‘We’ve had people looking at horses all day, every day’
Inglis bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch is taking a pragmatic approach to expectations for the Classic sale, predicting ongoing economic difficulties are likely to lead to a softer market overall.
But a strong buyer turnout through the week and a refreshed buying bench compared to those for the Magic Millions Gold Coast and Karaka sales has left the auction house optimistic the worst fears of some Classic vendors won’t be realised.
Following a difficult bottom end at the two sales so far this year, and the ability at the Gold Coast for buyers to be selective in the $100,000-$250,000 band, several vendors have issued pessimistic forecasts for Classic – and its similarly bargain-end cousin Melbourne Premier next month.
Classic averaged $92,566 in 2024, down from $93,877 in 2023, and the ongoing cost of living crisis – mirrored at the Gold Coast and Karaka – has led many vendors to accept there’ll be another drop at this year’s Classic, which begins at Riverside on Sunday.
But in an interview with ANZ Bloodstock News ahead of the company’s first sale of the season, Hutch expressed optimism that Classic won’t be quite as tough as many vendors anticipate.
“There’s no disguising the fact there are reasons why the market has softened a little through the past six months and last couple of months in particular,” Hutch said.
“That’s almost exclusively down to economic factors at the moment. I’m not an economist but I don’t think I need to be one to recognise the fact there are daily news headlines about challenges concerning the cost of living, and that’s something to be aware of in terms of the trade of horses.”
He added: “The feeling is Classic is likely to be consistent with other sales this year so far in that people might be a bit more conservative with their bidding.
“You look at how sales were earlier in the year, and through stages last year, there’s clearly been a tightening of the market, and I’d be expecting that to continue through this year.”
Still, Hutch said the numbers for inspections since they began on Monday had been strong.
And while some signs from the Gold Coast and Karaka were worrying, he said Classic would attract a vastly different buying bench.
“We should remember, there’s a huge amount of people professionally involved in our sport, and they market our sport very effectively and professionally, and no doubt they will do a fantastic job in engaging people in the sale,” Hutch said on Friday.
“It seems busy out here at Riverside. Since the first stable door opened on Monday morning, we’ve had people looking at horses all day, every day.
“Those domestic people who you’d expect to participate in the sale appear to be well represented here. They’re going to be supplemented by what feels like a good group of international buyers, whether they’re from New Zealand and interested in breeze-ups in particular, or from a broader group of international buyers, including from Asia.
“There’ll be a particularly good representation from Hong Kong. We’ve got some Malaysian buyers, and a number of Japanese buyers represented here. The early registrations of online bidders from overseas looks encouraging.
“But we’re looking at all of that through the prism that people are going to be more selective in terms of what they buy, and how they do their inspections. There’s no disguising that, and we’re conscious of that in our messaging to people.
“The volume of people here won’t be a concern but, as ever, the challenge will be to what extent they’re prepared to really stretch to chase the horses they want, or chase horses in general.”
Hutch noted there were vendors at Classic who hadn’t been at the Gold Coast “so they won’t have had the experience of what it was like up there”.
Still, a consensus amongst several vendors polled by ANZ suggests sellers will be more inclined to meet the market than before reality hit in the early days at the Gold Coast. The lower end there witnessed many single-bidder lots, with many yearlings passed in and either sold later at the barn door – often with breeders having to retain a share – or taken home.
However, fuelling hopes of decent engagement from the buying bench, Hutch also said it was likely to have a strong representation from people seeking to buy for the first time this year.
“There’ll be buyers participating here who’ll be significantly more involved than what they were at either of the earlier sales,” he said.
“There’ll be plenty of new buyers here who haven’t bought earlier this year so far. That’s our job to try to find as many of those buyers as we can.”
Hutch expected syndicators to be out in force at Classic, which as of Friday was set to offer 725 lots, after 81 withdrawals – a fairly standard ten per cent of the catalogue.
“There will be plenty of syndicators engaged at the sale,” Hutch said. “How much they participate will depend on how they feel like they’re going in their business. But plenty have done well in buying out of this sale. It’s a completely different price point at this sale.”
One reality which never changes is that economic factors do not affect the quality of yearlings presented for a sale. Hutch said that factor this year presented “fantastic opportunities” for buyers at this edition of Classic.
“The quality of horse in terms of a physical standpoint has improved here year-on-year,” he said.
“The appeal of pedigrees and stallions are subjective things, but there’s no disguising the fact we have a huge number of young stallions in Australia – first, second, third, fourth season stallions, and they’re very heavily represented in the catalogue.
“That provides a fantastic opportunity to buy the progeny of a young stallion, potentially at a discount before they really hit their straps. Clearly, a number of those young horses are well represented in the market.
“We also look to have a strong representation of proven stallions in the catalogue, but we work hard with vendors to consolidate the best catalogue we can, and the feedback we have on the horses people are seeing on the ground has been positive, and hopefully that’s reflected in the bidding we’ll see at the sale.”
While in a buyers’ market many bidders are likely to be conservative, Hutch said that could be well exploited by those of a more aggressive mindset, particularly early on.
“That presents opportunities for people who might want to be a bit more bullish,” he said.
“There’ll be people who see opportunities early on in the sale – while other people might be sitting out to really chase horses – and those people will likely buy very well.”
Another cause for hope of a healthy Classic is its reputation for producing class racehorses at economical prices. The sale has produced 21 Group 1 winners since 2018, 12 of whom could have been bought for $100,000 or less.
Hutch said this, plus the $5 million Inglis Xtra Bonus Series – giving $100,000 to the winners of 50 selected maidens around the country – provided more incentives for buyers in the next three days.
“The reality is we have some very high profile yearling sales in Australia, and they attract a lot of headlines, starting with Inglis Easter, plus Magic Millions Gold Coast,” Hutch said.
“Classic has been traditionally supported by people with nice horses that might lack a little bit of pedigree, but who can run, or have the credentials to run well.
“We look to consistently maintain that base in the catalogue. We chase horses who look like they can race to a good standard, whether it’s domestically or internationally. We try to stay true to those values, and you could say it’s working out well for us.
“Vendors are happy to support us with those kinds of horses. They know it’s a sale where they can bring those sorts of horses and they sell well.”
The sale starts tomorrow at 10am.