The Breeze-Up Consignors Association and Arqana have united to ensure there is no repeat of the unsavoury behaviour last monthBrendan Holland, head of the Breeze-Up Consignors Association (BUCA), has spoken of his deep embarrassment about incidents of excessive drinking, fighting and damage caused at the recent sales in Deauville making it onto the pages of the national press after complaints made by Arqana president Olivier Delloye were leaked.However, Delloye vehemently stated on Monday that formal complaints made in a letter to BUCA were taken “completely out of context” by the Irish Independent newspaper, which outlined incidents of fighting and possible drug use at the breeze-up sale in the beautiful French town of Deauville. Delloye said, “I would like to put all of this into perspective, especially after some of the media coverage surrounding this affair which, in my view, goes way too far given what actually happened during the sale. I felt it was necessary to write to Brendan and the BUCA members to very simply let them know that incidents occurred during the sales week.”He added, “As managing director of Arqana, I had a role of reminding them of their responsibilities and, of course, we at Arqana were ready to cooperate and adapt as to how we can do things better for the future. That was it. Then, it came into the hands of a journalist, who publicises everything in an exaggerated way compared to what actually happened.”Some of the incidents listed in Delloye's letter, which was circulated to BUCA's over 80 members, listed fights in car parks, fights inside the sales complex which spilled over and injured a woman who had the misfortune of being hit by a flying chair, hotel rooms being damaged and excessive noise at unreasonable hours.Holland says such incidents risk undoing the massive strides made by the sector in recent years and urged consignors not to bury their heads in the sand. Brendan Holland | TattersallsHe said, “On a personal level, I am hugely embarrassed about the whole thing and there's no doubt that a few incidents have taken from what was largely a good sale in one of the most difficult breeze-up seasons in recent times. We have addressed the situation – we spoke almost immediately after the sale with Arqana and wrote to our consignors. On top of that, we will have more discussions with the other sales companies outside of Arqana to ensure this doesn't happen again. We had already put together a code of conduct and wrote to our members to remind them of their responsibilities. While the incidents on their own have been unfortunate, the press that they have attracted is completely out of proportion to what actually occurred.”The Grove Stud man added, “We would urge consignors not to bury their heads in the sand here and remind them how far the sector has come in such a short space of time. That has taken a lot of work. Certainly, we wouldn't like these incidents to take away from any of that and, once again, we remind everyone of their responsibilities going forward.”Delloye stressed that there is no animosity between Arqana and BUCA following the incidents of bad behaviour at last month's breeze-up sale. Instead, he shared that both parties are adopting a collaborative approach to ensure there is not a repeat and quashed any “stupid speculation” that future sales could be staged away from the sales house at Deauville. He said, “I think there is absolutely no difference of opinion between us at Arqana and Brendan at BUCA. We are talking here about a few people who did not behave properly during the sale but, behind those guys, there is a huge cohort of people who not only do a great job in preparing these horses and make this sale happen, but behave exceptionally well. To have so many people within the breeze-up sphere feeling ashamed of the actions of just a few people is not right. We need to take actions to make sure that these things do not happen again but we need to acknowledge that the large majority of people who travel to Deauville to the sale behave perfectly well. Let's not forget them here.”Delloye added, “I have absolutely no regret for sharing with BUCA what happened and explaining what was expected from them. I think that is my role and responsibility. But I don't want to make any more fuss about it because I am dealing with responsible people who know what they have to do and we are simply here to help as to what we can do better next time. We are working closely with BUCA and I would like to share some of our thoughts going forward with Brendan before we make them public.”The post BUCA Leader Shares ‘Huge Embarrassment’ Following Disorder At Deauville appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.