Elite Sport Horse Sales Thrive Despite Covid-19 Restrictions

Online bidding and livestreaming of sales has worked well when buyers cannot attend

- Eleanor Jones

Elite sport horse sales have been running successfully despite Covid-19 restrictions, as organisers focus on “controlling the controllable”.

The Monart Sale of elite event horses in Ireland is due to run online from 2 to 4 November, while the Billy Stud’s first Elite Auction, which ended on 18 October, was a great success, with the top lot, Big Star national sixyear-old champion Billy Masai, selling to the US for £92,000.

Highclere Thoroughbred Racing held its yearling parade via live-stream on 18 October.

WELL RECEIVED

HIGHCLERE chairman and managing director Harry Herbert said: “We would normally have been welcoming 250 people per day over three days but with Covid, we decided to live-stream the parade. It was really well received and since buying our yearlings we have sold over 80% of our shares which is fantastic.

“The live-stream reached a much larger audience than ever before and proved that there is real interest in racehorse ownership despite the current challenging economic climate.”