Leading vendors and buyers open up ahead of the Tattersalls Ireland Breeze-Up Sale“We've three or four owners who are mad keen to get in on the action,” said Ross O'Sullivan on the eve of the Tattersalls Ireland Breeze-Up Sale. O'Sullivan was one of many domestic trainers – Ado McGuinness, Paddy Twomey, Stephen Thorne, Michael O'Callaghan and plenty of others – who will be busy trying to sniff out some value. And why wouldn't they? Breeze-Up maestro John Cullinan admits that consignors are “feeling the pain” from a cooling market and that clearance rates have now become the priority over dizzying profits. “Empty headcollars” is an oft-used expression of O'Sullivan's wife Katie Walsh, arguably one of the most respected breeze-up handlers in the business. It refers to her philosophy of keeping the wheel turning at the breeze-up sales and this year it seems to have more resonance than ever before. Little wonder then that so many buyers feel that opportunity could well knock when the sale kicks off at 10am on Friday.Of the merits of the sale, O'Sullivan said, “You can find horses to fill the five grand order right up to spending big money on a horse who can go and win a maiden. It's a great sale and we're looking forward to trying to fill a few orders.”On the market, he added, “I can see both sides of it. As a trainer, you have to flip it the other way and see how there could be value here tomorrow. I can see through Katie that it has been tricky for breeze-up handlers all year. Maybe people thought that Arqana would provide them with a get out of jail free card but it didn't and the market was tricky there, too. “In fairness to Irish Thoroughbred Marketing, they get a lot of clients here but, as a trainer, I feel there will be opportunities. For an owner, it makes a lot of sense – all you need is a stalls cert and a name and you are ready to go racing. We've owners who have seen how the spring has gone for breeze-up handlers and they think there might be a bit of value. Hopefully they are right.”Mickey Cleere: “You get manners put on you fairly fast in this business.” | TattersallsMickey Cleere is one of the consignors that is feeling the pain that Cullinan speaks about. However, a ray of light might be about to appear for the popular handler after his Harry Angel filly [lot 252] put in one of the most eye-catching breezes on Thursday. “She was fast all year and never missed a beat, which is key for this game,” Cleere acknowledged. “She didn't let us down so we are happy. We sold a couple of nice horses here, including Ballymount Boy.”A number of well-trashed out sayings come to mind when speaking to Cleere. Perhaps none are more fitting about this game and its unrelenting ability to tame lions. “It's been a tough year, hard to get into that bracket,” he said. “Our horses haven't been clocking, which is disappointing, and it can be punishing because it's all gone very time orientated. It can be mentally frustrating when they don't clock well. Especially when you like one and it has been showing you the right signs. The sales can be very lonely when you don't clock well.”He added, “I had a few good years and you think it's going to last forever. But I'll tell you one thing, you get manners put on you fairly fast in this business. It can bring you back down to earth fairly quickly. Surviving the tough times, that's key, and I'm definitely going to change things next year. I won't be gathering as many horses in future, I'll be aiming for lesser horses and more quality. This thing of buying the horse who maybe might cut it, that won't do anymore. You need too many of those types for one to make it pay. It's gone too tough to be dealing in bigger numbers, I think. If I keep going the way I have been, I'd go broke. This year will put manners on a lot of people, myself included. But bad times don't last forever.”Cullinan speaks for most vendors when he says this year, more or less, is about survival. Keeping your proverbial head above water in one of the trickiest markets in recent times will be deemed a success this year, according to one of the most respected practitioners of his craft. He explained, “I have been watching the sales from afar this year because I am dealing with a health issue. Listen, I haven't broadcast that now or anything, but that's why I haven't been at the sales as much as I'd have liked. Obviously the yearling sales were very competitive and it was hard to source stock with much upside value. The whole breeze-up sector had been on an upward curve, thanks to the results on the track, and then the new wave of breeze-up consignors have raised the bar – I mean, we've gone from giving 30 and 40 grand for a yearling to go breezing to regularly spending more than 100 grand. So, the turnover on the yearlings bought to go breezing has increased massively even since Covid, but then the unfortunate events in the Middle East meant that a lot of the key players seemed to reduce their activity, certainly up until Arqana anyways. There was a big drop in activity from the regular buyers and certainly the domestic buyers in England were not as active as you'd have liked either. So, the key theme of this breeze-up season appears to be the clearance rate. Irrespective of profit and loss, getting horses sold seems to be the name of the game this year.”John Cullinan: “This has always been the best sale with regards to clearance rate.” | TattersallsCullinan added, “Now, a lot of handlers haven't managed to do that so it has been a tough year for many. Arqana delivered some decent results for many people, which tidied up a lot of things, but there is still an overhang of unsold horses. Like, there were only 113 horses sold at the Craven and there were a hell of a lot of withdrawn horses on the day. There were plenty of private sales done at Donny, which helped the clearance rate, but we all know that private sales are usually at a loss. It's been tricky. Every year there has been pain. That goes with the territory. But this year, there has been more pain than ever because the expenditure went up at the buying end and we hit a bump at the selling end. I just hope that a lot of vendors can ride their way through this year.”All of that being said, there is a strange sense of optimism on the ground at Fairyhouse ahead of one of the final sales of the European breeze-up season. And that is largely down to the footfall, which is a direct result of the tireless work that ITM, along with Tattersalls Ireland, put in to get buyers here. The strong domestic turnout is completely outnumbered by the large group of foreign buyers who turn up year in, year out, and Cullinan is quietly optimistic this sale can deliver the goods once again.He said, “This has always been the best sale with regards to clearance rate. It's a great place to get horses sold. The Craven and Donny, the emphasis is on the Ascot horse whereas at Arqana and here, Ascot is off the agenda and there is a broader view taken. ITM and Tattersalls Ireland, but in particular ITM, do a brilliant job. They are working on this all year round – they go to Scandinavia, Italy, Saudi Arabia and more – and they always deliver a broad buying bench. BUCA [Breeze-Up Consignors Association] sponsors a lot of races in that jurisdiction as well. You can see by the footfall here, it would be more than most. The other sales up until this point, they would probably be more polarised. The number of horses catalogued are big but history tells us that Tattersalls Ireland and ITM can pull it off. Hopefully they can do so again.”The post “History Tells Us ITM And Tattersalls Can Pull It Off – Hopefully They Do It Again” appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.