Cover image courtesy of Tattersalls
Tattersalls made European history on Tuesday with the first female bloodstock auctioneer in Britain, Shirley Anderson-Jolag, making her debut.
Almost 260 years in the making
Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony took to the rostrum to offer the first five foals through the ring, none of which was sold, and then came the debut of Shirley Anderson-Jolag, who became the first female bloodstock auctioneer in Britain, knocking down her first lot (211), a filly by Ubettabelieveit (Ire), for 1000gns (AU$2039) to an online bid from HWRS.
Applause rippled round the ring but Anderson-Jolag, who has been building up to this moment with plenty of practice through the last two years, pressed on in businesslike fashion to successfully complete what will be the first of two stints on the rostrum this week.
“I had a good solid year of practice with Edmond (Mahony),” she said. “Harvey Bell has been really helpful, too, and I have sold cattle, antiques, sold after auction races and at charity events. About a year and a half ago it was Hannah Wall and David Redvers who gave me my first charity auction at a hunt ball – they kind of made me do it, which was great as I would probably have said no.”
Of the response to her first turn in the ring, she added, “It has been nothing but positive from everyone, and I am glad I have finally done it. Standing behind Edmond to go up to the front of the rostrum I felt as sick as a dog, but I knew I had the support of people and, once I saw people coming into the ring, that made me really happy, it was lovely. Once I got that first lot under my belt, I was okay.”
She continued, “Hopefully, in five years it will be norm, and loads of women will be doing this. It did weigh on me a bit coming into today but only for positive reasons, because I wanted to be good for other women coming through.”
“Hopefully, in five years it (women auctioneering) will be the norm, and loads of women will be doing this.” - Shirley Anderson-Jolag
Commenting on Anderson-Jolag's historic debut, Mahony said, “The company is nearly 260 years old, so to have a first female auctioneer is quite a moment. Tattersalls is viewed as a very traditional company and it is quite nice to buck the trend and be the first to achieve this. It is a great achievement on Shirley's behalf, she has put a lot of work into this. She was obviously nervous this morning, but she will be a lot freer and relaxed going forwards.”
Australia led the way a decade ago
A decade earlier, Inglis marked the same milestone when Stephanie Grentell made her auctioneering debut at the Inglis Scone Yearling Sale in 2014. “I’m pretty sure I was the first in the world, although someone said that potentially a Korean lady had done it but this wasn’t confirmed. I was certainly the first in Australia,” said Grentell.
“It’s taken a long time to get someone else. I still auction for charity events, but not horses because I don’t work for a sales company. I miss it very much, and I still have my gavel.”
Grentell noted that many of the auctioneers in Australia are contractors, so not working directly for a sales company shouldn’t stop her from being hired to work at various horse auctions.
Stephanie Grentell the first female Thoroughbred auctioneer in Australia and likely the world | Image courtesy of Inglis
TTR reached out to New Zealand Bloodstock and Magic Millions to ask the question about women auctioneers and both confirmed they are yet to use a female auctioneer on their rostrum.
“And there’s no one since me at Inglis. I did a bit in South Africa at smaller sales. The last time I auctioneered was selling for a charity at a footy club. They had a few house auctioneers there too, and I got a lot of comments that I was more interesting.
“We get so used to listening to a male voice (that it becomes the standard). I spent years training my voice and learning how to breathe from my diaphragm and how to preserve my voice so it didn’t die after five lots. I was very lucky at Inglis as I had some great teachers who helped me, and I did a lot of media training there too. I also did a course with the cattle guys too.
“It’s really nice to see, especially at Tatts where they are so steeped in history and I hope Anderson-Jolag goes on with it. It might promote other sales companies to give women a go.”
“It’s really nice to see, especially at Tatts (Tattersalls) where they are so steeped in history and I hope Anderson-Jolag goes on with it. It might promote other sales companies to give women a go.” - Stephanie Grentell
Grentell travelled to South Africa in 2016 working there for a while before returning to Australia where she runs Heywood Bloodstock.
“I do my own bloodstock agent work, and I’m the business manager for (trainer) Mitch Beer. He trains the horses and I manage the business, doing client management and sourcing horses. Last week, I arranged the private marquee on Gong Day for our owners. Basically I make sure the business is running smoothly and I’m working to grow the business. We have a good bunch of owners with Beer, and I make sure they are well looked after.”
