Cocktails, canapes and million-pound horses set scene for Royal Ascot

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Royal Procession ahead of the races at Royal Ascot. PHOTO: REUTERS

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Khaadem ridden by Oisin Murphy wins the 15:45 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. PHOTO: REUTERS

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UPDATED Jun 17, 2025, 06:58 AM

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LONDON - In the gardens of a royal palace, Swiss billionaires, Qatari royals and the odd former footballer gathered on the night of June 16 for a one-off chance to bag a racehorse ready to run at Royal Ascot the next day.

Over £7.5 million (S$13 million) changed hands as bidders vied to secure one of 28 thoroughbred horses, 18 of which are due to compete this week for a chance to win a portion of Royal Ascot's £10 million prize pot.

The Goffs London Sale, now in its 11th year, is an exclusive auction held in the grounds of Kensington Palace where anyone, providing they have a minimum £150,000 credit clearance, can bid for front-row access to one of the world's most prestigious sporting events.

"You could be standing in the grounds of Kensington Palace at six o'clock and by two o'clock the next day, you could be at the parade ring alongside the British Royal Family with your own runner and your own colours," Mr Henry Beeby, chief executive at the 160-year-old Goffs auction house, told Reuters.

Top lot Ghostwriter, who holds an entry for the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 22, went for £2 million to football agent Kia Joorabchian of Amo Racing while the second most expensive horse, Woodshauna, sold for £625,000 to John Stewart of Resolute Racing - two of the biggest buyers in the sport.

Joorabchian, who is known to be a big spender after dropping over £24 million at a single sale in 2024, said his son had picked out the horse and that it had a good chance in the Hardwicke Stakes, a prestigious Group 2 race held at Royal Ascot.

Danish entrepreneur and hotelier John Christensen said he bought Super Soldier for £390,000 so his friends would have something to cheer on at the races on June 17.

Last year's sale turned over almost £8.5 million though Beeby conceded that was an exceptional year. Most years the London sale raises £3 million–6 million, he said.

Horses bought at the sale have some history of success at Ascot, though this is by no means guaranteed. The last time a graduate of the London ring won at Royal Ascot was in 2021 when Oxted won the Group 1 King's Stand Stakes while others, like Givemethebeatboys, sold in 2023, have been well-placed.

Jackpots

The most expensive horse ever sold there was the French mare, Sparkling Plenty, who had won a Group 1 in Chantilly just days before. She was sold outside the ring in 2024 for £5 million, beating the previous top price of £1.3 million.

The sale acts as an unofficial curtain raiser for Royal Ascot where trainers and top horses from around the world will compete over five days in races worth up to a million pounds.

Highlights include the marathon two-and-a-half-mile Gold Cup on June 19 as well as numerous top-grade races featuring some of the world's best racehorses.

Khaadem ridden by Oisin Murphy in action on his way to winning the 15:45 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. PHOTO: REUTERS

Horseracing may contribute £4.1 billion to the British economy annually, but it's often a game of risk and chance. While jackpots, - like the €9,000 (S$13,304) colt, Kodi Bear, who returned €500,000 when sold again around 9 months later - do happen, for most buyers, owning a racehorse is a luxury.

And it can go badly wrong. An American-bred horse, St James Square, was sold for US$2.4 million (S$3 million) in 2018 and never finished better than sixth in five starts.

"We're dealing in luxury items, nobody needs to have a racehorse," Beeby said.

Like all commodity markets, thoroughbred sales are not immune to global trade headwinds and tariffs.

And like many trading houses, Goffs is navigating trade tensions with the United States – Goffs' trade with the United States was around 10 million euro worth of horses last year --and the fallout from Brexit, which ended a tripartite agreement on the free trade of horses between Britain, France and Ireland.

"We are indelibly linked to the worldwide economy but by the same token, this is an extraordinarily resilient global business," he said. "We could do without [tariffs], we're hoping they're a distraction rather than a barrier." REUTERS

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