Inglis to comply with 500-person limit at Easter sale
Inglis last night reaffirmed its plan to conduct next month’s Australian Easter Yearling Sale as scheduled on an invitation-only basis in the face of heavy restrictions imposed by authorities that could dent the depth of the buying bench due to the growing coronavirus outbreak.
“The safety of our clients and staff is paramount and as such we will strictly abide by all state and federally-enforced guidelines in regards to Covid-19,” Inglis managing director Mark Webster said in a statement.
“At this stage, based on government guidelines, the Easter Yearling Sale will be restricted to 500 people on site at any one time and will be an invitation-only event.
“To remain under 500 persons in attendance each day, restrictions will obviously be required
“We will continue to work with government officials, health experts and our clients to determine the most practical way to conduct the sale and achieve optimum results for our vendors and buyers.”
The Easter sale catalogue of 514 yearlings, collectively the best-bred and credentialled group of horses to be offered to market in Australasia this year, are set to go under the hammer at Inglis’ Sydney complex at Riverside Stables of April 7 and 8.
Online bidding will be key in ensuring a competitive buying bench was assembled for the Easter sale, Webster said.
“Technology will play a critical role in maintaining our global marketplace for this sale, and will assist international buyers to participate from afar,” he said.
“Our online bidding services have now been in use for ten years and are very robust and easy to use and I have no doubt they will be of great benefit to everyone involved in this sale.
“On-farm yearling inspections in the Hunter Valley and around Australia are taking place as normal and we encourage all prospective buyers and agents to see as many of the yearlings as possible prior to the official start of Riverside inspections on Wednesday, April 1.
“This will not only assist in buyers’ preparations but also help ease any strain on capacities at Riverside in the lead-up to the sale.
“This is an ever-evolving situation and we will provide further updates in coming days.”
There has been pressure from some quarters to push back the date of the sale, but Webster in yesterday’s ANZ Bloodstock News said he did not believe it was “a realistic option to delay the sale and hold it in the middle of winter when perhaps the pandemic may worsen”.
Prominent breeder Matthew Sandblom, a shareholder in Newgate Farm and the proprietor of Kingstar Farm, weighed in on the Easter sale debate yesterday.
He called for on-farm inspections to be held in the lead up to the Easter sale before online bidding is used on the scheduled dates to auction the 514-lot catalogue of yearlings.
To enable the on-farm inspections, interstate vendors would transport their drafts to Hunter Valley so buyers can view the yearlings, he said.
“About six to seven days out from the sale date all farms open for inspection. In the morning they would have, at pre-set times, parades of their full drafts,” Sandblom wrote.
“In the afternoons people could have selected parades of the horses they are most interested in.
“Farms would also add as much info as possible about each yearling online including photos, videos, selling points, x-rays (and) scopes.”
If such measures were not implemented, Sandblom warned: “This crisis is going to go on for months, so if something like the above is not done there will be no sale at all this year.”