THE breeze-up sales season is now underway and a lot of work is going on behind the scenes to ensure that the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale at Fairyhouse on May 18th-19th is better than ever.

This sale has been under the Tattersalls banner for three years now but only the 2019 edition was staged at Fairyhouse. For obvious reasons, the past two renewals had to be held in Newmarket and though those sales went extremely well, the company expects strong trade when the sale returns to Co Meath in seven weeks’ time.

Chris Farrell is the newest member of the team at Tattersalls Ireland and his brief is to bring more buyers and sellers to the flat sales at Fairyhouse. He says the initial feedback from clients is very positive about the Breeze-Up Sale.

“We’re in the process of finalising entries for the Breeze-Up catalogue,” Chris reports. “The quality of entries has exceeded our expectations. Vendors are happy to be back at Fairyhouse and already a lot of purchasers have been in touch to say they intend to be there.”

Last year’s sale saw 176 of the 193 lots offered find buyers, for a clearance rate of 91%. The average price was over €37,000 and the median price was €23,000.

September inspections

Around the same time as the Breeze-Up Sale is taking place, Chris hopes to be on the road inspecting yearlings for the September Yearling Sale. Another auction which has had a two-year holiday in Newmarket, the September Yearling Sale has been producing a serious number of top class horses in recent years on the global stage.

Champers Elysees, Sonnyboyliston, Helvic Dream and Hong Kong star Waikuku are all Group 1 winners who were bought for relatively small sums at Fairyhouse as yearlings. With Irish-breds dominating the Hong Kong Derby last weekend, it would be no surprise to see the HKJC representative having a second look at the Tattersalls Ireland catalogue this year.

European buyers are also likely to be taking a big interest, as exporting horses from Ireland to the continent has become more attractive in recent years.

Australian ideas

Chris joined Fairyhouse after gaining experience in Japan, America and Australia. The Laois man spent the past three years with Magic Millions in Australia where he was impressed by the efforts made by the sales company to get more people interested in racing and investing in thoroughbreds.

He cites the Racing Women’s Bonus of A$500,000 which is on offer to the first four all-female owned or leased horses in finishing order in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic on the Gold Coast in 2023. The same raceday will also feature a A$1 million race for horses owned by syndicates.

“Obviously we already have the €300,000 Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sales Stakes, part of Irish Champions Weekend at the Curragh, and that’s always a very well-supported race,” Chris says.

“Initiatives like these bring more people into racing. Personally I would love to see more younger people get involved.

“I enjoyed being a member of the ITBA’s Next Generation and you have all the university racing clubs. There’s ownership groups like Jack Cantillon’s Syndicates.Racing and Brownsbarn Thoroughbreds, run by Thomas and George Allen. They’re doing a great job. Like the slogan says, you might only own 10% of the horse but you get 100% of the thrills.”

Any budding syndicate managers out there should contact Chris for advice and a sales catalogue.