'Auctioneering is one of those things that you need to really want to do'

Bernard Condren has just completed a stint on the Goffs rostrum, and it's time to refuel in readiness for his next turn on the plinth. He sits in the busy restaurant, the hum of the auction buzzing around him but with his voice and features animated by the excitement he feels in his new role. Conversation is easy and engaging.

Goffs is a familiar place, almost as well-known as home for Condren, but for the first time in maybe two decades, since he first entertained the idea of selling horses, he is seeing Goffs afresh.

The Laois man, familiar to many in his guise as an auctioneer for Goffs or as a producer and sometimes presenter on Racing TV, is at Kildare Paddocks not just in his capacity as an auctioneer but in the very early stages of his new role as Goffs UK head of sales.