In a spirit of entente cordiale prompted by the extraordinary environment of the coronavirus pandemic, Goffs UK and Arqana have announced that they will join forces to hold their respective breeze-up sales together in Ireland on June 29 and 30.
In what could be a first for European sales, the horses will gallop “potentially in a timed breeze” a few days prior to being offered for sale at the Goffs complex at Kildare Paddocks. There will also be an online bidding facility to support the live auction.
A joint statement released by the two companies on Saturday afternoon read, “The dates are dependent on the resumption of racing in some form in the UK and/or France and/or Ireland, and hopefully allow time for lockdown measures to be relaxed so that there can be some attendance at the sale. Naturally all government directives will be followed to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved.”
It is normal practice for the sale to take place in the day or days immediately following the breeze session but the intended gap between the horses breezing and the sale being conducted is to “allow films of the breeze-up work, and other vital purchaser information, to be disseminated around the world whilst an online platform will support the live auction with potential purchasers being offered the facility to bid as normal, over the telephone or remotely via the Arqana and Goffs websites.”
Each sale originally had 165 lots catalogued for Doncaster and Deauville respectively. The relocation to Ireland is a practical step in light of the fact that 143 of the Goffs UK lots and a further 135 of the Arqana horses are being prepared by Irish consignors.
Arqana executive director Freddy Powell and Goffs UK managing director Tim Kent put their names to a joint statement which said, “We are committed to providing the most vibrant market place possible for our breeze-up vendors and believe that this option delivers the best chance of achieving that goal. This year's selection of breezers in both catalogues is as good as ever and we are confident they will impress in any arena”.
Teams from Goffs and Arqana will be at work at the sale, which will be conducted in the existing catalogue order, though the juveniles will breeze vendor by vendor in order to comply with social distancing requirements.
Goffs Group chief executive Henry Beeby and Eric Hoyeau, president of Arqana said, “We are extremely grateful to Naas Racecourse, HRI and Irish Thoroughbred Marketing for their helpful and proactive reaction to our request to hold our Breeze-Ups in Ireland. These are challenging times but the bloodstock industry is constantly willing to adapt and innovate to whatever circumstances arise. In connection with our joint approach, Goffs and Arqana have always been closely allied and we will work as one to ensure we do our best by our loyal vendors.”
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