TWELVE months ago, the foal sale at Goresbridge was cited as being the venue’s strongest foal renewal for a decade, delivering significantly improved figures all round. Interestingly in these uncertain times, last week’s returns not only matched those of last year, but produced a slightly better average.

Overall, the €12,000 sale-topping price equalled that of 2019, as did the clearance of 55%. The average meanwhile hiked marginally to €2,948 (€2,716), while a total of 15 lots (16 in 2019) realised in excess of €5,000. Reflecting on the two-day trade Martin Donohoe commented: “In the scheme of things, I’m happy. The figures speak for themselves and there were plenty of good prices. The clearance of 55% was satisfactory, and while we would obviously have liked to have sold more, the foal market is always more limited.”