Having hosted the first European breeze-up sale back in 1977, it's fair to say the Goffs UK Doncaster Breeze Up Sale has stood the test of time. This event has produced a succession of significant results over its 47-year history that have not only moved the dial in South Yorkshire, but across the broader breeze up business as a whole.
By way of an extremely potted history, this sale's past graduates include Sylvan Barbarosa, who won the Cork and Orrery Stakes (G3) (now the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee) back in 1983. Five years on, Handsome Sailor stepped forward to win the William Hill Sprint Championship Stakes (G1) (now the Nunthorpe). Not bad for a sale that some initially saw as a last chance saloon for unsold yearlings.
If this sort of talent helped the breeze ups shrug off at least some of the skepticism that many viewed these sales with, Speciosa took things to new heights entirely.
The daughter of Danehill Dancer may not have left her connections with a life-changing profit when she progressed from €25,000 yearling to 30,000-guinea juvenile. However, her victory in the 2006 One Thousand Guineas (G1) showed buyers they could no longer afford to overlook this sector of the market.
Of course, heritage and history are one thing, but when it comes to finding future talent, buyers are only too happy to lean into a bit of recency bias. Thankfully there has been plenty for Doncaster to shout about in this regard too.
Recent Graduates of Note
This sale has supplied 10 Royal Ascot winners in the last nine years, including last year's Queen Mary Stakes (G2) scorer Leovanni. She was part of a particularly strong crop that changed hands here 12 months ago, a group which also featured Flying Childers Stakes (G2) winner Aesterius, Richmond Stakes (G2) victor Black Forza, Electrolyte, who won the Prix Eclipse (G3), and the unbeaten Mill Reef Stakes (G2) winner Powerful Glory.
The sires index in this year's catalog stands as a further testament to the talent that can be found in Doncaster. A'Ali and Ardad were both unearthed here before registering the sort of results that earned them berths at stud. The former has, prior to withdrawals, eight lots in the catalog, while the latter has 12. In three years time, three-time group 1 winner Bradsell will doubtless follow suit, as will Perfect Power in 2026.
Around 180 2-year-olds from this year's catalog also, quite literally, faced the test of time when breezing on Town Moor April 23, where conditions were described as "ideal."
Results at last week's record-busting Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale got the European breeze-up season off an extremely positive footing. They also reaffirmed how time-centric the market has become. Malcolm Bastard's Havana Grey colt clocked the quickest presale workout and duly topped the market at a record-breaking 1,750,000 guineas.
Another with a quick horse in Newmarket was breeze-up doyen Willie Browne, whose Acclamation colt went from €70,000 yearling to 1,400,000-guinea 2-year-old.
Market Expectations
Reflecting on the state of trade at Tattersalls, Browne said: "We've never had so many powerful groups of people as we have now. If three or four of those play, anything can happen. I still struggle with times though, even though I got a good price for a horse with a good time last week. Time is everything, sadly, but that's the age we're in and you have to play by the rules we have."
While much has changed in the breeze-up market, Browne's presence in Doncaster has been something of a constant.
"It's a long-playing record that 1977 was the first breeze-up sale here, and ourselves and Tally-Ho are the only two vendors that are still around," said the Mocklershill man, who sold the aforementioned Speciosa at this sale in 2005. "We love Donny though. My Dad thought this place was the center of the universe, and for the next two days it will be! There's plenty of footfall around it's looking promising, even if the clock will rule everything."
Browne offers six lots during the April 24 sale. After the highs of last week, he said Wednesday morning's workouts proved something of a reality check.
"To be honest, I'm a little disappointed," he said. "I came here with huge expectations because I thought I had a very good bunch of horses. For some reason we didn't get the times, so I'm a bit deflated over that and I'm trying to find out where we went wrong. We can't change it now though. You get your feet back down quickly enough in this business."
The fastest two-furlong breeze in Doncaster, according to times seen by the Racing Post, was put in by Station Yard's Havana Grey filly out of Motsi Ma Boati, a half sister to the group 3-placed sprinter Confessional. In an unlikely coincidence, the filly is not only by the same sire, but is also the same lot number (143) as last week's Craven sale topper.
"She's been a sharp filly and she's really got rolling in the last couple of months," said Charlie Poste, who runs Station Yard with his wife Francesca. "When Flash (jockey Gordon Power) sat on her, he was very keen on her. The sire goes from strength to strength and he had some amazing results last week. We were hopeful that if everything came together it could really work well, which it has.
"As everyone knows in this job, there's plenty of hoops still to jump through from now. As a consignor, all you can do is get the horses to breeze efficiently and showcase their talent. For her to go very quick, it's a big buzz. I just hope she sells well and goes on to be a top-class racehorse, because that's the ultimate thing. From our own personal point of view, right now, you feel a sense of enormous pride that she's fronted up and showcased what we can do."
How will history view this year's Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale? Only time will tell.
