Roger Marley

DEAUVILLE, France--With a glinting sun, seagulls on the wing, and the occasional hint of a sea breeze, it is hard to imagine on this perfect spring day that there was ever anything wrong in the world. But it was three years ago that Arqana last held its Breeze-Up Sale at its rightful home in Normandy, with a prolonged pandemic twice forcing the uprooting of one of the most popular auctions of the year to Yorkshire. "It is good to be back here," says Freddy Powell, Arqana's executive director. "But we...

Breeze-up consignor Roger Marley works in partnership with John Cullinan through their Church Farm & Horse Park Stud banner. The duo has been responsible for pinhooking and breezing such talented juveniles as G2 Flying Childers S winner Ubettabelieveit (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and Mehmas (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), the record-breaking champion first-season sire of 2020. Currently preparing a team of around 40 juveniles from his Yorkshire base, Marley gave us his thoughts on some of this year's freshman sires and reflected on Mehmas's progression from a 62,000gns Tattersalls Book 2 yearling to...

LEXINGTON, KY-With the breeze-up sales having been thrown into turmoil in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic this spring, Yorkshire trainer Nigel Tinkler found himself with an important decision in his hands. Breeze-up consignors Roger Marley and John Cullinan, like others in the sector, had begun offering some of their pinhooks privately in an effort to soften the financial blows of the global economic crisis, and Tinkler was offered his choice of colts by Kodiac (GB) and Dandy Man (Ire) for his clients Martin and Lisa Webb. "We had the...

The big question to which everyone in the industry would like to know the answer is when will racing be able to resume? It is a key concern for many, not least the breeze-up consignors, whose sales season in Europe should have started this week at Ascot. The Tattersalls Ascot and Craven Breeze-up Sales have already been postponed until the end of April, while Arqana has pencilled in an early June slot for its Deauville sale currently scheduled to be held on May 8 and 9. On Wedesday, Goffs UK...