One welcome aspect to recent yearling sales seasons has been the growing participation of American buyers. Mike Ryan, working on behalf of Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables, really set the ball rolling at Tattersalls in 2017 when coming away with six yearlings worth 1,315,000gns. When three of them turned out to be champion Newspaperofrecord, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine, fellow Grade 1 turf scorer Digital Age and the Graded stakes performers Good Governance and Value Proposition, the floodgates opened.
Today, American buyers are enthusiastic supporters of European youngstock, particularly within the £100,000 – £300,000 range – a favoured area for Klaravich and sometimes a soft area of the elite market. Goffs went as far as to lay on a plane out of New York for buyers attending its Orby Sale in 2022; rewards were forthcoming when around 35 American-based interests made purchases.
However, any inroads into that market are now under serious threat due to the sweeping controversial US trade tariffs announced by Donald Trump in early April. The move triggered intense turbulence in the financial markets, with trillions of dollars wiped off the value of global stocks. Just just over a week later, there was some relief as Trump sanctioned a 90-day pause in the higher rate of ‘reciprocal tariffs’ – but anxiety still remains.
The volatility that this has prompted on a wider scale is obviously likely to filter down into the racing industry. More immediately, however, it has generated a potential trade barrier with ramifications for the market.
Thoroughbreds are designated as ‘pure-bred breeding horses’ on the list of products that may fall under the tariff umbrella. That means in the worst case scenario that horses carrying the ‘GB’ suffix are subject to a ten per cent tariff upon entry into the US and those carrying either ‘IRE’ or ‘FR’ are subject to 20 per cent. American-bred horses are classed as American goods and escape with no tariff.
It’s a situation that is understandably being monitored closely by the various sale companies, all of whom have strong ties to the US – for instance, the Tattersalls team made nine trips to the US last year, which became worthwhile when American buyers upped their spend considerably at its October Sale.
Aware that American politics, especially in the Trump era, remain ever fluid, Tattersalls are keeping a mindful eye on events.
“Tattersalls are maintaining a watching brief on US tariffs, aware that any changes could have wider implications for those buying and selling in the thoroughbred market,” says Jason Singh, associate director of marketing at Tattersalls.
“The burgeoning US turf scene has resulted in an increased demand for European yearlings. The best yearlings in Europe can be found at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale which attracted significant numbers of American buyers in search of high quality European turf pedigrees which we would anticipate continuing, even with the impediment of tariffs.”
He continues: “The success of graduates of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in recent years in North American has been remarkable and recent Grade 1 winners from the sale include Aunt Pearl, Digital Age, Domestic Spending, In Italian, McKulick, Newspaperofrecord and Program Trading. That success, in tandem with promotional visits made by Tattersalls representatives resulted in more than 80 yearlings being purchased in 2024 at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale for more than 10,000,000 guineas.
“Tattersalls will continue to spend considerable time and resource on the American market and would anticipate that there will still be significant demand for European pedigrees and those on offer at the Europe’s premier yearling sale.”
In all, 117 British-bred and 304 Irish-bred horses were exported to the US in 2024. Over 1,600 horses have been imported from Britain and Ireland to the US in the past four years.
Of course, not every American buyer is going to send a purchase back to the US. Ireland, in particular, continues to attract US-based owners; look no further than the American ownership behind champion Porta Fortuna or major owner Peter Brant.
However, for a buyer such as Klaravich Stables, which maintains its powerful stable with Chad Brown (left) in the US and spent 3,595,000gns through Mike Ryan at Tattersalls’ Book 1 Sale last year, the proposed tariff bill would obviously prompt a significant expense.
The same could also be said of John Stewart’s Resolute Racing, whose pricey December purchases Excellent Truth (€1,600,000), Village Voice (1,300,000gns) and A Lilac Rolla (1,000,000gns) were each shipped over to the US to continue their careers.
There is also the private market to consider. Working against the tide of woeful prize-money, many today operate with the residual value of a horse in mind, and plenty make this approach work. The American market has long been a friend to this sector, particularly when it comes to a promising filly. There is an argument to suggest that those playing at the top end will have enough of a margin to work with to absorb the additional cost. But for those below that, and there are plenty working away to source a promising non-winner who can compete in the US with all its ‘conditions’, there might be some second thoughts.
This comes at a time when the breeding and sales industry is facing significant headwinds with the proposed EU transport regulations, which if implemented could force breeders to rethink how they operate. As an example, the new proposals include a compulsory seven-day residency requirement for monitoring following travelling or journeys of eight hours or more, meaning that any horse coming into a sales complex anywhere in the EU will have to remain resident at that property for seven days. While the proposals primarily affect continental Europe, it would be naive to think Britain won’t be affected given the amount of business it conducts with Ireland, France and Germany among others.
As far as tariffs are concerned, Trump’s decision to place a 90-day pause on his plans did at least mean that the breeze-up season escapes unscathed. However, uncertainty remains for the rest of the year and that is a shadow that we can all do without.
