On Friday the hammer will fall 87 times at York Stutteri. Behind every single knockdown lie three years of work, a hope and a hunch that this particular yearling will be the next big star. Bidding is open both in the ring and online.
It starts on Thursday
The sale officially gets under way on Friday 18 September at 13.00. But for anyone who wants a proper look, it begins the day before.
By Thursday afternoon the yearlings are settled in the barns at York Stutteri, and from 16.30 to 19.00 Dansk Galop opens the doors for inspection.
There is light refreshment, food and drink — and above all there is time. On Thursday evening you can walk back and forth in front of the same box three times without anyone glancing at the clock.
Friday rarely offers that luxury.
87 yearlings, 27 stallions, two countries
The catalogue runs to 91 lots. Four have since been withdrawn, so 87 yearlings will go through the ring: 43 fillies, 37 colts and 7 geldings.
They come from 28 vendors — 14 Danish and 14 Swedish, an even split — and divide 54 Danish and 33 Swedish horses between them. Behind them stand 27 stallions.
Four of them account for more than half the catalogue: Courage Under Fire with 16 yearlings, Moohaajim and Appel Au Maitre with 13 apiece, and Go Go Gadget with 10. Between them 52 of the 87. Evasive follows on 6. The oldest yearling was foaled on 27 January, the youngest on 1 June.
The depth in the families is worth noting: 80 of the 87 catalogue pages carry black type, and 75 of them feature a Group winner or Group-placed horse.
You can bid from home
If you are not at York Stutteri yourself, you can still bid. As in previous years the online bidding runs through EasyLive Auction, where registration is straightforward and the sale can be followed live, lot by lot — click here to go straight to Online Bidding, where you can register in moments.
The paperwork is done in advance
At YearlingSale.dk the catalogue pages are kept updated right up to the fall of the hammer. Corrections made after the catalogue went to print are shown in red — so the difference between the book in your hand and the reality in the box is clear at a glance.
A running list, Withdrawals & Updates, gathers every single change since 15 August.
On top of that come photos, video and X-ray reports — freely available to anyone who wants to do their homework.
The day at York
On Friday the yearlings are shown from 10.00. That leaves three hours to form a final impression — to see them walk, to have a word with the vendor — to make up your own mind.
There are food trucks, a coffee bar and a wine and beer bar, so you can stay on the grounds all day. That is part of the character of the sale: business and good company side by side.
The future goes under the hammer
For Scandinavia’s breeders, Friday is the most important day of the year. This is where the work that started in the foaling box is finally turned into hard cash — and this is where buyers have to guess at something nobody can yet know.
Among the 87 there is probably a Derby winner. In two years we will know which one.
