Bromley: ‘Market In A Sound Position And I’m Excited About The Somerville’

[Wandering Eyes]

Top bloodstock agent Anthony Bromley and more speak about the yearling market ahead of the Tattersalls Somerville Sale

He may have accounted for a little over seven per cent of the £14,327,000 turnover at last week's Goffs Premier Yearling Sale by coming home with 18 lots on behalf of various different clients, but Highflyer's super agent Anthony Bromley has revealed that the job is only half completed and that he is excited about what business can be drummed up at the Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale this week.

Despite the Somerville Sale being in its infancy, it has already been labelled as one of Bromley's favourites. It's not hard to understand why given he has sourced big-race winners like Chipotle, Bradsell, Relief Rally and Havana Hurricane at basement prices here in recent years. 

And while Bromley hopes to carry the momentum built up last week, where he ended the sale as the leading buyer largely down to his significant spend on behalf of owner Phil Cunningham, he said that the combination of the slimmed-down Somerville Sale catalogue and the buoyant trade at Doncaster leads him to believe that the market will remain strong on Tuesday. 

“Doncaster felt a stronger sale than last year,” Bromley reflected. “The day-two session held up a lot stronger than it did last year. We didn't break a record or anything over the two days but there was a buoyant trade and it kept up right until the last lot went through the ring. There were some lovely horses in the last 10 lots, for example, and I felt that they really made their money. Whereas last year, the buoyancy definitely waned. I thought it was a good, solid renewal. I felt there wasn't a horse that was going to break the £200,000 mark, and I was right in the end, but there were a lot of horses [26] who were knocking around that £100,000 mark, which is the sign of very good trade.”

He added, “Last year we went into the Somerville Sale off the back of some of that waning and 426 horses was too many for the Somerville Sale to take at that time. Therefore, it was a weak sale which was good for me because I bought plenty and had a lot of success from it. But the good thing for the Somerville Sale this year is it is down to one day with 272 lots and the sale didn't peter out at Doncaster so I suspect it will hold up quite well this week. When you looked at the top 10 buyers' list at Doncaster, there were groups of people there. For example, Hugo Palmer's team and Phil Cunningham's team were up there, but you also saw Richard Hughes buy nine. There was a good number of bulky buyers and I think that will roll into this week. I think it will be good trade on Tuesday because the numbers are tighter.”

The Premier Yearling Sale catalogue was down 77 horses on last year, which obviously played a huge part in the turnover dropping by 5% to £14,297,000. However, the clearance rate remained stronger than ever with a three per cent bump to 86 per cent, while the average climbed by nine per cent to £43,194 and the median by 17 per cent to £35,000. Goffs chief Henry Beeby admitted that, while he would have loved more quality yearlings to sell, the figures posted last week bode well for the rest of the season. 

He said, “Strong clearance rate and obviously the median and average strengthening by double digits was great. We thought we had a really good turnout of people but, if I was being really honest, I would have liked some more horses. We were maybe 30 horses short of what would have been an optimum number. We didn't compromise by just taking extra horses for the sake of it because we wanted to keep the standards high. It was a very encouraging start [to the yearling sale season in Britain and Ireland] and followed on well from Arqana. I think it will give people a bit of heart going into the rest of the season.”

Last year represented the largest Somerville Yearling Sale catalogue and it didn't work. The 426 yearlings offered across two days was up 121 lots on the previous edition of the sale yet the turnover climbed only marginally and both the average and median took a hit. One thing that Tatteralls can never be accused of is standing still and the return to the one-day format along with the slimmed-down catalogue is expected to drive figures back in the right direction when the sale kicks off at 10am on Tuesday.

Associate Director Jason Singh commented, “The Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale has only been held four times but has made a very significant impact in a short space of time. It was designed to cater for early, commercial yearlings and since 2023 there have been 40 individual Group/Listed performers from the sale which is a pretty remarkable statistic. Every week there are winners coming out of the sale and none better highlighted the value to be found than Havana Hurricane who cost only 9,000gns last year and who won the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot.

“Group 1 winners from the sale include Bradsell and Anisette, who cost only 12,000gns and 26,000gns respectively, and are great illustrations of the quality of horse that can be purchased on a budget.”

He added, “We have pulled the catalogue back to one day in 2025 and tightened up our selection criteria so we are hopeful that we have a nice bunch of yearlings and that they will sell well. We have also increased the prize-money for both the Somerville Yearling Sale race and October Auction Stakes to £200,000 with graduates of both sales and the Autumn Yearling Sale able to enter both races.

“The combination of top class prize-money and quality yearlings on offer mean that the Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale is a sale that buyers can come to with good confidence that they'll be able to find that magic combination of value and success.”

It is fair to say that Bromley has had the keys to the lock of this sale in recent times. Windsor Castle Stakes winners Chipotle and Havana Hurricane, both sons of Havana Gold, were bought for just 10,000gns and 9,000gns respectively – yes, you read that correctly. Bromley says that he still has plenty of orders left to fill and the search is on for his next big-name star. 

He concluded, “I was underbidder at £80,000 and £90,000 at Donny and those orders are still there. I couldn't fill them. As I said about those last 10 lots at Donny, I waited for them all day because I thought there was a chance I'd get them but everybody was there for them. So I think the market is in a sound position coming into the Somerville Sale. I'm still really excited about the Somerville. We bought 18 at Doncaster and I'd like to think we'd be just as active this week. There are plenty of orders left over from last week and I'm excited about what I can buy this week.”

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