THE rapid downsizing of the Shadwell Estate empire proved to be a huge boon to this week’s Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale whose final figures were pushed into orbit as a result of the presence of a strong collection of yearlings sold by Derrinstown Stud on behalf of one of the longstanding superpowers of world racing.

Over the course of decades the late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum cultivated many outstanding pedigrees within his Shadwell empire. As a consequence of that operation undergoing a seismic change the Autumn Sale was a notable beneficiary as there were some 26 yearlings offered over the two days which were consigned by Derrinstown Stud on behalf of Shadwell.

This lent the sale an altogether greater level of significance than would usually be the case and this was reflected in the level of activity witnessed on Tuesday and Wednesday which yielded a huge upswing at the upper reaches of the market. Indeed a quartet of six-figure transactions on Tuesday represented unprecedented territory for this sale and this in turn led to triple-figure increases in all key areas at the close of proceedings.

However, aside from the huge input provided by the various Shadwell offerings – the 26 yearlings grossed just under €1.5 million – the auction played host to excellent demand at all levels and this gave rise to what was perhaps the story of the week – the ultra-impressive 92% clearance rate.

Direct comparisons with last year’s drab online affair are fairly meaningless but the figures posted this week are notable in a wider historical context as they are way in excess of anything previously produced by this sale.

Only once in recent years has the turnover for this sale exceeded €2 million (just under €2.2 million in 2017) but this week’s auction grossed just over €6 million.

The average of €14,108 was more than double the corresponding tallies in the last five years while a median of €9,000 is streets ahead of any total recorded in this category in recent times, all of which points to a successful week and one which wrapped up an excellent year for Goffs on the yearling front.