What is Tattersalls?
Tattersalls, formerly Tattersall’s, is nowadays the leading bloodstock auctioneer in Europe, offering 10,000 throughbreds for sale each year through its sales rings at Park Paddocks, Newmarket and Old Fairyhouse, Co. Meath. The business was founded, at Hyde Park Corner, London in 1766 by Richard Tattersall and became a meeting place for racing men, including the future King George IV.
In 1865, the business moved to Knightsbridge and, in 1965, to Newmarket, and began holding auctions in Ireland in 1988. In 2016, Tattersalls celebrated its 250th anniversary and continues to thrive. Although the modern business attracts an international audience, from 50 different countries, Tattersalls retains the fundamental values of an essentially British, family-owned company, which is what it was for much of its existence.
Tattersall’s is also the name of an enclosure on many racecourses, situated between the Members’ Enclosure and the Silver Ring and home to the main betting ring. The Tattersall’s Enclosure, or ‘Tatts’ for short, takes its name from the aforementioned Richard Tattersall, who reserved two so-called ‘subscription rooms’ for members of the Jockey Club in his original premises; there, his patrons could conduct financial transactions or, in other words, bet and settle bets, in comfort and would continue to do so for decades afterwards.