With the Tattersalls Horse In Training Sale about to start this time next week a lot of people wanted to know the process we undertake to find the “diamonds in the rough”.

There are 1500+ horses that will be sold starting this time next week in the premier UK sale. All are raced or tried horses and combined we have spent the best part of 220+ hours reviewing races, doing sectional times, which involves checking par times with actual times and largely ending up with square eyes!

It’s a well known fact “the eye lies” and by having hard factual data on each horse, this allows us to rate each performance on the same benchmark in order to give us the most accurate guide.

Each race in Europe is rated, timed and then double checked which helps create a database in which benchmark times can be developed, taking into account such things as track conditions and wind etc.

To have this information doesn’t guarantee the horses will come here and be automatic stars, but it’s the next closest thing, and importantly takes away a lot of risk, which is why when you buy with us you can buy with confidence that we have a head start over everyone else.

Of the 1500+ horses, we are looking for horses that will come here as minimum City Class. With prize money at insane levels in Australia, a solid city class horse these days can earn $300,000 fairly comfortably and with over 70 races in Australia that are worth $1m plus the opportunities are amazing.

Having all but narrowed our short list the process is as follows.

1. We have narrowed down the 1500+ horses to 137 who we believe will be City or Group Class
2. We have then ranked them based on their ratings and traits which then we attributed a fair price on each horse.
3. For the few days leading up to the sale we employ a full time bloodstock agent and trusted friend to inspect all horses and then following him are 2 full time Australian vets (which is important) to go and inspect each horse physically and inspect them thoroughly for any issues.
4. Our agent will firstly cull any horses not physically suited and then those that make his approval list will be vetted as detailed as possible, ranging from x-raying the horses back (kissing spine is a disease that is huge in Europe). Scans of tendons, scoping of the throat, x-rays of all important parts etc.
5. We try to get all the information we can by speaking to trainers, strappers and foremen to find out a horse’s traits.

This sale has a number of horses who might be sound to race in Europe but for Australian standards will not “stand up” down here and we employ an extremely strict set of criteria that the vets must follow to ensure that when each horse arrives in Australia we can be confident they will be well suited physically and have a long career.

Our vetting process is the most stringent and strict of any Australian buyer and have identified which traits work and don’t work down under. Being athletes and animals there is always going to be a chance of injuries so we make sure that our horses have the lowest possible risk at all times. After all, our money gets invested into them as well as we keep shares in all horses purchased!

All this sounds fairly standard but don’t be fooled as a number of well-known Aussie buyers don’t even bother doing a vet check which we find staggering. When you buy with us you can be assured we are as thorough and diligent as possible to find a horse that can provide us with excitement and financial return.

In total the list of 137, realistically approx. 60-70 of them will make the final list by the time inspections and vetting are taken off.

The sale starts late each night and then runs through to around 6am in the morning for 4 days straight where they sell approx. 350-400 horses per day.

Upon completion of the sale each horse we buy will be sent to quarantine in England for two weeks to be ready for export and then when they arrive they do a further two weeks quarantine before heading to selected trainers.

The Costs:
The horses in Europe are largely exceptionally well priced based on ability for those buying the right horses.

Each horse is sold in GUINEAS which is an old tradition that Tattersalls has maintained. To work out the cost of a Guinea as a rough rule of thumb it’s 5% on what the pound is. For example if we buy a horse for 100,000 guineas it’s roughly 105,000 Pounds.

With the cost of having a full time agent on the ground who knows what works and what doesn’t he charges us 5% commission on what we buy.

With the two full time vets to cover their time and the cost of x-rays, a full vet process is very detailed and we divide the total amount of horses purchased by the total amount of money the vets charge to even it out.

Our charge is 12.5% of the purchase price.

The cost to get a horse to Australia including all costs is approx. $45,000 to $50,000.

We expect to be buying a range of horses ranging from £25,000 to £200,000 pounds so for people looking for shares we expect shares landed in AUS can be budgeted around $3,000 upwards as a rough guide depending on what we buy.

Below is a list of the horses we have managed to secure in the last few years using our process.

• 15 horses- 98 starts 23 wins – 28 placings – 92 cheques- $1,469,740
• 14 horses still racing and making memories and earning money for their connections
• 14 horses city grade or better

Baltic Coast: 2 starts 1 win, City Class galloper – Still Racing

Turn On The Charm: 6 starts, 2 wins 1 placing – Still Racing

Spangler: 2 starts, 1 win, City Class galloper – Still Racing

Kettle Hill: Close to racing in Australia, Group Class galloper.

Glentanteous: Close to racing in Australia, Group Class galloper.

Grand Rumore: 13 starts, 3 wins, 4 placings. Multiple City Winner and Future Group winner Filly – Still Racing.

Mayfair Spirit: 11 starts, 2 wins, 3 placings – Still Racing.

Daysan: 5 starts, 2 wins – Future staying city winner – Still Racing.

Fifth Position: 15 starts, 1 win, 4 placings – City Winner – Still Racing.

Mankayan: 13 starts, 4 wins, 6 placings – Multiple City winner and Group Performed – Still Racing.

Herman Hesse: 12 starts, 3 wins, 5 placings – Multiple City winner and Group placed horse – Still Racing.

Kings Charisma: 10 starts, 2 placings, 5th in Group 3 – Still Racing.

Winter Thorn: 3 starts, 1 win, 1 placing- City Class who won his maiden by 6 lengths – Still Racing

Given we have completed the list, what we have done in the last few days is approach the connections of the 10 most desirable horses in the sale.

Of those 10 we have managed to secure 4 of them privately already and hence they won’t be sold through auction as the price we have done we feel is a very good bargain for us and our owners.

If you are interested in looking to buy into these 4 premium, already secured horses, get in contact now as they will sell very fast.

Thanks for taking the time to learn about our process if you have any questions or want to get first option on the horses we have bought or will buy get in contact straight away with Jamie Lovett on 0409 270 980 or Luke Murrell on 0407 451 823

Below is an example of how we rated each horse in the sale with our ratings and comments.

Want to race an import?

The upcoming Tattersalls sales in the UK are fast approaching. Fill in the form below to hear of our latest purchases.

EXPRESION OF INTEREST