Shirley Anderson-Jolag goes into the history books as first woman auctioneer at Tattersalls in Newmarket
Shirley Anderson-Jolag made history on Tuesday as she stepped on the rostrum at Tattersalls in Newmarket to become Britain’s first woman bloodstock auctioneer.
The sale of lot 211 at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale, a filly by Ubettabelieveit, may not have broken any records, but thanks to Shirley’s participation the sale will go down in the record books.
As the hammer went down there was a round of applause from the bidders in the historic sale ring where Shirley sold her first draft of five lots.
“When I decided that this is what I wanted to do, it has been two years of practicing, with a good solid year of practice with Edmond [Mahony],” said an emotional Shirley as she stepped away from the rostrum.
She explained that prior to her Tattersalls debut she had sold cattle, antiques and racehorses after auction races and at charity events, her first being at a hunt ball around 18 months ago.
“It has been nothing but positive from everyone and I am glad I have finally done it,” said Shirley. “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.”
Shirley is set to return to the rostrum on Saturday for a stint on the last day of the foals’ sale and she added: “Hopefully, in five years it will be the norm and loads of women will be doing this. It did weigh on me a bit coming into the day, but only for positive reasons because I wanted to be good for other women coming through.”
A longstanding member of the Tattersalls team having started with the company in 2015, Shirley has since played a key role in developing and promoting Tattersalls sales at Cheltenham, in addition to her recent role as UK client relations liaison for Tattersalls Ireland.
Earlier this year she was promoted to sales manager of Tattersalls Cheltenham and she recently enjoyed her first sale in her new management role at the Tattersalls Cheltenham November Sale.
An active owner and breeder in both the flat and National Hunt spheres, Shirley has been instrumental in the growth of the Tattersalls Cheltenham Sales in recent years and has established strong relationships with vendors and purchasers in both markets.
Auctioneering has been an ambition of hers for over two years and she has developed the skill alongside her day-to-day responsibilities within the company.
And she is hopeful that her debut on Tuesday will encourage more women into the role of bloodstock auctioneering.
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