The joint Goffs UK and Arqana Breeze-Up Sale will be held at Doncaster, with the breeze set for June 28 at Doncaster Racecourse and the sale at the Doncaster Sales Complex on July 1. Tattersalls's joint Craven and Ascot Breeze-Up Sale has been moved to June 25.
Provisional plans had been made to hold the Goffs UK and Arqana Breeze-Up Sales in Ireland if COVID-19 restrictions necessitated. Restrictions will be placed on the number of people attending the sale, with all buyers required to register their wish to attend with Goffs UK. Social distancing protocols in line with UK government directives will be in place at the sale, and protocols in line with British Horseracing Authority directives will apply at the breeze.
To acknowledge one of the key differences between Goffs UK and Arqana's payment and billing conditions, a 5% agents levy will be deducted from the sales proceeds of each lot sold from the Goffs UK and Arqana Breeze-Up catalogues, and paid to the purchasing agent. Full details will be available in the modified Conditions of Sale, which will be available closer to the sale. Those conditions will apply to both catalogues to ensure all 2YOs are sold on the same basis and include the standard Goffs commission rates for both sales.
Goffs UK Managing Director Tim Kent said, “The teams at Arqana and Goffs UK are doing everything we can to stage successful breeze-up sales so holding them in Doncaster will make logistics far simpler. We are taking every precaution to make the sale as safe as possible and so we ask that all prospective buyers contact Goffs UK and/or Arqana to register their interest in attending.
“The extra time between breeze and sale acknowledges the additional challenges for buyers this year and we have worked with GBRI and ITM to provide conformation footage of all the 2-year-olds to aid pre-sale decision making. In addition we will be offering a new online sale facility for those who cannot attend for which registrations will be taken in the week prior to sale. We will also have the full Goffs UK and Arqana teams on site to take phone bids, meaning bids can be taken in one of three ways–in person as usual, over the phone or via the internet.
“In advance we would like to thank BHA and all at Doncaster Racecourse for their help and positivity whilst acknowledging the offer of Naas Racecourse and HRI who were prepared to assist in hosting the breeze had that been necessary. We have also been pleased to work with Tattersalls to make the process as easy as possible for our many mutual vendors and purchasers.”
Arqana Executive Director Freddy Powell added, “The current context requires agility and cooperation, and this is what we are trying to deliver along with Goffs UK and Tattersalls. By holding all European breeze-ups in the same country, utilizing an online platform and providing a choice of bidding options, we are hoping to make buyers and vendors' lives easier and give the sale every chance to succeed.”
The move of the Tattersalls breeze ups was necessitated by the allocation of race dates to Newmarket Racecourse on June 18 to 20, which led to a logistical problem for scheduling a breeze prior to the original June 23 date. The breeze will now take place on the Rowley Mile on June 22, and the sale three days later.
“It is unfortunate that we have had to make yet another change to the dates for the combined Tattersalls Craven and Ascot Breeze Up, but we are all constantly having to respond to events outside our control,” said Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony. “These dates now look set in stone and have been agreed in full consultation with Goffs UK and Arqana whose Breeze Up Sale date had been similarly affected [by racing at Doncaster on June 26].
“As well as giving buyers an extended period in which to view the horses prior to the sale, Tattersalls will be reintroducing live internet bidding as well as telephone bidding on the day of the sale. In association with GBRI and ITM we have also commissioned pre-sale video footage of all Tattersalls breeze-up 2-year-olds and these can now be viewed on our website. On a practical level, in line with prevailing Government guidelines, the sale will be restricted to those attending in a professional capacity. Full health protocols will need to be adhered to by all those attending the sale and we will be circulating full details to vendors and purchasers alike in the coming days. We are looking forward to staging the first live sale of the 2020 European breeze-up season and to providing as vibrant a market for these high-class 2-year-olds as we possibly can.”
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