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Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale closes with a record $64,470,000 aggregate

At the close of trade on the first session of the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, Inglis reported a record-breaking aggregate for a southern hemisphere yearling sale of $64,470,000 and Inglis’ managing director Mark Webster was blown away by the strength of the market.

“We always believed we had a strong catalogue and everybody knows Easter is the best of the best but at the end of the day, we are still in the midst of a global pandemic but my team has worked extremely hard to ensure as many buyers as possible were on the grounds or in front of their computers and the result are there for all to see,’’ Webster said.

“The quality of horses that the breeders and vendors have presented this week at Riverside is nothing short of exceptional and they deserve all the financial reward they get.

“Yet again, Inglis Easter is proving itself as the number 1 place to sell a top-level colt or filly.

“All that said, the job is only half done and there is another day ahead of us tomorrow where we offer the last Redoute’s Choice, the last Deep Impact and the last of the Shadwell reduction so it’s going to be another poignant day in the history of our great industry.’’

With last year’s sale held online, the statistics are incomparable, but the $64,470,000 gross for 175 lots sold at a clearance of 85 per cent on Tuesday is virtually on a par with the $64,270,500 aggregate recorded after the first session of the 2019 edition of the sale, where 174 lots sold for at clearance of 86 per cent. 

Meanwhile, Tuesday’s average of $368,400 represents a 4 per cent rise on 2019 average of $353,511, while the closing median on Tuesday was $260,000 the same as it was at the sale two years ago. 

In terms of deciles, there was growth in all deciles overall, but the biggest area was in the bottom 20 per cent, with yearlings in the bottom ten per cent of the sale selling for an average price of $72,500 up 14.99 per cent on the 2019 average of $61,632, while the next decile the average rose 13.56 per cent from $109,571 to $126,765. 

In terms of colts, the biggest change came in the sixth decile and that saw a massive drop in average price, with the average this year sitting at $210,000 down 18.55 per cent on the 2019 figure of $248,947, while the biggest growth came at the bottom, with the average of $79,091 up 15.45 per cent on the 2019 figure of $66,875. 

While the fillies deciles saw gains across the board, the biggest change came in the seventh decile, where the average this year sat at $230,000, which is up 20.52 per cent on the 2019 figure of $182,813. 

At the end of the first session, the leading buyer by aggregate was Dean Hawthorne, who spent $3,830,000 on five yearlings, while Tony Fung Investments were second on the leading buyers sheet, having spent $3,150,000 on two colts. 

The leading stallion by aggregate was the Yarraman Park-based sire I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) who had 23 yearlings sell for total receipts of $12,145,000, while the leading sire by average (with three or more lots sold) was the Darley Stud-based sire Exceed And Excel (Danehill), who enjoyed a lucrative day in the ring - with four of his progeny selling for a gross of $4,420,000 at an average of $1,105,000. 

Vinery Stud finished the leading vendor by average (with three or more lots sold), selling eight yearlings for a gross of $6,530,000 at an average of $816,250, while Arrowfield Stud signed off the first session as the leading vendors by aggregate, having sold 22 yearlings for a gross of $11,725,000 and finishing with an average of $532,955.