FOLLOWING on from a successful renewal of the Orby, an expanded Sportsman’s Sale was unable to keep pace with last year’s strong edition as all key indicators fell behind 2015.

This year’s Sportsman’s was enlarged to two days and Thursday’s Part I session produced an aggregate of just over €4.6m which was six point fall on 12 months ago when 68 less horses came under the hammer. The average of €19,568 fell by 19% and the median dropped from €18,000 to €15,000.

The clearance rate was a respectable 81% having been 90% last year.

Trade at the upper echelons of this sale didn’t quite reach the levels of 2015 as the number of horses to make at least €50,000 dropped from 19 to 11 this time around.

More significantly though, the expansion in foal crop numbers has become a repetitive but salient point at thoroughbred sales throughout the year and the increased number of horses on offer is a key factor to consider.

Twelve months ago 244 horses were catalogued at the Sportsman’s but that number grew to 478 this time around.

Previously demand was quite concentrated and was well balanced with the level of supply.

RECURRING THEME

However, buyers are now spread much more thinly and this in turn is reflected in what is happening in the marketplace. Furthermore this will be a recurring theme for some time to come.

This is not to sound downbeat as this is a week that Goffs can look back on with more than justifiable satisfaction, but the reality is that at mid-range sales and those further down the scale the market can only absorb a certain number of horses.

As expected, Friday’s Part II section of the sale was a generally low key affair with 97 of the 154 horses offered changing hands to give rise to a 63% clearance rate.

The day’s turnover came in at just under €900,000 while the average and median were €9,210 and €7,500 respectively.