Cover image courtesy of Inglis

This week's Inglis Great Southern Sale, which concluded the traditional breeding sales season on Monday, added further weight to vendors' increasing preference towards digital sales platforms when it comes to selling broodmares.

There was a 60 per cent drop in the number of mares offered at the Great Southern Sale (279 to 112) compared to the pre-pandemic Sale of 2019, and a 63 per cent drop in the number of mares sold at the Sale (206 to 76).

It follows a trend which has seen the total number of mares offered through the four major breeding sales, the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, the Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale, Inglis Chairman's Sale and Inglis Great Southern Sale, drop from 1648 to 1111, or 32.6 per cent from 2019 levels.

Table: Comparison of broodmare numbers (sold) through major sales in 2021 and 2019

Table: Comparison of broodmare numbers (offered) through major sales in 2021 and 2019

The digital sales market has gone the other way, with Inglis Digital figures for the first half of 2021 revealing that 2101 lots have been offered through its fortnightly online auctions in either the race fillies or broodmare category. That number across the corresponding period in 2019, albeit when Inglis Digital auctions were monthly, was 892, indicating a 135 per cent growth in volume.

Magic Millions is also ramping up its online presence and is holding monthly Online Sales through 2021, presenting those willing to sell through the digital platform with even more options.

Inglis' General Manager Bloodstock Sales and Marketing, Sebastian Hutch, believes that the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw major sales through 2020 conducted in a variety of formats, had proven a gamechanger in the digital marketplace.

"The evolution of the digital market has certainly been accelerated by the pandemic. Whether it be a traditional digital sale or an online sale. I think people's requirement to become familiar with it has become mandated upon them by circumstances. Particularly the circumstances of April and May last year and continuing on through until now with the pandemic continuing to pose challenges," he told TDN AusNZ.

Magic Millions offered 275 fewer mares through its National Broodmare Sale in 2021 than it did in 2019, with 149 fewer mares selling through the ring, despite the overall aggregate jumping over $38 million.

Magic Millions' Managing Director, Barry Bowditch, noted the trend towards selling more mares online but said the strong results for those mares who did sell through its physical sales showed the ongoing advantages of the traditional model.

"I think the logistical challenges and what the pandemic has done for the mindset of people has definitely given a lot more heat to the online market, but the confidence people have when they are here on the grounds to buy at a traditional format can not be underestimated and that's been really evident through the selling season this year," Bowditch said.

A true and fair market

The downward trend in terms of the quantity of mares offered through traditional sales has been driven by vendors, who have been much more willing to embrace the digital market in 2021. Hutch said that while the 33 per cent drop in numbers might surprise some people, the change has been a positive for both formats.

"The instinctive reaction of most people when you quote those figures is an element of shock, but in actual fact, it’s evident the market is being sustained through different ways through what is arguably a more timely platform," Hutch said.

"We have seen the opportunities for people to take advantage of the auction environment through Inglis Digital Sales twice a month, every month of the year and doing so in a very cost effective and efficient way.

"It’s a method which the market has clearly embraced. We have had turnover in excess of $130 million though our digital sales since the start of 2018. It is a very credible, fair and true market."

Magic Millions also sees plenty of space for both formats to grow. Bowditch said he is certainly not concerned that a migration towards the digital market will impact how they go about compiling catalogues for their flagship National Broodmare Sale, which is traditionally held in late May.

"We were ecstatic with our results this year as well as with the entries and the appetite for people to sell here at the Gold Coast. We won't change too much," Bowditch said.

"We will continue to look to make those sales better and increase the quality we have. If that comes with numbers or not, that's fine, as long as we are heading in the right direction and are selling the best quality of stock we can, that's what's important to us.

"I feel with the traditional market, there is an appetite for quality within it and you are seeing more of that in the live, traditional auction. Due to the cost factor of selling and aspects like that, the online format is being used more than it has been in the past."

Selling in the right place

The maturation of the digital market has presented vendors with more of a dilemma, working out which format is preferable to sell their stock, something which Hutch sees as an ongoing challenge.

"Everybody has a different perspective on how best to use the digital space or the live auction. We saw instances of vendors of mares that were in the Great Southern catalogue choosing to take up the opportunity to be part of the Digital Sale earlier on, and we saw some of them sell very well. Conversely, we have had vendors who waited until the live auction and sold well," he said.

"There are some subtleties to it that people are still working out. It’s an evolving space, but the important thing for vendors to know is that the digital marketplace is very much demonstrated to be a true and fair marketplace for bloodstock, particularly for broodmares.

"It's exciting for the market, because it is drawing additional liquidity in, which can only be good for vendors, and it’s creating additional opportunities for buyers to acquire stock and that's a great thing."

Past the pandemic

While the trend for where broodmares are being sold has been stark in this regard in 2021, Hutch said it was nearly impossible to separate that migration from the circumstances of the COVID-19 era, which has presented ongoing logistical challenges for physical sales.

"As much as the results reflect a very healthy marketplace, the prevailing conditions under which our Chairman's Sale, our Australian Broodmare Sale and our Great Southern Sale have operated were not optimum for the conduct of a live sale," he said.

