The Tattersalls breeze-up sale will be broadcast on television for the first time ever.
The sales, which take place today (Wednesday 13 April) and tomorrow, hold plenty of promise this year thanks to what Tattersalls tout as “the strongest catalogue ever assembled for a European two-year-olds in training sale.”
Past graduates such as Paita, who was purchased last year for 32,000gns and went on to win the Group 1 Criterium de Saint Cloud, did much to broaden the breeze-up’s appeal, but Tattersalls have also been very careful in nurturing interest through a number of ground breaking initiatives.
The world’s oldest bloodstock auctioneers have displayed a rare flair for forward thinking and wholeheartedly embraced modern technology to market their sales. In 2004, for example, they posted videos of the breezes — showing the lots cantering in pair before prospective buyers over a distance of approximately three furlongs — on their website.
This year, for the first time ever, part of the sales will be broadcast live on Racing UK, the dedicated racing channel owned by 31 British racecourses, in another radical innovation that will help Tattersalls reach an even wider audience.
“We are delighted that Racing UK will be televising the breeze-up, and hope that this ground-breaking innovation will lead to further coverage of Tattersalls sales in the future,” says Tattersalls marketing director Jimmy George. “It is important for the racing industry to promote itself in as many ways as possible and such joint initiatives can only serve to make racehorse ownership more accessible.”
Racing UK will cover the Wednesday auction from 5.15pm to 8pm. “We are the industry’s channel and we are keen to add value for our subscribers with additional racing related programming,” says Racing UK’s executive chairman, Simon Bazalgette. “With a very strong catalogue assembled for a European two-year-old in training sale I am sure they will find [the sale] fascinating.”
The breezes, which took place in the morning of Tuesday 12 April at the Rowley Mile racecourse, are already available for perusal on the Tattersalls website.
“We broke new ground with this innovation last year and it was a resounding success, particularly with overseas buyers who were unable to attend the breeze-up sale in person,” says George. “The technology is readily available and I think it would be safe to say that this will now be a permanent feature of future Tattersalls breeze-up sales.”
