ON Friday, June 25th, 1976 I had my first day officially at work, spotting on the rostrum at the Ballsbridge Sales Derby Sale in Ballsbridge. I had just completed my Leaving Certificate at school and started in the office the following Monday morning compiling pedigrees – by hand!

The business and bloodstock sales have come a long way since then. The Derby Sale then contained a handful of horses with form and the top price that day was 8,600gns. This was paid by George Wells to P.P. Hogan for the six-year-old My Friendly Cousin. Two store horses made over 8,000gns and both were purchased by Paddy Prendergast junior.

Wonderful memories come flooding back as I look at the results now and see that the buying bench included Tom Costello, Jack Doyle, Jack White, Mick O’Toole, Peter McCreery, Phonsie O’Brien, Paddy Sleator, Archie Watson, Frank Barry, Edward O’Grady, Padge Berry, Noel Meade, Arthur Moore, Eddie Harty and Stan Mellor. A golden age.

The top price then would not have got you close to buying even the cheapest lot sold at either the Craven Breeze-Up Sale at Newmarket or the Cheltenham Sale this week. I was at the Newmarket Sale, and I report elsewhere on the Cheltenham auction. In the nicest sense of the word, most people agree that bonkers would be a good description of the trade.

Following on from a great breeze-up sale at Goffs UK the previous week, there were certainly expectations of good business being done this week. No one could have, in a sane moment, predicted the ultimate outcome. With a median of 110,000gns at Newmarket, you will see how high the standard was, but, in fairness, the raw material generally costs more these days.

And so it is with the National Hunt horses. The point-to-point men have had to up their spending considerably on the raw product and are often going to the races these days with horses bought for €30,000 to €50,000 as stores. When they win there is a premium to be paid by owners. Naturally these horses catch the headlines, but they are the cream of the crop and often compensate for the many who don’t scale the heights.

In 1976 the idea of a boutique sale would have been a dream, but today they are a reality. Success seeks instant reward and no doubt there will be more such stories when Goffs stage their select sale of horses on Thursday night at Punchestown.