What Is a Horses in Training Sale? Tattersalls' 750,000-Guinea Week

What is a horses in training sale?

A horses in training sale is an auction of racehorses that are already racing, or fit and ready to race, so buyers bid on a horse with a public race record instead of only a pedigree and a promise. Most lots are 2-year-olds and older horses coming straight out of racing stables, and many change countries the moment the hammer falls.

That is exactly what happened in Newmarket, England, this week. The Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale, which Tattersalls calls the world's largest sale of its kind, runs from Monday, October 26, to Thursday, October 29, 2026, with the fourth and final session underway today.

This week's headline lots

• The Lost King (day two, Oct 27): 750,000 guineas. The 4-year-old son of Kingman, trained by Andrew Balding and sold for King Power Racing, is rated 117 by Timeform. Since September he has finished second in the Group 2 Joel Stakes and been placed twice at Group 3 level. Najd Stud and Archdale Bloodstock bought him with Saudi Cup Day in mind.
• Tyrrhenian Thunder (day three, Oct 28): 600,000 guineas, about US$840,000. The 2-year-old by Night of Thunder won on debut at Ayr in September, then ran second in the Listed Silver Tankard Stakes at Pontefract on October 19. Ciaron Maher's team bought him to race in Australia.
• Arctic Tsar (day one, Oct 26): 390,000 guineas. The 2-year-old by Kodiac, trained by Clive Cox, was unplaced in his first three starts, then won his last three in a row and is rated 93p by Timeform. He is headed to Hong Kong trainer David Eustace.

Tattersalls reported a 92% clearance rate on day three, meaning 92% of the horses offered that day found a buyer, with turnover up 8% on the same day last year. Final totals for the whole sale were not out when this article was published.

How it differs from yearling, breeze-up and breeding-stock sales

Every racehorse auction answers one question: what can the buyer actually see? At a horses in training sale, the answer is the most evidence the sales calendar offers.

Tyrrhenian Thunder shows how one horse can pass through all three racing stages. He sold for 165,000 guineas as a yearling at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, then for €300,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland breeze-up sale, and now for 600,000 guineas with a win and a Listed placing on his record.

Buying cheap and selling higher later is the same idea behind pinhooking, just with racing in the middle. Pierre Royal is a vivid example: bought at this sale last year for 48,000 guineas, he won the 2026 Cambridgeshire and resold on Monday for 375,000 guineas, bound for Australia.

The sale also includes fillies and mares from strong families. For those lots, buyers weigh the race record and the pedigree together, because a good race filly can later become a valuable broodmare.

Ratings and race records: what buyers actually read

A rating turns a horse's race results into a single number. Higher is better, and the gap between two ratings roughly equals how many pounds of weight one horse would need to carry to make a race between them even.

• Timeform ratings come from an independent ratings firm and are quoted in nearly every sale report. Timeform's symbols matter: a small p means the horse is likely to improve, and a capital P means it is capable of much better form.
• Official ratings are set by the racing authority and decide the weights a horse carries in handicaps.
• Racing Post Ratings are another independent scale. Organ, a 4-year-old who sold for 375,000 guineas on day three, earned a Racing Post Rating of 104 when he won by 7½ lengths.

So Arctic Tsar's 93p tells you he is good for a 2-year-old and expected to get better. The Lost King's 117 tells you he is already a high-class horse, which is why he sold for more than any other lot through the first three days.

Why so many horses are bought to race abroad

A proven European racehorse can be worth more in a different country's race program. This week's buyers made their plans clear.

• Saudi Arabia. Najd Stud bought The Lost King and Victoire Magique for the Saudi Cup meeting in Riyadh. Victoire Magique's trainer said February's Red Sea Turf Handicap was the race she had been considering, and Yordan (420,000 guineas) is aimed at the Saudi dirt.
• Dubai. Bamako Beach (360,000 guineas, Timeform 114) and Fixation (230,000 guineas, Timeform 106) are pointed at the Dubai Carnival, the winter racing series at Meydan.
• Australia. Ciaron Maher's team bought Tyrrhenian Thunder, Organ and Winday on day three alone. Tattersalls notes that Mr Monaco, bought here in 2024 for 410,000 guineas, is set to run in the Melbourne Cup next week.
• Hong Kong. Hong Kong racing relies on horses imported from other countries, so a sharp, proven 2-year-old like Arctic Tsar is exactly the type its trainers want.
• The United States. Scythe, a 2-year-old by Victor Ludorum, sold for 250,000 guineas on day one and is bound for America.

Three of the top five lots on day three had Australian connections. That pattern repeats every autumn, because Australian staying races reward horses with European middle-distance form.

What 'guineas' means

Tattersalls sells in guineas, an old British unit worth £1.05. The buyer pays the guinea price, and the extra 5 pence on each pound traditionally covers the auctioneer's commission.

• 750,000 guineas = £787,500
• At the US$1.40 per guinea rate BloodHorse used, that is about US$1.05 million
• The minimum bid at this sale is 1,000 guineas

For the full history, read why horses are sold in guineas.

Buying a racehorse in training: how to judge a lot

You don't need to be bidding to read a catalogue page like a professional. Go through these five checks in order.

1. Form. Look at the last three or four runs, not the career total. Note the class of race (Group, Listed, handicap), the distance and the ground. The Lost King's recent placings at Group 2 and Group 3 level were what buyers saw first.
2. Age. A 2-year-old sells on upside: one or two runs and a rating with a p. A 4-year-old sells on proof, with a long record and less room for surprises either way. Check whether the horse is a colt or a gelding, since a gelding has no breeding value but often races longer.
3. Rating. Compare the rating with the level of race the buyer wants. A horse rated in the 90s is usually well short of Group 1 class, while a horse rated 110 to 120 can compete in good races almost anywhere.
4. Trainer and seller. A respected trainer's horse comes with a known training routine and honest form. A wildcard entry, meaning a lot added after the main catalogue closed, can be a late chance to buy a horse its owners decided to sell after a recent run. The Lost King and Alfred Wallace were both wildcards.
5. Target race. Ask where the horse will run next and whether its profile fits: turf or dirt, sprint or staying trip, and a climate and travel load it can handle. A good buy for Australia's stayers can be a poor buy for Hong Kong sprints.

Before anyone bids

• Have your own vet examine the horse and review any sale veterinary paperwork; brush up on the basics in our health basics guide.
• Read the auction house's conditions of sale, which explain what can and can't be returned.
• Budget beyond the hammer price: training fees, insurance, shipping and quarantine add up fast for a horse heading overseas.
• Many buyers bid through a bloodstock agent, who inspects the horse, checks its record and bids on their behalf.

New to the vocabulary? Our glossary covers terms like Listed, Group and gelding.

What to watch next

• Today's final session (Oct 29). Tattersalls will publish the closing figures. For comparison, the 2025 sale had a top lot of 950,000 guineas, turnover of 34,162,850 guineas and an 87% clearance rate.
• Mr Monaco in the Melbourne Cup next week, a test of whether buying at this sale pays off in Australia's biggest race.
• The Dubai Carnival this winter and the Saudi Cup meeting in February. Bamako Beach is aimed at the Carnival, while The Lost King, Victoire Magique and Yordan are expected to line up in Riyadh.
• Arctic Tsar's Hong Kong debut. Imported horses often race there under a new name, so follow the trainer's runners.
• Alfred Wallace, the Group 3 Solario Stakes winner, who sold for 450,000 guineas and returns to trainer Ed Walker for his 3-year-old season.

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