Lorry driver Ray Goddard’s collection of hair from the manes and tails of some of the world’s most famous racehorses sells for £38,000 at a Newmarket auction

A collection of more than 800 locks of hair from some of the most famous racechorses ever to grace the Turf sold at a Newmarket auction for £38,000.

The collection included hair from ill-fated Derby winner Shergar, Red Rum, Arkle, Dancing Brave, Sea Bird and Nijinsky and had been valued at £40,000 to £50,000 prior to its sale at the Race to History auction, held at the National Horseracing Museum on Wednesday.

The collection was gathered by Reading lorry driver and racing enthusiast Ray Goddard between 1948 and his death in 2004.

“Collecting locks of horse hair might seem like an unusual pastime, but it’s provided us with an incredible archive, featuring some of the most famous horses the racing world has seen,” said Graham Budd, auctioneer and owner of Graham Budd Auctions, before the event, held in partnership with Weatherbys.

“It tells a wonderful story of half a century of racing history. Ray Goddard had no connections to racing but his passion was the racehorses.

"Any spare time he had, he would go around to racehorse stables and seek permission to come away with hair from the tail or mane.”

Every one of the hair samples was neatly plaited by Ray’s wife Mary and each has its own provenance, having been labelled with the date and place of acquisition.

Other features in the auction, which saw more than 500 lots go under the hammer, was The 1948 Cheltenham Gold Cup, won by the Vincent O’Brien-trained Cottage Rake, which sold for £26,000 – more than double its estimate.

A striking Victorian silver trophy, depicting the Dark Age Battle of Mount Badon, sold for £18,000.

The trophy was awarded for the 1875 Chesterfield Cup at Goodwood, which was won by Sir Anthony de Rothschild’s Coomassie.

The auction also featured lots from the collection of retired trainer and work rider Cliff Lines, who rode dual Derby winner Shergar in all of his work for trainer Sir Michael Stoute.

A bronze statue of the horse’s head by sculpture David Wynne and privately commissioned by the colt’s owner and breeder, the Aga Khan, and given to Cliff after his 1981 Derby win, was sold for £10,000 while one of the racing plates Shergar wore during that famous victory together with one worn by Shareef Dancer when winning the 1983 Irish equivalent, was knocked down for £4,000.

The Bob Champion Cancer Trust, Injured Jockeys Fund and Racing Welfare will all benefit from the auction.