This is a tough one…auctions can be soooo tempting. I rarely sell - unless it’s a top horse you’ll almost certainly be selling a horse for less than you can make racing. Particuarly with the 15% commission and the risk of losing money if the horse doesn’t sell. Of course, If you need the cash or have to thin down the stable then they gotta go regardless.

Buying from auction is the best way to accumulate a decent stable. Many decent horses sell for £10-25 and the fields at 2 and 3 are pretty weak - these make ideal candidates.

An error I feel one or two owners do is search for horses and pick out a few they want. They then get involved in a bidding war for those couple of horses spending more than the horse is worth or lose out and in desperation, bid on something else that they don’t have all the info on.

At the end of the day each horse has a potential profit value and that’s why I don’t ‘bid on the horse’ so to speak but ‘bid on a good deal’. By this I mean I place my bids near the end of the auction on the horses that I think are going cheapest compared to the potential profit value.

A lot of people will have conspiracy theories at auctions but ultimately the main one worth considering is when viewing tt’s and the horse looks naked remember that its possible to take shoes and blinkers off. Unless the owner specifically says the horse is naked then be careful - it might have just got terrible adds.