"Inevitably people would have been somewhat more guarded around the decisions they have made, because of the circumstances of the pandemic. It’s only when people can make 'pandemic-free' decisions, for want of a better description, which we hope is the case in 2022, that we will be able to get a definitive reading on how this space will evolve from here."

Inglis is upping its game when to comes to broodmare offerings through its digital platform and the upcoming July (Early) Sale is set to rewrite records with Group 1-winning mare Funstar (Adelaide {Ire}) to be offered.

"The genuine guide on the development of this market will be seeing what happens in 2022 and across the balance of 2021. Funstar being offered as part of a Digital Sale is very significant," Hutch said.

"There is nothing quite like an auction environment to command interest in a horse which is a great thing."

In 2019, statistics from Family Business Australia found that 30 per cent of all family-owned businesses survive into the second generation. From there on, things get grim. Only 12 per cent of family businesses are viable into the third generation, and as little as three per cent survive into the fourth generation and beyond.

In a way, it comes back to the old adage that the first generation makes the money, the second generation spends it and the third generation blows it. Backing this up is a fact-find from TIME magazine, that it takes the average recipient of an inheritance just 19 days to buy a new car.

On the Darling Downs in Queensland, on 89-year-old Eureka Stud, the McAlpine family is bucking all of this.

Studmaster Scott McAlpine, now in his sixties with his affable, seasoned hardihood, is a third generation on the property, and his sons Harry, Angus and Charlie are the fourth.

Before them, there was Andrew (Andy) McAlpine, who turned the first sod at Eureka in 1932 (the year he bought the place), and his son Colin, who took over in 1960. Since then, Scott slowly took up the reins over the decades.

In the breeding game, this isn’t unheard of.

There are a handful of thoroughbred studs dotted around Australia that can boast successive generations. Widden Stud is an example, in continual Thompson ownership since 1867. Newhaven Park is another, currently in the hands of fourth generational John Kelly Jnr.

In Queensland, however, it’s less common.

Perhaps it’s the geography of the state, being that bit further from the hubs of the Hunter Valley and Victoria, or other reasons like population and climate. Either way, the McAlpines have blossomed for nearly a century on the rich black soils of the Cambooya slopes, and they’re not going anywhere.

A good stallion changes everything

“My grandfather started work on Banchory, which is just across the road from us, and that was one of the very first settlements on the Darling Downs,” said Scott McAlpine. “He started when he was 18-years-old, and he worked there until 1945, but he bought Eureka in 1932, which was a square mile off the original settlement.”

It wasn’t until the mid-1940s that Andy McAlpine put horses on Eureka.

“That first generation had been in the area for so long, but it was 1945 or so before my grandfather went on to establish himself commercially with horses,” Scott said. “My father (Colin) then took over at the beginning of the 1960s, and I left school and came home in 1973. My father and I worked together as a team right through until he died.”

Colin McAlpine passed away in August 2016, a peppered old country boy at 84-years-old. In his wake, Scott, his wife Grania and their three sons assumed Eureka Stud, but there was no obligation from Scott. He wanted his boys to see the world.

“Yes, you want them to come home and farm, but I also thought there were plenty of opportunities out there with education, to pursue a different career than horses,” he said. “They did, at least in Harry’s case, but he circled back to the horses. Angus probably always wanted to be the horseman, and Charlie went to England for 12 months and then came home for university.”

Harry did an internship at Tattersalls in England, then studied at the University of New England (UNE) and UTS, Sydney, in Business and Law. Angus completed a diploma at the National Stud in Newmarket. Charlie also interned for a time at Tattersalls, then studied Agriculture at UNE.

All of this proved especially useful in recent years.

When Spirit Of Boom showed up, and certainly since the stallion’s first running crop in 2017/18, things changed at Eureka. The business got busier and more commercial.

“The operation has got big now and, fortunately for us with the boys being here, we do have that expertise working for us,” Scott said. “A good stallion changes everything, doesn’t it? It puts a new prospect on your whole business.”

Raconteur of life

Since 1945, when Andy McAlpine started standing stallions at Eureka Stud, the property has had significant and generational farm-makers.

One of the best commercial early sires was St Constant, who won the 1938 Cantala S. and Yan Yean S., and sired the brilliant Queensland stakes winners Coniston and Mr Sunray. St Constant was the leading sire of 2-year-olds in Brisbane in 1948/49, and was privately bought by Andy McAlpine at the close of the horse’s racing career in 1943.

Colin McAlpine then took Eureka Stud to a whole other level through his tenure.

He imported the likes of Lumley Road (GB), Piccolo (GB) and Puissance (GB), but the farm-maker of this second generation was Semipalatinsk (USA).

Standing his first season in 1985, the stallion had raced exclusively in Italy. He was by Nodouble (USA), a son of the brilliant Australian horse Noholme, the latter not just a winner of the then Principal races the Champagne S., Epsom H. and Cox Plate, but also a Star Kingdom (Ire) full brother to the Champion Todman.

