouraged owner participation. Over the forthcoming years, the Cheltenham Sales and the Irish point-to-point industry have grown in tandem and evolved from each other’s success.

TAKEOVER

The takeover of Brightwells Bloodstock by Tattersalls in October 2015 has been a great success. They are a wonderful company to work for and even now, nearly 24 months on, we are only just building on the potential that both venues have to offer the industry. The sales are run by a small team, who are assisted by and able to harness the knowledge, experience and respected reputation of Tattersalls.

This has raised the profile of both venues, with Cheltenham breaking record prices and averages, while the progression of the Ascot sales has been quite remarkable, tripling its annual turnover within three years.

The Ascot Sales have seen significant changes, with improved facilities and an industry awareness of the increase in quality lots being offered.

The flat orientation of the business has made huge strides with its Two-Year-Old Breeze-Up sale, a new Yearling sale and consignments of horses in training, attracting buyers on an international scale.

From a personal view, it is extremely gratifying to be part of this next chapter and I know my family would be proud to see the Ascot Sales in such good hands.