Tattersalls sale ends with gross, average down

The Tattersalls December mares sales at Newmarket, England, concluded on Thursday with slight declines in average price and gross receipts but a strong increase in median.

After four days of selling, 628 mares went through the ring for gross receipts of 33,197,700 guineas, or approximately $57.9 million, compared to gross receipts of 33,355,150 guineas last year on the sale of 610 mares.

The average price was 52,863 guineas, or approximately $92,100, compared with an average of 54,681 guineas last year, a 3.3 percent decline. Median shot up 16 percent, from 12,500 guineas last year to 14,500 guineas this year.

The percentage of horses bought back by their consignors after having failed to reach their reserves was only 19 percent this year, down significantly from the 32 percent buy-back rate last year, when bloodstock markets around the world suffered severe contractions because of the credit crisis and recession.