3 minute read
Vendors and buyers remain upbeat.
The Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale - the jewel in the crown of the auction houses
calendar - will breach unchartered waters on Tuesday and become the first major thoroughbred yearling sale to take place online.
Forced to take place as a virtual online sale because of the restrictions in place due to the coronavirus pandemic that has taken hold of the globe and as with most things in life at present, there is no way of predicting how the two-day sale will play out.
With the ever-changing landscape and the unknown surrounding the pandemic, vendors in the Hunter Valley have not only thrown their doors open to prospective buyers, but also other farms, pulling together to help their counterparts get their yearlings seen by as many buyers as possible.
Newgate Farm's Henry Field, who housed the Highgrove draft at his Aberdeen-based farm, said the inspections ahead of the sale had been solid, and while he cannot predict how the sale will fare, is somewhat hopeful the key players will make their presence felt over the two days of online trade.
"The inspections have been really solid," said Field, who will offer 21 yearlings over the two-days of trade. "All the key players have been busy working through the farms, doing second and third looks.
"To be quite honest with you from a buying and selling point of view we have enjoyed the process of having people come to the farm and seeing the horses in their natural environment."
Leading bloodstock agent James Harron is one of many who has been trying to make the best of an incredibly difficult situation and has been furiously visiting as many farms in the Hunter Valley and predicts the clearance rate of the sale will take a hit due to the depleted buying bench.
"We've gone and done a lot of work around the place and done a lot of miles," said Harron. "It has actually been quite nice to see some farms that you might not have seen before and see where the horses are reared. It has been a long process, but it has been enjoyable."
Harron said he has been impressed with the quality within the catalogue and expects the top-tier yearlings will still make good money, despite the ongoing global crisis.
"The catalogue is outstanding," said Harron. "There really are some beautiful horses in it with some really good pedigrees and marrying those two up is what everyone is trying to do.
"It is obviously not an ideal situation, but history will tell you that quality will always sell well and there are definitely some people out there still looking for that quality and I think those quality horses will hold up pretty well. The clearance will naturally take a bit of hit as there won't be the depth of buying bench, but with the platform Inglis have chosen to go with is about as close as we can get without actually being there and I think it has ended up in the right format.
"I just hope for everyone that we can get a bit of a result and we are just so lucky as an industry we are still racing and that says a lot for it as an industry in my opinion."
Meanwhile, Yarraman Park will offer ten yearlings and Harry Mitchell is in agreement with Harron regarding the competition on the better bred horses in the catalogue.
"We've only got ten horses so we have had quite a lot of interest in most of them, though obviously it is reduced," said Mitchell.
"I think the nice horses will still sell quite well. I don't think they will make quite what they would have in a normal year, but I think there will be a market for them. If you have a horse with issues or by an unfashionable stallion you might struggle, but the better horses will still sell with quite a bit of competition."
James Mitchell - one half of Mitchell Bloodstock, an agency he runs with his father Bill - and he believes it will be a sale that will throw up value for many buyers.
"I don't know what the top end of the market will be like, I assume that if the big players turn up, like your colt syndicates then it will, like always be very good at the top end," said Mitchell.
"Coming back off that I think there will be some good value at the sale. We think the market could be 30 per cent down, just with the way the global market is and with the lack of people that have been able to get out and inspect the horses. It is certainly going to be down, but you just have to get your clients prepared to fire the bullet when required."
Young bloodstock agent Will Johnson has also been travelling round the Hunter Valley over the past weeks to inspect as many yearlings as possible ahead of the sale.
"It has been nice to have been based in the Hunter Valley for the last two and a half weeks," said Johnson. "The catalogue is a true reflection of what Easter encompasses, quality pedigrees and physicals to match."
Johnson echoed the sentiments of many leading industry experts that the best-bred lots within the catalogue will remain firm, but expects there will be buyers who can find value in the market given the expected holes in the buying bench.
"Ultimately there is going to be value to be found within the catalogue and I think the better horses will stay true to market value," said Johnson. "The syndicators will be more cautious, with the way the market is at the moment which will give other people an opportunity to buy something they might not have otherwise got their hands on.
"There will obviously be some sort of drop and discount in line with the stock market which has dropped 30 per cent which could be used as the benchmark of what we expect the drop could be."
With the coronavirus crisis having brought a premature end to many sports in the world, Johnson said that if there is one silver-lining to take from this recent disaster is the importance of racing within Australia
"But racing is very resilient, if you look at the sports that have been able to continue it is only racing which shows you the cultural significance of the thoroughbred industry, even during these testing times," said Johnson.
"So many jobs are held within the industry and the government realises that it is important that the sport continues and we have to take that as a positive and hope that racing can still continue in the months to come."
While no one can really predict how the two-day auction will unfold, the universal view ahead of the sale is that the industry should be grateful it has been able to even take place at all.
"I think Inglis need to be commended trying to conduct the sale and we can all sell some horses," said Harry Mitchell. We just have to see how it goes and we have to remain positive and count ourselves lucky that we can still do business."