The Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale gets underway in Newmarket Oct. 27, and it is a sale that has become an annual pilgrimage for many buyers from the Southern Hemisphere, who are expected to be active once again this week.
The Newmarket-based auction, the world's largest horses in training sale, has built a reputation as an important outlet for top-end talent, and the sale's growing popularity can be backed up by the numbers. The winners of 183 Australian stakes races have been unearthed at the auction, and perhaps more importantly, 24 of those successes were gained in group 1 company.
"Buyers from the Southern Hemisphere have been targeting this sale for approximately 15 years. Chris Waller set the ball rolling, coming here and buying cheap horses in training at the Tatts Autumn Horses In Training sale specifically, taking them down and doing very well with them. Since then, more people have cottoned on to it and there have been endless success stories from the sale," Jason Singh, Tattersalls' associate director of marketing, told ANZ News.
Last year the auction made headlines when Coolmore sold their then group 3 winner known as 'Delius' to Sir Owen Glenn's Go Bloodstock, De Burgh Equine, trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott and Johnny and Susie McKeever for a sale record price of 1,300,000gns, eclipsing the previous benchmark of 1,000,000gns.
Now raced as Sir Delius, the son of Frankel has not only justified that mammoth price tag, but also enhanced the reputation of the sale further. The 5-year-old announced himself as a horse to follow, kicking off his career in Australia in style with a victory in the Chairman's Handicap (G3) at Doomben in May.
Sir Delius has collected two victories at the group 1 level, producing a stylish win over subsequent Cox Plate (G1) runner-up Buckaroo in the Underwood Stakes (G1) and then easily accounted for Via Sistina, the winner of The Valley showpiece, in the Turnbull Stakes (G1).
While it has not been plain sailing for the star performer since those victories, with stringent vet checks ruling him out of his planned runs in the Cox Plate (G1) and Melbourne Cup (G1), he looks a safe bet to dominate middle-distance races during the Sydney Autumn Carnival.
"I feel sorry for the Sir Delius connections that he wasn't allowed to run in the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup, but at least they have won a couple of group 1s with him this spring. There is no better example of what can be bought at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training Sale than him," Singh said.
"You don't normally get horses making that much at this sale, but I think it's recognition of what can be bought here. We're doing adverts at the moment which I think illustrate perfectly what you can buy.
The sale's success this year has far from been about one horse. Royal Patronage, a 300,000gns pick up for the McKeever Bloodstock, Waterhouse and Bott axis from the WH Bloodstock draft in 2023, proved his worth when winning the Canterbury Stakes (G1).
Meanwhile, Our Anchorage won last season's Parramatta Cup, having been bought by Hubie de Burgh and Darby Racing for 60,000gns in 2022. Also purchased at that edition was the Australia Day Cup winner Tajanis, who was a 40,000gns purchase by Albert Bosma's Go Racing NZ.
While the big prices garner much of the attention, Tajanis and Our Anchorage are two of many horses that show buyers do not need to have thick wallets for success.
"The fact is that every year there are horses who succeed across all different price points and I truly believe it presents something for everybody," said Singh.
Last year, Australians bought 29 lots for an aggregate of 6,500,000gns, 18% of the sale's turnover, while in 2023 they spent 5,700,000gns, accounting for 16% of the overall market. In 2022, Australians shelled out 6,000,000gns on 36 lots, making up 17% of the market, while the previous year they accounted for 11%, having spent 3,700,000gns on 34 horses.
Horses featured in the catalog likely to be of interest to visitors from the Southern Hemisphere include Tattersalls Gold Cup (G1) winner White Birch (Lot 709), Molveno (Lot 1110A), winner of the Italian Derby (G2) and German group 2-scorer Geography (Lot 726A).
Singh believes there is a strong group of horses assembled for this year’s sale.
“The great thing is that year in year out, what is on offer at the sale tends to be fairly constant,” he said. “There has been a bit of a trend over the last few years to bring more of those sorts of horses to market, whereas previously some of them would have been done privately.
The Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale runs Oct. 27-31, with sessions starting at 9:30 a.m. local time.
