Champions Day embarrassment after only lot at pre-racing auction goes unsold

There were red faces at Ascot on Saturday after the pre-racing auction of racehorses in training concluded without a sale being made. When the Goffs Qipco British Champions Day sale was launched in 2023 the top lot, Rogue Lightning, fetched £1 million.

But for the 2025 version, held 90 minutes before the first of the five Group 1 races which make up Britain’s richest single raceday, the catalogue featured only two horses. The for sale list was made up of two-year-old colt Generous Rascal, who broke his maiden on his second and most recent appearance at Kempton on October 1 for trainer Oliver Cole.

The well-bred son of Showcasing and half-brother to the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes and 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean who now stands at stud in Juddmonte. He was to be sold with an entry in the Listed Criterium de Vitesse at Deauville.

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