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Managing director applauds vendors for support of the sale

At the close of trade Magic Millions reported that 123 lots sold for an aggregate of $6,589,000 at a clearance of 70 per cent. With 35 per cent fewer horses sold this year the aggregate dropped 76 per cent from 2019 when 191 lots sold for $11,628,500 with the sale finishing with a clearance rate of 83 per cent. 

Meanwhile, the average also took a hit finishing 13 per cent lower than in 2019 at $53,569, compared with $60,882 12 months ago. The median finished on Tuesday at $32,500 compared with $41,000 at last year’s sale - a 26 per cent drop. 

However, despite the decrease in figures Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch was pleased with the final outcome of the sale, given the current situation with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

“Overall we were really pleased with how it ended up,” said Bowditch. “We have got to applaud the vendors who have come here to meet the market and we have a core of vendors that do this year in and year out and again they bring a great product to the sale, whether they were making money or not. 

“It was a great result for Mel O’Gorman to see that colt make that much money so late in the day - he was an outstanding colt and I’m thrilled for Mel and her team. I think the sale to get a clearance rate of just under 70 per cent, given the circumstances, with no internationals in attendance and no Victorians, no Sydney it makes things very difficult and we have to applaud the ones that did participate in those areas. 

“If you look at Hong Kong there was reasonable participation from there and Sydney and Victoria also got behind it. The domestic market was probably as good as it’s been at this sale. 

“We had a lot of new faces here and hopefully they are happy with what they’ve bought and it gets them open-minded for this sale going forward. The vendors clearly understood the reality of the market and they did what they needed to do to sell their horses and they met the market and they created confidence for people to get in and bid. 

“I think it was a genuine sale, but there is no point in sugar-coating the results, we are down on last year but under the circumstances the results are more than adequate.”

Hong Kong-based buyers finished the sale as the leading purchasers having spent $1,896,000 on 16 lots (29 per cent of turnover). Queensland-based purchasers spent $1,676,500 on 43 (25 per cent of turnover) horses whilst buyers from New South Wales spent $1,539,500 on 31 lots (23 per cent of turnover). 

At the 2019 renewal Queensland-based purchasers spent $2,164,500 on 48 lots (18 per cent of turnover) whilst Hong Kong buyers spent $2,121,500 on 18 lots. Singapore-based purchasers spent $1,861,000 on 26 lots (16 per cent of turnover) last year but were absent from the buyers sheet this year.