Tattersalls Newmarket July Sale

                I got up at 5am yesterday and drove our lorry up to Newmarket sales full of excitement and hope that it would be coming back full!  I had two good orders – one from a past owner who was with me the day I started training and who I used to ride for and another was for a new client.

                There were two horses that I had my eye on and I had done plenty of homework on too – I’d also been to see them at their yard before the sales. They looked and felt super, were not over trained or crippled as I often see when buying horses off the flat as a lot of them are trained and run too early.  I had them both vetted at the sales and they passed with flying colours.  I started to get nervous!  I was hoping we would get the first horse for between 20-30,000gns but it went for 45,000gns!  I think he goes to the Middle East so we are unlikely to see him again – let’s hope he gets looked after well as he was a lovely, good looking horse with a great, honest attitude. The second horse had rather thrown in the towel and had lost his form and personally needed sweetening up.  We were hoping to get him for under £5,000 but he went to Gordon Elliott for 15,000gns!  It will be interesting to see how he gets on and how I will feel when he lines up at Cheltenham after winning a few!

                There was a lot of foreign money at the sales pushing the prices up – as so often happens at Newmarket – but we will keep looking.  Sadly I came home late last night with an empty box but on the upside I had a great afternoon enjoying the racing at Newmarket, with some new friends.  It is important to try and get value for money for my owners.