Goffs February Weanling Sale Moves Online
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Photo: Patrick McCann/Racing Post
Trading at Goffs
Following the extension to the current COVID-19 restrictions announced by the Irish Government, part 2 of the Goffs February Sale will now be held as a live online sale March 11.
Vendors will be asked to upload conformation films and veterinary information to the Goffs website so that potential purchasers can make as informed a decision as possible prior to bidding. Every weanling will be presented with a veterinary certificate against which purchasers can re-examine within 48 hours of the fall of hammer to give added confidence to bidders whilst the online information will provide a farm location where applicable should local buyers wish to arrange a socially distanced pre-sale inspection.
Announcing the decision, Goffs Group chief executive, Henry Beeby said:
"Whilst this is not our first choice, an online option offers an opportunity to trade and several vendors implored us not to simply cancel the sale. We recognize it will not suit some and that buyers would prefer a physical sale, as would we, but we must react and adapt to the latest Government directives. At this stage we simply cannot say with any degree of certainty when we could hold a physical sale that is both safe and compliant in the short term, and vendors need certainty as they plan their year rather than yet more delays".
Goffs Online has successfully hosted three live online sales so far including last November's Autumn Yearling Sale which returned a lively trade for the catalogue presented with the average and median prices actually advancing by 10%. Part 1 of the February Sale also returned better than expected results and a top price of €100,000 (USD$121,930). Since its inception in July last year the platform has supported physical sales to which overseas buyers could not travel, hosted live online sales with no horses or clients on-site and run two buoyant timed online sales with prices of up to £300,000 (USD$421,213). To date, nearly 7,400 bids have been received on Goffs Online from 22 countries with over €7.6 million of business successfully concluded.