Fahey says rising breeze-up prices are squeezing owners further

Richard Fahey said the booming breeze-up market was leaving owners further behind, warning that prices had risen so sharply that buying into the top end of the trade was becoming harder to justify. The message landed against a Doncaster breeze-up sale that turned over £8,389,250, produced a £880,000 top lot and showed just how far the market has moved.

Fahey, who has trained more than 3,500 winners and has been associated with Group 1 horses including Perfect Power, Sands of Mali, Ribchester, Wootton Bassett and Mayson, said the trade had grown steadily more difficult over the years. He began his career trading in horses, stores and breeze-up stock before concentrating fully on training, and his read on the market came from someone who has lived through both sides of the ledger.

“It’s getting tougher, especially the breeze-ups,” Fahey said, summing up a shift that has reshaped who can afford to buy and how much margin remains once a horse has been purchased and prepared. His own yard has already gone through a long transition, moving toward a different type of horse after earlier success with older stars, and he described 2024 as a “period of transition” after selling more than 20 horses at Tattersalls and retiring several more.

That change continued into 2025, when Fahey said spring and summer had been frustrating because of a high pollen count and sinus issues among the horses at the stable. He has also said he has moved back toward speed horses after finding staying types harder to work with, another reminder that the commercial shape of a yard is being influenced by health, market pressure and the type of stock owners can still reach.

The wider breeze-up trade has been giving sellers strong numbers, but not necessarily easy profits. Goffs’ 2026 Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale catalogued 233 horses, offered 175 and sold 147, with an average of £57,070 and a median of £35,000. The sale’s top price of £880,000 was the second-largest sum ever paid at Doncaster, and Goffs said the sale has produced 11 Royal Ascot winners in the last 10 years.

Tattersalls’ 2026 Guineas Breeze Up Sale also pointed to healthy demand, with a top lot of 240,000 guineas and an average of 32,752 guineas. Yet a 2025 market review noted that while European breeze-up averages have risen sharply, profits for many vendors still stayed tight once purchase and preparation costs were counted. Fahey’s warning cut straight to the consequence of that squeeze: if breeze-up prices have doubled or tripled, the next question is who gets priced out of ownership, and what kind of horses never make it to the track.