Tattersalls Book 3 sees lower numbers

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Tattersalls October yearling sale's Book 3 portion ended Saturday in Newmarket, England, with declines across the board, but the auction house put a positive spin on the results by noting that the combined Book 3 and earlier Book 2 results resulted in a record gross overall.

At Saturday's final Book 3 session, the top price was 15,000 guineas, or about $32,130, for a colt by Namid out of Funny Girl, by Darshaan, that Paul D'Arcy bought from agent Jamie Railton.

Book 3's three sessions combined sold 367 yearlings this year for about $12,203,830, down 23 percent from last year's equivalent days. The average fell 16 percent to about $33,252, and the median dropped by 25 percent to about $31,594.

But Book 3 and the Oct. 16-17 Book 2 sessions, considered together, outperformed last year's five-day total, pushing gross up 7 percent to about $63,413,695 for 840 horses - 21 fewer than were sold in the same time frame last year. The five-day average of about $75,492 was up 10 percent, thanks in large measure to buyers' more aggressive spending in Book 2. But median was off by 4 percent.

"We were a little concerned going into Book 3 that the amount of European money spent in the USA owing to the favorable exchange rate would at some point have an impact, and it seemed to be felt toward the end of the sale," Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said after the auction.