An extraordinary opening day of
Inglis Easter resulted in a Record individual day of trade for a Southern Hemisphere yearling sale, with
$64,470,000 grossed at Riverside Complex at Warwick Farm.
The day’s top lot realised
$2.5m – one of two colts to surpass the
$2m barrier – the
Snitzel x Rising Romance colt from Arrowfield Stud.
John Messara the Arrowfield principal described the colt as
“perfect in every way’’.
“He’s just a magnificent individual, a hell of a horse. You don’t get them like that every day.
“He’s an ideal colt to be an early goer. He looks precocious, even though he’s out of a mare who got up to a mile-and-a-quarter so he’s going to be twin purpose.’’
*The Day 1 gross eclipsed the previous record of 2019 – held by Inglis – further enhancing Inglis Easter as the No.1 auction to sell a yearling (but from a buyers perspective its extremely difficult).
*175 horses sold at an average of $368,000 ($306,000) up $62,000 (20.2%) at an impressive clearance rate of
85%
*A total of
11 horses sold for $1m or more – to nine different individual buyers - with another six yearlings realising between
$900,000-$950,000.
*Exceed And Excel sold his first $2m+ yearling when lot 5 (ex Peace Force) of Vinery Stud’s sold to Tony Fung Investments for
$2.1m.
*Exceed and Excel: Offered 10 - Sold 4 - Passed 2 - Withdrawn -0 - Gross $4,420,000 - Average $1,105,000 - Median $975,000 - Top $2,100,000
Lot 5 was a highlight for Vinery Stud who had a history-making day, ending Day 1 with a sale-leading average of $816,250 from eight lots sold, which included three $1m+ yearlings and another that realised $950,000.
“I don’t think there would be too many farms that have had days like this really. It’s a day like no other for us, that’s for sure,’’ Vinery’s Adam White said.
“We knew we had a great bunch of horses here but it’s not until you put them through that ring that you really know and to see the results of today, it’s an extraordinary day for the whole team at Vinery.’’
On the Exceed And Excel colt, White added:
“He was out more than any other horse of ours on the complex this week, so we knew the right groups were on him and he sold accordingly.
“I didn’t think he’d sell for that much though. We were confident he would get over the $1m mark quite comfortably but didn’t know where he’d pull up after that.
“He’s got a fantastic pedigree, a great attitude and he’s just an athlete.’’
Shane McGrath, representing Fung, described the colt as
“the best horse we’d seen in a couple of years at any sale’’.
“He was a must-have colt for all of us, it’s as simple as that,’’ McGrath said.
“He’s got a great temperament, a fabulous action, a huge hip on him, I was watching him walk around a couple of times and all I could think of was you can absolutely picture him walking around before a Slipper next year with a saddle on his back.
“There’s some fabulous colts here, as you’d expect at Easter. Everything is going so well here in Australia with great racing and breeding and the breeders who are producing these types of horses are going to get really well rewarded, as they should.’’
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 has 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 No.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.’’
The Day 1 broadcast saw a
60% surge in viewership from already impressive stats at earlier sales this year, with
50,000 individual viewers for the day and more than
150,000 views, from
104 countries, matching last year’s spectacular Easter coverage.
Dynamic Syndications are at the sale and we have done our due diligence work. We had
6 lots to bid on for Day 1 and swung but missed as we ran out of ammunition. Frustratingly we were the direct underbidder on two of these yearlings however we are particular and
Dean Watt is a Member of the Bloodstock Agents Federation and qualified to give market appraisals on bloodstock. So, we know when to withdraw once they reach their glass ceilings on value.
Written Tycoon $200,000 (
underbidder), Exceed And Excel $900,000, I Am Invincible $300,000, I Am Invincible $1, 150,000, Frankel $240,000 (
underbidder), Frankel $400,000.
The second and final day of the 2021 Easter Yearling Sale will begin at 10am on Wednesday at Riverside and will be broadcast live on the Inglis website and Facebook page via our Sale Day Live coverage from 9.30am.
EASTER 2021 DAY 1 STATISTICS
Lots sold: 175
Clearance Rate: 85%
Average Price: $368,400 ($306,000)
Median Price: $260,000 ($250,000)
Top Price: $2,500,000
Gross: $64,470,000
Top Sire Day 1 by Average: Exceed And Excel $1,105,000