A STRONG catalogue, good track results, a deep buying bench, effective marketing and a perfect racing surface all contributed to last Friday’s record-breaking Tattersalls Ireland Breeze Up Sale, says company CEO Simon Kerins.

For the first time turnover exceeded €12 million, while a record average of €62,198 was a 13% increase on 2025. The record median concluded at €42,000, a 31% increase on the corresponding figure 12 months previously, while a record five horses were sold for €300,000 or more and a total of 31 fetched six-figure sums.

Kerins said: “It was phenomenal trade, extraordinary, better than we’d ever imagined. The results were the best in Europe this year, we bucked the trend.”

Reflecting on the reasons for the sale’s success, he added: “We knew in January this year in our inspections that we were getting a better bunch of horses. The buyers came in their droves and we’ve had really good results in the racetrack.

“We had new faces here from all over the world, more American buyers than ever before, buyers from the Middle East, Scandinavia, Europe, the UK, and the domestic market.

“Personally I want to thank our marketing and bloodstock teams, and a lot of thanks have to go to Irish Thoroughbred Marketing as well.

“The track at Fairyhouse was in superb condition. We were a little bit worried if we’d get enough rain, but the team over there had maintained the ground from the very start. We had a really good covering of grass, safe galloping ground.

“It was a team effort and the results were beyond our wildest dreams.”

Tattersalls’ online division hosts a breeze-up sale next Wednesday (June 3rd) and the breeze-up season ends with the Goffs Classic Breeze Up Sale on June 27th.

It’s been a volatile season for the breeze-up sector, both on and off the track. Last weekend the Sunday Independent carried a full-page story about alleged anti-social behaviour by Irish consignors at the Arqana Breeze Up Sale.

The story was based on a letter sent by Arqana chief Olivier Delloye to the Breeze-Up Consignors Association outlining the allegations. This letter was subsequently circulated to consignors by BUCA chairman Brendan Holland, accompanied by a covering note in which Holland expressed his embarrassment over the reputational damage caused.

However, during the week Delloye told Thoroughbred Daily News that his comments had been “taken completely out of context” by the Sunday Independent. He said that “we are talking here about a few people who did not behave properly during the sale” and that Arqana was working with BUCA “to make sure these things do not happen again.”

Sale round-up >>42