(Edited William Inglis & Son press release)
The William Inglis & Son Easter broodmare sale ended April 19 in Sydney in Australia with positive results and feedback for its new format.
For the first time the auction was graded into three separate sessions, a super select session Tuesday (April 16), a select session Wednesday (April 17), and a general session Thursday (April 18). Buyers responded by spending Aust$23,167,450 ($24,046,200 in U.S. funds), up Aust$721,800 ($749,178) on 434 horses over three days. Top prices included Aust$1,050,000 ($1,089,830) for Sharp Susan and $1,025,000 ($1,63,880) for Mimi Lebrock.
The new format also contributed to a significant increase in the clearance rate to 73%, up from 67% last year.
An additional $750,000 ($778,448) worth of sales have been processed privately on the super select session lots that passed in April 17.
The average of $137,259 ($142,465) for the super select session is a clear indication that the new format worked, Inglis officials said. That was further supported by comments from many prominent buyers such as Adrian Hancock, Damon Gabbedy, and BBA Ireland’s Adrian Nicoll.
"It's a very positive move. It was very good for buyers to have the best mares concentrated in one session,” Hancock said.
“(It was) a great idea well-executed. After a long yearling sale season it certainly made life a lot easier to have the top breeding prospects offered on one day,” Gabbedy said.
“My clients selling Mimi Lebrock for over Aust$1 million ($1,037,930) were certainly delighted and from a buyer’s point of view I was also delighted with the format, being able to stay on after the yearling sale to purchase three great mares on the one day,” Nicoll said.
The three-day graded format worked well into April 19 with the general session recording an increase across all market indicators, closing with a strong clearance rate of 80% (up from 67% last year).
Eliza Park Stud purchased the top lot from the general session, going to Aust$60,000 ($62,276) to secure the stakes-winning Danasinga mare Chestpeak. The bay mare was sold in foal to Dane Shadow by Bylong Park Thoroughbreds.
“Vendors who read the market well were able to attract plenty of competition on their lots as buyers worked their way through their preferences from day one through day two and into day three,” said Inglis managing director Mark Webster.
Online bidding was strong throughout the sale, with the 86 individual registered online bidders purchasing 54 lots after bidding on 202 offerings.
