Aktem will bid to throw down a marker with its first-ever breeze-up sale taking place at Maisons-Laffitte on Wednesday, where 81 juveniles will go under the hammer.The sales company's Daniel Cooper has outlined hopes for the breeze-up sale to grow and revealed that there could be considerable scope for a much bigger catalogue in the future provided Wednesday's first foray into the market goes well.Hot off the heels of Aktem's Grand Steeple Selection Sale, which saw prices as high as €510,000 paid for talented National Hunt prospects, the opening breeze-up session is not expected to reach such dizzying heights. Instead, Cooper outlined hopes for a positive start which would provide the company with something to build on. He said, “It's our first breeze-up sale but everything went to plan during the breeze. All of the jockeys were very happy with the track, which was laid out in excellent condition. We had a big thunder shower just before the breeze, so that did soften the ground up a little, but, apart from that, everything went well and a lot of people turned up. It is a young sale but hopefully it can kick off. We have the location and we have the track so it's very convenient for vendors and buyers. We think we have a nice bunch of horses on offer for our first-ever breeze-up sale so fingers crossed it can all go well and we have something to build on going forward.”He added, “Of course there were always going to be teething problems and, for example, we would have liked to have uploaded the videos from the breeze online a lot quicker than we did. We will learn from that and it will be much smoother going forward. We were a little bit disappointed not to have access to a large yard, which is right next door to the sale, but that will be in use for our yearling sale in September. That yard can cater for 60 horses so it's a major asset.”While official times are a bone of contention on the European breeze-up circuit, there is no denying that various different time sheets are well-circulated following all of the major sales. However, there were only one set of private lasers visible on the track at Maisons-Laffitte on Tuesday, meaning the majority of buyers are in the dark with regards to how each horse fared out on the timing sheets. Cooper commented, “When we were putting a breeze-up catalogue together, we asked the question about times. We weren't doing times but, at the same time, if somebody wanted to bring their speed cameras, they could. If all of the breeze-up handlers were saying we need clocks, we would have got clocks. They seem to be divided on clocks and I am old-fashioned myself when it comes to clocks.”Asked if he felt having an accurate timing mechanism that was accessible for prospective buyers in place was a minimum requirement for a sales company hoping to get bigger in the breeze-up sale sphere going forward, Cooper replied, “Yea, we're definitely going to look into it for next year. We're talking to everybody, but we're definitely talking to Guy Petit [bloodstock director at AKTEM] and Gregoire Leenders. We're going to have to do something different and they are definitely open to having official times next year. We'll have a couple of conversations after this sale and it's definitely on the table. What I would say, the consignors who have turned up this week, they have been extremely professional and helpful. We have taken all of their feedback on board and it has been a pleasure working with them.”The catalogue features progeny of leading sires Blue Point, Starspangledbanner, Sioux Nation and Havana Grey and gets underway at 1pm local time on Wednesday. Leading agents like Hubie de Burgh and Michael Donohoe are reported to have made the trip for the inaugural breeze-up sale and Cooper is optimistic that the ingredients are in place for the sale to grow.He concluded, “We have the facility, we just need to get the horses for next year. We definitely want to grow. We'll have an extra 60 boxes for next year but our biggest asset is having access to the track and our location is excellent as well.”The post “We Definitely Want To Grow” – Aktem Gearing Up For Inaugural Breeze-Up Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.