Top lot on day one was an early silver golf medal. One of the strongest prices in the racing section was the £10,000 paid by a UK dealer against a £2000-£3000 estimate for this antique set of jockey scales, which stands 8ft 2in (2.5m) high on large barley twist suspension poles and comes with a set of weights. The top price of the sale was £35,000 paid for a rather more unusual purchasing oppportunity: the right to register to wear the British Horse Racing board’s plain aquamarine racing colour. It was one of ten such offers in the sale, each allowing the purchaser to register the right for a year and to renew annually thereafter on payment of the B.H.B. registration fee.
Sporting sale at Sotheby's
Sotheby’s (20/15/10% buyer’s premium) offered buyers two sporting sales last month, on July 18 and 19, with the first day devoted to a large golfing section plus a mix of other sports, while the subsequent session comprised 200 lots of pictures, objects and ephemera devoted to equestrian sports.