Wet weather fails to dampen vendors’ enthusiasm ahead of Classic sale
Widespread rain welcomed despite risk of rich Inglis Millennium being called off
Inglis’ Riverside Stables was wet, the $2 million Inglis Millennium is in extreme danger of being postponed and buyers and vendors were yesterday trying to stay dry, but no one was complaining.
The widespread rain, which has fallen in vast parts of New South Wales and Queensland, was persistent in Sydney yesterday, making it difficult for inspections in the lead up to tomorrow’s Inglis Classic Yearling Sale while the adjacent Warwick Farm racecourse was sodden.
Racing NSW stewards inspected Warwick Farm and Rosehill racecourses yesterday and resolved to keep the meeting at the south west Sydney track if possible, after initially proposing to transfer it.
A final decision on whether the races go ahead will be made first thing this morning but it would be safe to say it was doubtful with up to 200 millimetres predicted to fall in Sydney today while the weather front is also expected to hit drought-affected regions of the state.
Inglis general manager of bloodstock sales Sebastian Hutch said buyers were not put off by the weather and were compiling their shortlists despite the gloomy conditions.
“It is fair to say that the rain is long overdue and most welcome,” Hutch said.
“We’ve had a charmed existence all week in terms of inspections. It’s been very wet today and the forecast isn’t great, but by the same token the facility is still conducive to looking at horses.
“Any buyer I’ve spoken to say they are more than comfortable looking at the horses despite the conditions and I expect that to continue to be the case.”
He added: “It’s a shame it’s raining but a lot of our vendors are very happy and understandably so because it’s been very challenging for an extended period of time and hopefully the weather we have now, and are expected to have over the next from what I am hearing three or four weeks, is going to give them some respite.”
Most importantly, the rain was reaching many parts of northern NSW including the thoroughbred breeding hub of the Hunter Valley.
Aquis Farm’s chief executive Tubba Williams, who returned to Australia late last year after three years in the UK, said recent rain at their Murrurundi property had been welcome.
“I have been up in the Hunter Valley and visited the farm up there and it is dry and the area where we are at Murrurundi has been a little drier than Scone,” Williams said.
“Scone itself has started to look pretty good with intermittent rain and Emirates Park-come-Aquis has had some good rain up there through the season.
“The farm at Victoria had been dry but once again there has been rain and that has put a bit of undergrowth on it, so it’s just starting to move along.
“We’ve got a lot of rain here in Sydney at the sales today and we probably don’t need it here – we need it further out in the country areas – but we do need the rain, we need a lot of it.
“They are starting to get it and hopefully the drought is starting to draw towards the end.”
Williams, who sold his Hunter Valley property in 2016 before taking up a role with auction house Goffs in England, said the region had been ravaged by drought ever since he left.
“It was torrential rain for that last week that we were there (in the Hunter) and I think it’s only been in the past fortnight that there’s been any rain since,” he said.
“Really, the whole time that we’ve been away has been a horrid time in respect to the rain. But that country picks up quickly once it gets the right amount of rain.
“Those that have looked after their properties will reap the rewards once we get rain.”
Newgate Farm stud manager Jim Carey, who worked at nearby Coolmore before joining forces with Henry Field last year, praised the Riverside Stables complex which made parading more comfortable despite the wet weather.
“The horses are parading well, there’s plenty of space, the horses aren’t melting (due to the heat) and the staff are happy to parade and people are happy to look at them,” he said.
“It’s a very progressive market here and it has been for the past few years. Inglis has worked hard to get a lot of people here and I really expect that it’s going to be a good sale.”
Hutch believes the graduate success of the Classic sale, highlighted by last year’s inaugural Millennium winner Castelvecchio (Dundeel), the condensing of the catalogue from 1000 to 808 horses and to be held over three days instead of five sessions, would attract a strong contingent of buyers from tomorrow.
“People can get their work done and go home and concentrate on training last year’s yearlings and the ones from the year before,” Hutch said.
“The mechanics of it seem efficient and hopefully that will be reflected in a good sale as it’s been put together in a manner that lends itself to a good result.
“We don’t want to be complacent about it, but certainly we feel that there’s a good buying bench here and people are happy with what they are finding.”
Millennium a chance to be on Wednesday
On the prospects of the Inglis Millennium race meeting proceeding, Hutch said there were contingency plans that could see it held on Wednesday should stewards deem the track unsafe today.
“My understanding at this stage is, and it is a movable beast, that should the races not be run on Saturday, there’s a possibility that they are run on Wednesday,” he said. “We want to see what transpires in terms of Saturday’s race meeting before considering anything, but at least we have alternatives.
“It is far from ideal given the anticipation of the race, and it’s obviously a race that is establishing a significant profile in the calendar so it’s not ideal.”
Rainfall (from 9am Thursday to 5pm yesterday)
NSW
Sydney (Bankstown) 73.2mm
Scone Airport 19mm
Murrurundi Gap 27.8mm
Cessnock 52.2mm
Singleton 47mm
Armidale 13.8mm
Gunnedah 18mm
Tamworth 9.4mm
Merriwa 31.2mm
Wellington 9.2mm
Grafton 111.8mm
Taree 95.8mm
Cootamundra 0.2mm
Wagga 0.8mm
ACT
Canberra 1.6mm
Queensland
Toowoomba 13mm
Dalby 15.2mm
Warwick 8.2mm
Source: Bureau Of Meteorology