In the immediate aftermath of the sale, we took a look for any key changes in buyers' spending habits and discovered a market with a greater desire for fillies as well as those from first-season stallions.
Colts have been bought at an increasing premium in recent years. Across all major Australian yearling sales in 2019, the average price of a colt was 16.1 per cent higher than fillies, jumping from a 4.2 per cent differential in 2018, while the median showed similar patterns.
The pattern was amplified at January's Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale, with the difference in average price between colts ($272,694) and fillies ($221,789) at over 20 per cent. It was a similar differential between the sexes at the Inglis Classic Sale in February, while the pattern was more muted at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Sale at Karaka.
Given the presence of those high-end colts, and the colts' syndicates that pursue them as potential stallion prospects, it's a pattern that has seemed more evident, the more select the sale is. At the Easter Yearling Sale last year, colts averaged $391,237, and the fillies $307,736, a 27 per cent price difference.
At a very different Easter Sale in 2020, the fillies' average fell slightly to $296,552, or just over 3 per cent, while the colts' average dropped around 15 per cent. The price difference between them on average was around 13 per cent in the colts' favour.
"At this year's Easter Sale, sales of fillies contributed 42.3 per cent of the overall gross of just over $68 million, compared to 39.1 per cent at Easter last year." - Bren O'Brien
At this year's Easter Sale, sales of fillies contributed 42.3 per cent of the overall gross of just over $68 million, compared to 39.1 per cent at Easter last year. It was also 39.1 per cent on the Gold Coast in January.
This is further evident when looking at the top end of the market. Last year at Easter, there were 75 yearlings sold for $500,000 and over with 62.6 per cent (or 47) of them colts, while this year, that percentage fell to 57.5 per cent, with 23 of the 40 sold in that price range colts and 17 fillies.
Freshmen still shine
Investing in untried stallions may be considered a more risky proposition than buying yearlings from proven sires, but the market for what is a particularly strong freshman offering in 2020 maintained its strength.
Most interestingly, stock by first-season stallions generated more aggregate sales in 2020 than they did at Easter last year - a sale which was twice as big in terms of money spent.
American Pharoah (USA) | Standing at Coolmore
Powered by the popularity of Coolmore's American Pharoah (USA) and Newgate's Capitalist, there was $8.848 million spent on yearlings by freshman stallions in 2020, compared to $8.8 million in 2019.
The 46 yearlings sold at Easter in 2020 averaged $192,337 (compared to $244,444 over 36 horses sold last year), while the overall market for first-season stallions represented 13 per cent of the total spend, up from 7.1 per cent 12 months' ago.
The overall market for first-season stallions represented 13 per cent of the total spend, up from 7.1 per cent 12 months' ago.
This likely points to the desirability of the current crop of stallions, with American Pharoah and Capitalist both inside the top six stallions in total spend, whereas last year there wasn't one first-season stallion inside the top 10 in that regard at Easter.
Backing this up, at the recent Magic Million Gold Coast Yearling Sale the freshman class had 200 yearlings sell, or just over 28.2 per cent of the overall volume. The spend on those yearlings represented 22.9 per cent of the over $177 million spent.
Clearing stock tough in a cloudy market
The other major pattern to emerge was that, unsurprisingly in the current environment and with a new format, the clearance rate of 62 per cent was the lowest in a major sale in recent memory. Inglis will continue to sell horses over the coming days and weeks, then at Round 2 of the Easter Sale in July.
Inglis will continue to look to sell horses over the coming days and weeks and at Round 2 of the Easter Sale in July
But a measure of the sticky nature of the market was the quantity of high-quality stock retained by breeders.
Last year at Easter not one horse was passed in for over $500,000. This year as it currently stands, there are 11 lots who passed in short of a reserve of $600,000 or greater.
That included Lot 65, a colt by I Am Invincible out of Winx's (Street Cry {Ire}) half-sister Miss Atom Bomb (Encosta De Lago), who was offered by Bhima Thoroughbreds and fell short of his $1 million reserve, the same price that a Coolmore offered son of Fastnet Rock out of Hips Don't Lie (NZ) (Stravinsky {USA}), Lot 487, failed to reach.
Lot 342, the Exceed And Excel colt who is a brother to G1 Golden Slipper S. winner Overreach as well as Standout and Outreach, offered by his breeders at Corombene Stud, was passed in beneath his $950,000 reserve.
Gallery: Some of the passed in lots
None of this is surprising in an environment which makes it exceptionally difficult for buyers and vendors to meet. There was little speculation in the market, while syndicators were not active as they might have usually been, resulting in 131 horses passing in.
Inglis has done a tremendous job in the circumstances and will continue to work hard to sell these horses, whether it be in the coming days or hopefully, at a Round 2 Sale in July, after which, a more complete picture of the Sale can be ascertained.
