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Inglis managing director happy with day 1 turnout.
At the end of what can only be described as a monumental day for the auction house, Inglis reported the 106 lots had sold for an aggregate of $32,537,500.
At the close of trade the average sat at $306,957, while the median was recorded at $250,000.
Inglis managing director Mark Webster said he was pleased with the day's results, especially when you take into account the global crisis that the world is currently living through.
"If you offered this sort of result a week ago I would have grabbed you with both hands and run down the street," said Webster.
"We weren't expecting the market to be as good as it was. Obviously it's not last year, it's not a typical year, but the results are pretty good, noting the global crisis we are all living through at the moment."
The sale was reportedly watched by 100,000 people worldwide from 99 different countries and Webster said he was buoyed by the diverse buying sheet on day one.
"A total of 100,000 people tuning in throughout the day is quite incredible," said Webster. " I have received hundreds of messages and emails on my phone from people around the world wishing us well and thanking us for bringing this to life and carrying on in difficult times. We will get back to everyone, but thanks to everyone for your support."
"I didn't think we'd sell a yearling for a million dollars, but we have sold three at that level. They are all ones that we have picked, they've been well inspected and sold well.
"There's a big international influence here and Marie Yoshida was very active as well in the top ten."
Webster did apologise to the vendors whose yearlings were not based in the Hunter Valley during the inspections as they did not fare as well on Tuesday.
"I apologise to the vendors who are in remote locations," said Webster. "When you look at the clearance rate, those vendors in New Zealand or other remote parts of Australia, haven't fared as well as others. This is why we decided to go with no pass-in commission - we didn't want to penalise any of those vendors. But we certainly wanted to try and help those vendors in remote locations get their horses sold but that is reflected in the clearance rate.
"There are some tomorrow [Wednesday] and we will do our best to get them sold or sold privately after the sale. We are offering all the vendors who have either missed the sale or passed horses in to come back on July 5 to try and sell with no additional charges. We just want to help people sell their horses.
"The average is remarkable and so is the median which is $260,000 - what it was last year - and the average is down 15 per cent which under the conditions is fantastic.
Direct comparisons to the opening day of the sale last year are difficult, however, during the first day of the 2019 sale 174 lots sold for $64,270,500 at an average of $369,371 and median of $280,000.
Darley's Exceed And Excel (Danehill), who provided last year's $1.7 million sales topper, finished the day as the leading sire by average (three or more lots sold) with three yearlings by the sire having sold for $1,685,000 at an average of $561,557 and top price of $760,000.
I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) led the way by aggregate with 14 yearlings having sold for $7,210,000 at an average of $515,000.
Tom Magnier was the leading buyer having spent $2,595,000 on five lots whilst Hawkes Racing also bought five lots, spending $2,390,000.
Coolmore, who were the leading vendor behind Arrowfield at the 2019 renewal, finished the day as the leading vendor by aggregate having sold 10 of the 15 lots they offered for $2,950,000 whilst the leading vendor by average (three or more lots sold) were Kitchwin Hills who sold three yearlings for $1,750,000 at an average of $583,333.
Both Aquis Farm (bought 13 lots for $8,375,000) and Orbis Bloodstock (bought eight lots for $7,400,000), who were the leading buyers at last year's sale, were absent from the purchasers list on day one this year.
NSW-based buyers accounted for the majority of the spend having bought 63 of the lots sold for a total spend of $18,692,500. Hong Kong-based purchasers bought 14 lots for $6,600,000 whilst Victorian-based buyers spent $4,075,000 on 18 lots. Internationally-based purchasers from the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Japan were also active on Tuesday.
Day two of the sale gets underway at 10am on Wednesday.