New faces and bumper catalogue create buzz around revamped HTBA May sale
A permanent move to Sydney draws fresh participants as vibrant inspections get underway ahead of two-day sale beginning tomorrow
There is an air of anticipation surrounding the rebranded Inglis HTBA May Yearling Sale, formerly the Inglis Scone Yearling Sale, with new faces and a bumper catalogue creating a buzz around its new permanent venue, Inglis’s Riverside Stables in Sydney.
On-site inspections began this week with numerous leading trainers and bloodstock agents casting their eye over stock, as the week-long Inglis sales series, which begins with this sale and features the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale as well as the Inglis Chairman’s and Broodmare sales, gets underway tomorrow.
“After first impressions of inspections there, the footfall has been fantastic,” said Sebastian Hutch, Inglis general manager of bloodstock and sales, to ANZ Bloodstock News.
“There’s a lot of people there at the complex who might not have ordinarily frequented the Scone sale, people like Adrian Bott, John Foote, Ciaron Maher, John O’Shea, a whole range of Sydney trainers and agents while we’ve also had some interstate visitors as well and there’ll be more to arrive over the coming days.
“With a larger volume of horses to sell, that requires us to get more money into the market and certainly the response at this stage has been very positive.”
Inglis has revamped the May yearling sale, extending the catalogue to 358 lots, adding a second day to trade and moving the sale from its traditional Scone home at White Park, to Inglis’s HQ at Riverside, where it took place last year due to Covid restrictions.
“The Scone sale traditionally was a really popular yearling sale that’s had a pretty good run with horses like The Bopper, Rocketing By, Voodoo Lad, all these horses help build a strong reputation for the sale,” said Hutch.
“The opportunity to move the sale to Riverside was effectively a no-brainer for us because it allowed us to facilitate more horses at the sale and breeders have responded positively to that and we’ve got a catalogue of over 350 lots with a good diverse range of stallions involved.”
Featuring within the catalogue are 12 yearlings representing the current leading sire of two-year-olds, Capitalist (Written Tycoon), with 14 by barnmate Flying Artie (Artie Schiller) and two fillies for Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m)-winning sire Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt).
Yearlings by this season’s Group 1-winning stallions All Too Hard (Casino Price) (2), Swettenham’s Toronado (High Chaparral) (1) and Zoustar (Northern Meteor) (1) all offer opportunities for buyers to engage in yearlings by proven sires.
“There are plenty of yearlings by popular young stallions – Capitalist, Flying Artie etc. and then horses by some stallions that look like they might make a name for themselves in the next six to 12 months like Russian Revolution, Merchant Navy,” added Hutch.
“There are a couple of Caravaggios in the sale and he’s had a great start in Europe, which will just refocus buyers’ attention on him.”
The sale represents a final opportunity for buyers to purchase yearling stock in New South Wales this year, and the vibrant on-ground activity suggests the auction is set to follow in the vein of the strong results seen at yearling sales across the country this sales’ season.
A track-record of graduate success, record-breaking spend, a new make-up for the sale and the strength of the Inglis Digital platforms, which have surpassed $20 million in turnover this year and have a crossover of traditional buyers at the Scone sale, all offer Hutch confidence the auction will spark lively trade.
“I think people recognise that they can come to our sales and buy good horses, I think it’s been a crucial factor in certainly driving the success of our sales over the last three or four months at the yearling sales,” he said.
“The record of graduates at our sales, whether it’s Classic, Premier, Easter, Scone or HTBA May Sale and Gold, has really been excellent at all price points and I think that gives people confidence.
“This value end of the market is an evolving one because the digital marketplace has changed the nature of how some smaller trainers participate in the commercial sales market,” Hutch continued.
“The access to tried horses is that much easier than what it might have been in the past and it’s meant that their involvement in the yearling market is slightly different.
“On the flip side of that, the strength of the yearling market through to this point has meant that many people who went out looking for yearlings have been priced out of the market, in terms of yearlings they went to pursue at earlier sales, and they’re still in the market now, whether these are smaller trainers or traders, so this sale represents a great opportunity.”
The success of the New South Wales BOBs bonus scheme is reflected within the sale, with 94 per cent of the catalogued entries eligible for the lucrative payouts. It is a factor Hutch believes could create several value opportunities for buyers.
“It’s a great time to be racing horses in this country, particularly in New South Wales,” said Hutch.
“The bonuses that those horses can race for as two and three-year-olds means that horses bought at what are the traditional price points at this sale could end up being very lucrative indeed.”
The HTBA May Yearling Sale gets underway at 10am tomorrow with a Zoustar colt consigned by Sledmere Stud.