WHAT THEY SAID

“There are plenty of good horses here and plenty of them are selling well but I would also say that in parts it’s a decent buyers’ market and a colt like the Shamardal (€325,000) that we just bought does look like comparatively good value” – Alastair Donald, agent

“I would say that trade is better today (Wednesday) than it was yesterday. It does seem as though there is a gap in the market. It’s strong for the six-figure horses but I was able to buy a few fillies in the €40,000 to €60,000 bracket that maybe should have brought a bit more. We’ve been able to buy some very nice horses and we’re happy with what we’ve done as it’s only likely to get tougher over the next few weeks” – Stephen Hillen, agent

“I would say that it’s easier to sell at the top than in the middle. There are some really nice horses here and it’s very competitive for them but it’s harder further down. We’ve bought some nice horses but we’ve been underbidder on four or five occasions when we would have bid more than what we valued those horses at” – Hugo Merry, agent