DESPITE producing just one seven-figure transaction this week as opposed to four in 2015, the latest edition of the Goffs Orby Sale was commendably able to produce an improved set of results over the course of its two-day run.

Even though the top prices couldn’t quite match last year’s heights there was notable growth in the upper echelons of the market with all key indicators beyond the €100,000 mark showing positive signs.

Further down the scale, it was somewhat tougher going and the clearance rate dropped slightly by two points to 84% but, even so, this shouldn’t detract from what was a more than satisfactory edition of Ireland’s premier sale.

A breakdown of the market in the six-figure range explains how this sale was able to better 2015. The number of horses to make at least €100,000 improved from 109 to 120, while 54 lots fetched at least €200,000 as opposed to 42 in 2015.

Perhaps most striking of all was the level of activity beyond the €400,000 mark. Last year seven horses made at least €400,000 but that number more than doubled to 16 this time around.

Encouragingly, a healthy number of different purchasers made a notable contribution throughout the Orby.

SALE-TOPPER

John Ferguson, who bought the sale-topper, was the leading purchaser, closely followed by Shadwell, but a key characteristic of the sale was the diverse international buying base, which included many fresh faces at Kildare Paddocks.

South African outfit Form Bloodstock maintained their long-standing association with the sale but this year they were joined by the likes of Justin Zayat, several Japanese purchasers, Far Eastern agent Justin Bahen and American trainer Wesley Ward.

The efforts made to get such a diverse group of buyers to Goffs this week was rewarded with these buyers making an impact at many different levels of the market.

In terms of the pinhookers, the returns from Goffs made for reasonably encouraging reading. Based on a cost of €10,000 keep on top of their purchase price on their last visit to the sales ring, 73 of the 126 pinhooks offered showed a profit, which represents decent going for any yearling sale.

There is no reason why this trend should not continue as the yearling sales circuit moves to Newmarket for the next fortnight and this, in turn, will feed back into the foal sales next month.

It should be remembered, however, that pinhookers are likely to be quite discerning when it comes to their purchases in November as, already this autumn, it has been illustrated that they need to be mindful of the reasonably strict criteria laid down by the market that they will sell back into.