Numbers up as Chairman’s Sale catalogue released on eve of Easter sale
Fifty-three stakes-winning or stakes-producing mares to be offered at Riverside Stables
Inglis unveiled last night an increased catalogue of 93 elite race fillies and broodmares for its Chairman’s Sale on May 6, as the auction house looks to capitalise on a booming yearling market and the supply and demand pendulum possibly swinging in favour of those commercial breeders who already hold bluechip bloodstock.
This year’s Chairman’s catalogue, revealed just as inspections for the company’s Australian Easter Yearling Sale get underway at Riverside Stables, is up from the 66 lots offered in 2021 but its release comes as the dynamic of the broodmare market continues to evolve and a number of high-end mares changing hands via online sales.
Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch said the Chairman’s Sale had created “fantastic momentum” in recent years.
“Some of the results of the sale have been fantastic in recent years for buyers. The dams of Home Affairs, Loving Gaby, Stay Inside, Dreamforce and Spright and many more, have all been sold at Chairman’s and that’s a real positive for the sale,” Hutch told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“From the point of view of vendors, the returns have been excellent across the board and it is why we try to present a catalogue that will appeal to the market.
“It’s not just about trying to identify expensive mares, it is about identifying stock we think satisfies particular demands of the market and this year’s catalogue is very effective from that point of view.”
As well as the previously announced Group 1 winners Shout The Bar (Not A Single Doubt) and Daysee Doom (Domesday), the Chairman’s Sale catalogue also features talented mares Ellicazoom (Testa Rossa), Ms Catherine (Shooting To Win), Madam Legend (I Am Invincible), Yes Baby Yes (Dissident), Vanna Girl (Husson), See You In Spring (Siyouni), Night Raid (Vancouver), More Prophets (Smart Missile), Crack The Code (I Am Invincible), Imposing Lass (Makfi) and Ecumenical (Zebedee).
Mares in foal to stallions such as I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit), Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice), Exceed And Excel (Danehill), Written Tycoon (Iglesia), Fastnet Rock (Danehill), Zoustar (Northern Meteor), Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt) and Capitalist (Written Tycoon) are also catalogued.
Inglis had also previously announced that Twin Hills Stud would offer three Juddmonte-owned mares Escapement (Invincible Spirit) and Lucid Dreamer (Dansili), who are in foal to Frankel (Galileo), while the trio is completed by Ludisia (Frankel) and she will go under the hammer carrying a foal by Kingman (Invincible Spirit).
“It’s the first major live breeding stock sale of the year; the stallion fees are announced, people are very much tuned into what they need or what they want and, based on the strength of the yearling market, the demand for quality breeding stock will be high across all spectrums of the market,” Hutch said.
“Obviously, last year the market was supplemented by a variety of different dispersals and reductions, etc, but there doesn’t seem to be those this year. The fact is, there just doesn’t seem to be a strong willingness from people who own quality breeding stock who want to part with them.
“The nature of the way people trade has also changed a little bit. The online market has, to some extent, compromised the live sales’ ability to obtain critical mass.
“I think the market for quality bloodstock will still be very strong and I think the Chairman’s Sale is spot on for that.”
Backing up Hutch’s belief about the changing dynamic of the broodmare market is the fact that high-end mares Avantage (Fastnet Rock) ($4.1 million), Funstar (Adelaide) ($2.7 million), Every Rose (Choisir) ($1.3 million) and, only last week, Exaltation (Not A Single Doubt) (NZ$560,000) have all been sold online since last year’s Chairman’s and Magic Millions National Broodmare sales.
Stakes-winning mare Festivity (I Am Invincible), who like Avantage and Exaltation was raced by Te Akau in New Zealand, will be offered through New Zealand Bloodstock’s Gavelhouse Plus digital platform this week.
The Shadwell dispersal of its broodmare band at last year’s Magic Millions National sale, which saw 11 mares sell for $1 million or more, was another “one-off” in the 2021 breeding stock market which won’t occur this year.
Last year’s Chairman’s Sale saw 53 mares traded at an average of $532,736 and a median of $330,000 and the sale’s top lots were Group 1 winner Celebrity Queen (Redoute’s Choice) and In Her Time (Time Thief), who fetched $2.5 million and $2.2 million respectively.
Just as there has been in previous years, Hutch expects international interest in the Chairman’s Sale even if those buyers have been unable to match the money local investors have been prepared to pay for bloodstock, but once again the local breeders will be the ones having the biggest influence on the market.
He said: “The yearling market has been underpinned by domestic investors, bred primarily by Australian breeders, and I think in the case of Chairman’s that is where the demand is going to come from as the investors look to further improve their broodmare bands with a view of being more strongly represented at what have been fantastic Australian yearling sales (in the years to come).”
Glenesk Thoroughbreds’ Brett Howard – who has a draft of four mares heading to Chairman’s, headlined by last Friday night’s Sunline Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m) winner Shout The Bar and Group 2 winner Only Words (Sweynesse) – expects leading commercial breeders to all be participating in the breeding stock market.
“At the moment Arrowfied are reducing numbers and Widden have been reducing numbers as well, but most of those mares are out of the bottom end, so to speak, or mares they’ve had for a while, so those organisations will need to replenish,” Howard said.
“Widden bought that mare during the week, Exaltation, for NZ$560,000. I suppose like most operations, if they want to replenish, they want to come in at the top end.”
The high-profile first season sires likely to go to stud in 2022 include Home Affairs (I Am Invincible), Stay Inside (Extreme Choice), Wild Ruler (Snitzel) and St Mark’s Basilica (Siyouni). The Chairman’s catalogue features 24 mares who are free of Danehill blood and fifty-three fillies or mares catalogued are stakes performers or producers.
“The stallion ranks are evolving all the time. You have Russian Revolution who looks like he is going to be the leading first season sire; a horse like Toronado has had a fantastic run and has his better books to run for him over the next couple of years and Written Tycoon has been a revelation,” Hutch said.
“Shareholders in Extreme Choice are ecstatic about where they sit with him and these are all people who are going to try and identify suitable mares for those horses and that was something we had in the back of our mind when we were putting the catalogue together.”
Howard says the boutique nature of the Chairman’s Sale was part of its success and hopes that will be maintained with the larger catalogue.
“Being an evening sale, I am sure they (Inglis) are aware that it needs to remain select,” he said.
“In theory, there shouldn’t really be any horses in there selling for below $100,000, I would have thought. Maybe $150,000 will be the cut-off level.
“I am not sure what sort of figure they are thinking. Magic Millions gets a strong catalogue for the fillies and mares (off the track) and that session would number more than 93.”
Due to a slightly larger catalogue, this year’s Chairman’s Sale will start at the earlier time of 4.30pm at Riverside Stables. Supplementary entries for the Chairman’s Sale are being taken until April 22.
Related links
Chairman’s Sale catalogue