AS the dust settles on the main body of the National Hunt store sales season it is time to reflect on some of the trends that have manifested themselves at the three main auctions in this sphere.

Over the period that took in the Goffs UK Spring Sale, the Goffs Land Rover Sale and the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale there were at least four notable characteristics of the market.

First and foremost, trade for the best stock was appreciably better than it was during a vibrant 2017. Secondly, the demand for fillies is running at an encouraging level. Thirdly, activity from Irish trainers is of a decidedly subdued variety. Lastly, the store market has reached a point where any increase in the levels of supply could be deemed a negative.

One of the recurring themes over the last six weeks was that the trade for the best stores was at the very least as strong as it has ever been. This reached its climax at the Derby Sale last week when the €365,000 paid by M.V. Magnier for the Milan half-brother to Altior bettered the 12-year-old record price for a store at public auction.

This transaction came just a fortnight on from the €325,000 sale topper at the Land Rover Sale who briefly held the distinction of being the top-priced store to be offered at auction for seven years.

There was significant growth at the upper echelons of the sales and, in particular, from €150,000 onwards. In all there were eight horses at the three sales last year who equalled or bettered the €150,000 mark but this number grew to 18 this time around – a telling pointer as to the level of demand and appetite for top-quality stock.

Given the resources that have been deployed over the last few years to enliven sales ring demand for fillies it is well worth considering how this sector performed. At the Spring Sale the fillies average grew from £18,851 to £23,564 with 39 of the 46 offered being listed as sold.

There were just 14 fillies to come under the hammer through Part 1 of the Land Rover and 10 of these sold for an average of €38,900 – an improvement on the €35,143 figure of 12 months previously.

Part 2 of the Land Rover saw demand for fillies drop off with 41 of the 63 offered finding buyers for an average of €18,232. This average also represented a step forward from the €14,758 of last year but on that occasion 31 of the 38 fillies offered were sold.

At the Derby Sale fillies did well once again. The top price paid came in at €140,000 and four of them made at least €90,000 to produce an average of €39,638 for the 58 fillies (out of 68) who found buyers. There was a also a better clearance rate for fillies at the Derby Sale than was the case in 2017 when 50 of the 70 offered were sold for an average of €37,460.

These results offer definitive evidence that the various initiatives that have been launched to broaden the appeal for fillies are working and the last few years have witnessed a healthy upswing in trade in this category. There is no reason why this should not feed back into the foal sales later in the year.

However, the level of activity from Irish trainers remains rather subdued. As a result, the store market is heavily reliant on British investment and the hope is that the continuing imponderable that is Brexit does nothing to diminish the level of demand from across the Irish Sea.

It is worth examining the clearance rates from three auctions mentioned above. The Derby Sale matched last year’s tally of 85%, the Land Rover (from 66 more horses offered) saw 79% of those offered change hands which represented a drop of nine points and the clearance at the Spring Sale fell from 89 to 83%.

Thus, while demand for the top lots surged upwards, the overall pool of buyers remained static and at various junctures purchasers were perhaps more measured and circumspect than they have been in the past. This in turn offers clear evidence that the numbers currently on offer in the store market are more than sufficient and any increase in the levels of supply in the coming years will only serve to have a negative impact.

IHRB TARDY WITH INFORMATION

OVER the course of the weekend at the Curragh the stewards’ room wasn’t especially busy but there were a few enquiries of note. On the Friday evening there was a running and riding enquiry in the two-year-old fillies’ maiden and on Sunday the stewards were called into action after quite a rough running of the seven-furlong handicap resulted in a lengthy enquiry.

Both incidents were dealt with in the Daily Enquiries section of the IHRB website which is updated at the end of racing each day. However, should it really be the case that the outcomes of these enquiries don’t emerge until the end of the day? A more timely release of information surely isn’t too much to ask for.

BELLEWSTOWN GIVES FREE ENTRY

LASTLY, full credit to Bellewstown who announced before the start of their July Festival on Wednesday that they are giving all active Irish owners, irrespective of whether they had a runner or not, free entry to all four days of the meeting. Initiatives such as this which reward racing’s existing and loyal customer base are to be commended and the hope is that similar schemes will become much more common place in the future.