SALES consignors will be reflecting this weekend on the success of this week’s breeze-up sale in Dubai and asking how it might affect their own operations.

Staged by the Dubai Racing Club in association with Goffs, the sale saw 52 horses sold at an average price of €152,000. Almost all of them were consigned by Irish vendors in what was a mammoth logistical operation but which appears to have gone very smoothly.

Brendan Holland of Grove Stud sold two horses for a total of €280,000. He said: “It was very exciting, very innovative, and it got off to a great start. It is quite different to any other sale on the circuit and I can see it growing and becoming a fixture out there.”

Asked if it could lead to more pop-up sales in the Middle East, Holland said: “It’s a possibility but it’s early days. A lot depends on how racing in Saudi Arabia develops.”

Michael Donohue of BBA Ireland signed for six purchases, spending over €750,000, and these horses will remain in the Middle East. “You can’t beat putting the product in front of the customer,” he said, “especially in these times when travel is a bit more difficult.”

Donohue was particularly pleased with the breezing part of the sale which saw the horses exercise on the bridle without being clocked. “None of the horses I bought will be racing until the autumn at the earliest, so there was no need to push them now. It was refreshing to see the horses doing their work naturally. I arrived in Dubai from the ready-to-race sale in Ocala where the horses are drilled and everything is against the clock.”

Vendor Katie Walsh agreed with that view. She sold one horse for €92,000 and commented: “It was a great experience and I would definitely go back. Full credit to the Dubai Racing Club and Goffs, especially Tom Taaffe who put a lot of work into it. The place was a hive of activity, it went off extremely well and we all learned plenty from it.”

Goffs CEO Henry Beeby hopes the sale will become a permanent fixture of Dubai World Cup week. Asked if there could be similar sales in other gulf states, he said: “We will look at all opportunities and won’t be frightened to push forward but there is nothing specific planned at the moment.”

Beeby gave much credit for the Dubai sale to Dubai Racing Club chairman Sheikh Rashid bin Dalmook Al Maktoum. “Sheikh Rashid bought dual Group 1 winner Perfect Power at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale and he wanted to stage a sale like that in Dubai. It’s been in intense planning since last summer.”

The Goffs boss acknowledged the leap of faith taken by the vendors to send colts by the likes of Frankel and Dubawi to a fledgling sale. “They trusted us by sending a strong bunch of horses and I think they are all delighted with the results. It was a wonderful occasion and the fact that Sheikh Mohammed was there for the majority of the sale gave it that extra cachet and approval.”

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