31st May 2018

Did someone complain about quick ground again! 

Having spent the guts of 2 days at the Cheltenham sales I’m left slightly bemused. The potential star horses seem to fetch huge prices yet there is only a few folk there for the middle or lower end horses. Sadly, the reality is 90% of sales are made up of this type of horse. Is the working man being put off ownership in the belief he can’t compete with the big players or is there just a lack of people wanting racehorses. I don’t think it has anything to do with the aforementioned. Today there was 5 or 6 star lots, the rest of them were either unsold, sold at a loss or for small profit. Something has to give, if there isn’t a correction in the store market this spring we are going to get our fingers burnt. It appears, we are back full circle and horse numbers are outstripping demand. The correction in stores is coming! There’s no way pin hookers either side of the Irish sea can go on paying 50,000 euro for stores when there is no one there for the potential 120-140 rated horses. No one minds taking hits it is part of the business model. However, we do need to move these horses on - even at a loss. We all want to reload in the hope of finding another star. 

Sales companies need to work harder and remove the myth that owners need 100,000 + to buy a horse at Cheltenham sales. There was a real lack of owners and trainers at todays sale, I don't think I've seen the sales ring that empty before. No doubt their figures will suggest otherwise.