$1 million milestone and a record median: A thorough analysis of the Inglis Ready2Race Sale

Cover image courtesy of Inglis

With a median price of $100,000 for the first time, and the first $1 million sale at a Southern Hemisphere breeze-up sale, the Inglis Ready2Race Sale of 2024 was a resounding success.

Growth over a decade

In the past 10 years, the Inglis Ready2Race sale has grown and changed. The median price in 2015 was $50,000 and 10 years later, it has doubled to $100,000. In that same time, the average has grown from $67,000 to just over $164,000. Eight horses in 2024 sold for more than $500,000, a huge result when the sale-topper in most of the last 10 years hasn’t reached that figure.

Table: Inglis Ready2Race Sale overview from the last 10 years

“In 2022 and 2023, Inglis had the highest median of the three 2-year-old sales, once you translate the New Zealand sale into Australian dollars. However, our clearance rate this year and last has been short of where we would want it to be. Any sale that exposes the athletic ability of the horse will be subject to that. And there’s the challenge of Singapore and Macau ceasing to race,” said Sebastian Hutch, CEO Inglis.

“The lower clearance rate is a balance of two factors. There are always horses that don’t breeze well or don’t meet what the market expects in terms of type. There are also vendors who are willing to take a horse home if the market disagrees with them on price and race them instead believing that they will prove the market wrong. We have a lot of professional vendors at this sale, they are adept at preparing horses for this sale and at trading tried horses, and they back their own opinions.”

A changing split between local and international buyers

In the past 10 years, the split in the buying bench between local buyers and international buyers has averaged out at two thirds local and one third international, but this has changed over the years. Prior to the COVID pandemic, the split fluctuated each year with international buyers making up under 30 per cent of buyers in 2015 and 2019, and between 37 per cent and 44 per cent in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Unsurprisingly during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, when movements were restricted, the international buyers fell to 20 per cent. Since then, they have been consistent at just under 40 per cent of the buying bench.

Table: The split in the buying bench over the last 10 years

The strength of the local buying bench

Approximately 90 per cent of local buyers come from NSW or Victoria, which is also unsurprising given the dominance of prizemoney in these two states. In 2024, NSW buyers spent an average of $100,000 on 29 horses, while Victoria spent an average of $204,500 on 22 horses boosted by Yulong’s purchase of the $1 million sale-topper. Lot 166, a filly by Written Tycoon out of Group 1-winning mare Soriano (NZ) (Savabeel) was sold by Baystone Farm to Yulong with underbidders including including Mick Malone, Annabel Neasham and Sheamus Mills.

Table: Local buying bench locations over the last 10 years

“We’ve seen sustained confidence among domestic buyers, and many big-name trainers bought horses this year, or had clients who bid or bought. We’ve turned over every stone to engage the local market, and this has given our sale impetus over the last five years. There was plenty of strength in the top half of the sale this year, which meant that some of our mainstay buyers at this sale were priced out. It’s a sign of the market’s strength.”

Hermitage Thoroughbreds purchased two lots at this sale, while other high profile domestic buyers included Ciaron Maher, Adrian Bott, Joseph Pride, Mick Price, Triple Crown Syndications, OTI, Anthony Freedman, and of course, Yulong who bought four horses led by the sale-topper.

“The other two sales (Magic Millions and New Zealand Bloodstock) will give us some context (market wise), but we are happy as we continue to progress and have momentum going forward. There were local syndicators buying too, which is great to see. There’s a lot of things to be positive about.”

International buying bench

Hong Kong is the largest buying group at this sale among the international buyers with 156 horses purchased in the last 10 years. This has grown steadily from seven horses in 2015 to 29 in 2024, and approximately half (83) of their purchases have come in the past three years (post-COVID). Hong Kong’s 29 purchases in 2024 averaged $248,000, higher than the sale average of $164,000.

“We’ve worked hard to canvas these buyers, and we’ve built strong relationships with the Hong Kong Jockey Club. We had participants from other jurisdictions who couldn’t compete (price wise) and we are thinking about how to create a progressive expansion of international participants in this sale.”

Table: Total horses purchased by international buyers over the past 10 years

The wide variety of nations who have purchased at this sale also shows the changing nature of international racing. Of note, Japan only began buying at this sale after COVID, from 2023 onwards, while South Africa’s most recent purchase was back in 2015. South Korea stopped in 2016 and Thailand in 2019.

Singapore spent up big in 2022, buying 31 horses, having previously averaged only four horses a year before that. Since the announcement of their racing closing, buyers from Singapore have purchased nothing in 2023 or 2024.

By contrast, racing in Macau finished in March 2024, but buyers from there still purchased two horses in 2024 and one the year prior, presumably to race in Malaysia or Hong Kong.

The other surprising result is that New Zealand buyers are not active at this sale. Over the past 10 years, New Zealand buyers have only purchased 20 horses, an average of two per year, and none in the last two years.

“New Zealanders are important contributors to this sale as vendors and as a consequence that makes them significant buyers at the yearling sales. New Zealand has the most established 2-year-old sale in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s a hugely successful one and one that we look at with respect.”

Popular stallions in 2024

With the $1 million sale-topper, Written Tycoon led the averages for stallions at this sale (4 or more sold) with eight sold for an average of $508,000.

Deep Field, who has a strong reputation in Hong Kong thanks to Voyage Bubble, was next with six sold for an average of $360,000, while Star Turn came in next with seven sold for an average of $325,000.

Tagaloa led the first season sires with five sold for an average of $225,000.

Table: Sires by average in 2024 (4 or more sold)

“An issue we are seeing is having the quality of stock to satisfy the demand of the buyers. We achieved that reasonably well this year at the top third of the sale, and the next challenge is more liquidity at the bottom half of the sale. This is seen as a sale that presents stock of a typically high standard, but some jurisdictions who shop at the lower end felt like they couldn’t compete this year.

“There are a huge number of positives to be derived from the trajectory of the sale in the last five years, and our graduates have continued to grow domestically and internationally.”