Edmond Ryan Junior, Weir View Stud

How did you get on overall?

“Off the top of my head, I would have to say the first two – the Goffs Premier Yearling Sale and Tattersalls Somerville Sale – were sticky enough. I found it very tough. You got well paid if you brought a horse that could have been in a better sale, like the Orby, but outside of that, I found there was no bottom at either the first two sales. Between five and 25 [thousand], I found that very tough because the horse I was consigning at those sales kind of fell into those brackets. We’ll probably stay away from buying those kind of Donny and Somerville type foals as a result.

“While Jaber [Abdullah] didn’t do what he did the year previous at Fairyhouse, I thought Tattersalls Ireland did a very good job considering and that was a pretty good sale as well.

“The Orby Sale, I thought, was exceptional. I thought that was as good as the Orby was in the last three or four years since I really took a bigger interest in sales, and then Orby 2 was an incredible sale. That’s the first time I thought Orby 2 was that strong throughout the whole sales, even into the second day, when it often falls off a bit.

“We didn’t have anything in Book 1, so I can’t really comment on that but talking to people, they said it was tough; you needed to know exactly where you stood before you even got up to the ring, which is probably understandable for that sale.

“At Book 2 ourselves, we probably overfaced the three horses we had there. They all sold - two of them left money and one paid for themselves, so we can’t really complain, but it was tough enough. If you had something for the top level, it went very well but I would have thought the middle of it was a bit soft.

“So overall, I thought it was solid, considering everything going on in the world. There’s still great demand for horses, considering.”

Do you think Brexit is to blame for weaker trade at the earlier sales you mentioned?

“You don’t see those smaller, northern [England] trainers buying anymore, but Brexit’s definitely the main reason. [At the Irish sales], you’d see the likes of Endo Botti and Cristiana Brivio. I think we sold six to European-based owners or trainers at Fairyhouse, out of 17, and they underbid plenty of others.

“They were mopping up the five to 25 grand horses, whereas in Donny, people were giving half their horses to breeze-up lads.”

Did you find breeze-up buyers more cautious this year?

“Definitely. You needed sire power. Even if you lacked a bit of pedigree, if you had the sire, they could lock on to your horse, but it was very hard to get them to like a horse if it wasn’t by something sexy. I can understand it from their perspective; they need to get them into a sale next year.”

Do you expect a bit of a readjustment at the foal sales, given how the pinhooks went?

“You’d imagine so, but then, as I was saying to the lads, you always get amnesia in two weeks’ time and everything I’m saying now will go out the window; we’ll all lock onto the same foal and overpay for it.

“I remember last year, on the day the foal sale was starting at Goffs, reading an article in the TDN where Philipp Stauffenberg said, ‘we need to look more carefully at what we’re paying for foals,’ and a day later, he came out and spent 650 grand on a New Bay.

“So, the nice foals will still sell well but the foals with the lesser pedigrees are really going to struggle.”

How did you find yearling trade overall, across the different sales?

“I guess for the right ones, it was strong, robust trade. I was buying over a fairly broad price range, and no matter what price range you’re at, for the horses you were quite keen on, you were generally having to pay a little bit over what you expected to pay for them.”

It’s a tricky situation when consignors are facing bigger bills themselves, but end users find it difficult to justify higher prices.

“The good, proven sires’ stud fees are strong enough, and then the cost of producing and getting them to the sales is going up, so I guess for the vendor, the sales price needs to be quite strong for them to be making money.

“But then on the other side, you’re trying to buy a horse for the right price, so that there’s some upside in it going forward. So yeah, it’s hard to keep everyone happy.”

You’re also involved with Guidenstown Stud, who sold their first yearlings this year, including some pinhooks. How did they get on?

“We had six yearlings to sell. We had a good result with a Ghaiyyath in Newmarket (sold to John Foote for 160,000gns at Tattersalls Book 2); the nice horses made their money.

“It felt last year, like the foal sales were very strong and looking at plenty of the prices of the pinhooks, the margins were probably smaller than usual. We’ll review the sales figures now and look at what the best angles are to take.”

How did you get on overall, from buying to selling?

“We got on pretty solid selling; he had a couple of nice twists and a couple that just wiped their face, kind of got our stake back. We had a few losses as well but nothing too dramatic, which we’re happy enough to take.

“Buying them was tricky. I haven’t bought as many as I’d like, it was just very hard to get the ones you want. We have eight bought, but I’d prefer if we had 12 or 15. We might still get one or two; there’s the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale and the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale.”

We’re speaking off the back of record returns at Tattersalls. Is the market as healthy as it seems?

“We had two in Book 2 and one in Book 3. One out of the three made a profit, and he made plenty of profit, but the other two didn’t even make what they cost to buy, though they weren’t far off it.

“I think the market is pretty solid, though. If you follow in a nice horse, there’s plenty of competition to try and buy it. The problem is that everyone is landing on the same horses.”

It’s a difficult situation at the moment, with rising costs for those bringing horses to the sales, as well as end users, who aren’t getting any more prize money.

“That’s it; everyone’s looking for a bit of value. Like you said, prize money is obviously a huge issue, and I don’t know if the market for selling them to the likes of America is as good as it was either, not from what I hear, anyway.”

Given how the yearling sales went, how do you expect the foal sales to go?

“I still think they’ll be strong enough, but maybe not as strong as last year. I think everyone’s just getting more and more selective – it’s the same when we’re selling; everyone wants the same few horses. If you’re falling between the cracks, it’s a lonely place. But look, there’s still someone for every horse, if the price is right.”

How did you find the yearling sales this year?

“Overall I was pleasantly surprised. Looking back on the last three weeks, I think it went better than any of us expected or hoped, and encouragingly, it stayed strong right up to the end of Book 3, which was probably remarkable given what’s going on in the world at the moment. It certainly didn’t weaken in any way as the weeks went on. In fact, in many ways, it strengthened.

“Our business is hugely driven by Middle East money and investment. What Sheikh Mohammed and his family and the UAE in general have put into the business is just incredible and mind-boggling. We’re very grateful to them but, going into the October Sale, you couldn’t have predicted that was going to happen. Thankfully, it did and I think then that spurs on everyone else.

“As we all know the English economy is in a bad way. If there was one thing maybe that stood out a little bit it was maybe the English trainers were a bit light with orders, but that’s understandable given the economy there at the moment.”

Outside of Coolmore and Godolphin, is there anyone operating at that seven-figure level?

“Probably not, and that’s concerning. The problem is the cost of production is getting higher and higher with these elite yearlings, so we do need more top-end users.

“I did think there was a bigger American influence than other years, which was encouraging to see.”

Any advice for small breeders who are questioning whether they should continue?

“The week before the sales, I’m probably the most nervous man in Ireland saying, ‘Who’s going to buy all these horses?’ And then you go through three or four weeks of relentless sales, and you walk out of Book 3 and you say, ‘the trade was amazing’.

“So, I think you keep your chin up and keep going because it was strong right to the death. It certainly is more selective than it was, but that’s life in every business. So, overall, you would have to be encouraged.”

Are you optimistic that the foal sales will be strong?

“I would be, but I spoke to people who studied the statistics more than me and they told me that some of the pinhookers had a trickier time, and maybe that will be reflected slightly in the price of foals.

“But, overall, as a bunch of yearling sellers and consignors, I’d say they came out quite happy. Some people struggled and others did well. With a little bit of luck, I’d say it will carry on to the mare and foal sales.”

Bill Dwan spoke to Mark Costello