Jimmy George

A press release from Tattersalls back in September took a lot of folk in the business by surprise, announcing as it did the departure of marketing director Jimmy George.  The man who can fill many a quiet hour with a word-perfect monologue on the merits of the Book 1 Bonus first joined the company back in 1986 and, bar a brief stint on the bloodstock magazine Pacemaker, has been a stalwart of the team at Terrace House and Park Paddocks. George is not going far though - in fact, a...

The Tattersalls December Sale is played out, akin to panto season, over two weeks, matinees and evening performances, incorporating almost every facet of the bloodstock sales business, from foals to yearlings, horses in training, broodmares, and sometimes the odd stallion or two. The Sceptre Sessions are only in their third year but they are already embedded as an integral part of the annual finale at Park Paddocks. And there is little doubt that the theatrical highlights come on the Monday and Tuesday of the second week, as dusk settles in...

It's a familiar lament: prize-money in Britain is terrible. But is it actually true? The answer is different depending on where and at which level you are racing. At Class 5 and 6 level, where a significant portion of the horse population plies its trade, prize-money levels are poor and that is giving the rest of British racing an unfair reputation.  But for those fortunate enough to race a top horse in Britain, the fact is that owners are better rewarded than those in Ireland or France. In 2024, 18...

Jimmy George will step down from his role as marketing director of Tattersalls at the end of 2024 to join the International Racing Bureau (IRB) as managing director. He will take over from Alastair Donald, who has held that position since 2001. George, who has been a director of Tattersalls for 23 years, said, "I joined Tattersalls in 1986 and have served on the Board since 2001 so this has not been a decision taken lightly, but I have a long association with the International Racing Bureau which, like Tattersalls,...

Finally there's a feeling that Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) is starting to get the recognition he deserves following his scintillating success in the G1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York's Ebor Festival. Already a two-time winner at Royal Ascot before that career high on the Knavesmire, he's quietly put together the sort of record which ought to earn him a queue of mares at his stable door by the time his racing days are over. And if for whatever reason it doesn't work out for Bradsell as a stallion, then he'll surely...

One doesn't need to delve too far into the Group 1 results to find a graduate of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, and come Saturday afternoon another may be added to the list, with the G2 Coventry S. winner River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and G2 Gimcrack S. winner Lake Forest (GB) (No Nay Never) among those favoured to go well in the G1 Juddmonte Middle Park S. at Newmarket. By that stage, there will be frenetic action of a different kind just a mile up...

NEWMARKET, UK--There is no doubt that the mares' section of the Tattersalls December Sale will create much of the hoopla at Park Paddocks over the next fortnight. Blockbuster names such as Saffron Beach (Ire), Alcohol Free (Ire), Pearls Galore (GB), and La Petite Coco (Ire) and are set to come under the hammer, not to mention Desert Berry (GB), the dam of this year's G1 Derby winner Desert Crown (GB) back in foal to his sire Nathaniel (Ire). The Monday and particularly the Tuesday evening sessions of the mares' sale...

There are undoubtedly many good reasons to have a rounded life with interests beyond the breeding, training, buying and selling of a supreme equine athlete who can run faster than his contemporaries. Those of us whose waking hours are mostly consumed by one or more of these bloodstock industry pursuits can rightly be accused of not getting out more, particularly at this time of year. But when the daily non-racing headlines revolve around the British economy in freefall, hurricanes and floods decimating parts of the world, and President Putin looming...

A week out from his company's marquee October Yearling Sale, Tattersalls Director Jimmy George joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss the increasing American participation in the sale, the booming yearling market, opportunities for American buyers with the lopsided exchange rate and more. "It's not quite buy one, get one free, but it's very nearly that," George said of the potential sales results of the exchange rate, where pounds are nearly equal to dollars at this point. "Honestly,...

Tattersalls Marketing Director Jimmy George joined this week's TDN Writers' Room ahead of the anticipated October Yearling Sale, which runs October 4-6.

NEWMARKET, UK--Newmarket's 'July week' has always been the perfect blend of parties and parades, on the racecourse and stallion farms. But at the centre of all this fun, there is plenty of serious business to be done at Tattersalls, which hosts its three-day mixed July Sale from Wednesday.  A sizeable delegation of Australians has already arrived in town, now free from the travel curbs of Covid, and it is a safe bet that they will be joined by breeders, trainers and agents of myriad nationalities at Park Paddocks over the...

In what feels like the blink of an eye, we are now embarking on the final sale of the year at Tattersalls. The Newmarket auction house generally doesn't do things by halves and, if recent sales are anything to go by, the next two weeks at Park Paddocks will include plenty of show-stopping moments, with the mares' catalogues in particular being bolstered by several significant dispersals.  Before we get to that, however, we have one final day of yearlings to contend with. The December Yearling Sale can offer a second...