THE team at Goffs want to “balance expectations” ahead of next week’s Arkle Sale, despite CEO Henry Beeby’s belief that the catalogue is “the best we’ve ever assembled” for the three-day store horse sale.

With 460 horses catalogued for Part 1, and a further 260 to be offered in Part 2, the sale promises to be a barometer for the health of the National Hunt sector.

Strong results from recent point-to-point sales give encouragement, and better-than-expected returns from the Goffs Doncaster Spring Sale also give reason for optimism. But Beeby is conscious of the continuing economic uncertainty caused by the various conflicts in the Middle East.

“We’ll try to balance expectations against two backgrounds,” Beeby told The Irish Field. “One, the Doncaster store sale was significantly better than most people thought, and we were delighted with it. And the point-to-point sales have been off the charts.

“But you have to look at the wider world and say that’s going to have an impact.”

Last year’s Part 1 sale took in over €19.5 million, up from €16.6 million the year before, though the 2025 total included a new two-year-old section (grossed €840,000).

In fact it was a two-year-old who topped the sale at €230,000 – one of 29 horses to make six figures across the two days, up from 16 the year before.

“There is no doubt in our mind that this is by some measure the best catalogue we’ve ever assembled,” Beeby said. “The support we’ve had from vendors has been overwhelming.

“And then the results we’ve had on the track have been absolutely amazing, 10 Grade 1 winners for 10 different owners and 10 different trainers.”

He added that all the key buyers are booked in. “Joey Cullen, who leads the purchaser recruitment team, says everybody we want is coming.

“We’re attracting the major buyers because we’re attracting the horses that they want to buy at the top of the market. The Arkle Sale has been one of the great success stories of Goffs.”

There are 27 two-year-olds on offer, and while French sires dominate that section, only a handful of them were actually foaled in France.

Beeby said: “We thought it made a very promising start last year and we’ve got another quality selection, we kept it very tight. They read well, they look good.

“We think some will be bought by people looking to resell, but equally by people who are embracing the evolving nature of the programme.”

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