“The farm-maker for us, in that era, was definitely Semipalatinsk,” Scott said. “In the early 80s, he was the one that probably got us a little bit more nationally commercial. We were breeding horses to race in Queensland, and on the occasion down south, but we elected to market Semipalatinsk across Australia by going to Adelaide, because of my father’s association with Colin Hayes.”

Colin McAlpine and Colin Hayes were close during their lives.

After the former’s passing in 2016, David Hayes recalled the older McAlpine as an uncanny breeder and raconteur of life.

“He lived and breathed racing,” Hayes said. “Back in the days before mobiles, the phone would ring at 7.30 on a Saturday morning and it would be Colin (McAlpine), followed by Bob Hawke, wanting to discuss the afternoon’s racing.”

Colin McAlpine’s contribution to Queensland racing was decades long, earning him presidency of Thoroughbred Breeders Queensland for 17 years and, in 1991, an Order of Australia (AM) for his services to thoroughbred breeding.

Scott McAlpine is well aware of this legacy.

The brilliance of his father was probably, at certain points of his younger life, an imposing load. However, Scott has carved his own name into Eureka, and he looks at legacy with a pragmatism and humour that his friends and family know well.

“It’s just the progression of life and careers, and the way your hand is dealt in the business that you run,” he said. “Before my father died, I was always number two to him, and then the boys came home and I’m still number two!”

The old ways

Like their father, Harry, Angus and Charlie are well-raised. They have good, country manners and a healthy respect for their roots.

However, in an everyday operational sense, they work on Eureka Stud without constantly thinking about things like legacy and family history.

“Every day is entwined with the jobs on the farm,” Harry said. “We do most of the work here and, being on a farm of this size, you get behind the highs and lows and you deal with them. I guess one of the things about being here so long, though, is that you are always able to look towards the next achievement.”

A handful of years ago, about the time that Spirit Of Boom was looming large as a sire, the Darling Downs was choked by unreasonable drought. So was much of eastern Australia, but it was especially difficult in this part of southeast Queensland.

“I moved back from Sydney three years ago, and came into the thick of the drought,” Harry said. “I thought it was that bad that maybe that’s how it was going to be forever, and that the place was just going to be a desert. So I haven’t been around long enough to appreciate that it can be as bad as that, and recover to be as good as it is now.”

With longevity comes perspective, and that’s a handy advantage in farming horses.

“Being around for a long time, there’s plenty of stories and you get to know the terrain and the climate, and that’s a bit of a comfort,” Harry said.

Around the farm, Eureka Stud has clung to a few of its old-time practices. The McAlpines still break in yearlings from a pony, and Harry admitted that probably wasn’t widely done these days.

“A few of our techniques might be considered old horsemanship now,” he said. “We still work all the yearlings off the pony, and a lot of places wouldn’t do that anymore. I guess we’ve got an old philosophy about the way we handle horses and educate them.”

Family business

Among the boys, it’s likely Angus who will uptake the McAlpine mantel. But right now, Eureka Stud is a grassroots family business, and it’s run as such.

“Everyone’s got a point of view and everyone’s got an argument for which way they want to do things,” Harry said. “I guess communication is key, that everyone gets to put across their point of view. It can be contentious at times, but you’ve got to forge the best way forward together.”

In recent years, there have been hefty decisions to make at Eureka Stud.

The McAlpines rejected enormous money for Spirit Of Boom in 2017, something to the tune of $20 million. At the time, Scott said it was money that he’d never see again, but he never looked back either.

Spirit Of Boom fought out the First Season Sire Championship with Zoustar in 2017/18, and again the following year for the Second Season Sires' title. Right now, he is 13th on the General Sires’ Table by winners, and inside the top 10 for wins.

His 12 stakes winners to date include Ef Troop, Boomsara and Outback Barbie, all of whom emerged from his blistering first crop in 2015 when he stood at Eureka for $11,000 (inc GST). His service fee this upcoming season will be $33,000 (inc GST).

Spirit Of Boom was the reason Harry returned to Cambooya from Sydney, but he admitted the best of his memories were forged in the sale ring.

“There’s nothing more satisfying than having a good yearling sale,” he said. “You work so hard to get your horses that far, and a great result indicates all the hard work you’ve put in.”

Likewise, the young studmaster admitted that all the years of his family’s presence at Eureka was bound to give them all a confidence in how they operate, and how they plan ahead.

“You get buoyed by the successes that you’ve had,” Harry said. “You become very confident that the way you run your business and the way you raise your horses is a successful way of doing it. You see that with all the graduates that come off the farm, and that’s the injection you need to keep being passionate and keep going forward.”

Eureka Stud is approaching a century in McAlpine hands, and the Australian breeding industry has never known one without the other.

“If we weren’t here doing it, I don’t know who would,” Harry said.

Cover image courtesy of Tattersalls

Broodmares drive positive market

Broodmares were the key driver of trade on Wednesday, with a number of Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin draft populating the leader board. Lot 125, Aureum, a winning sister to the G3 City Of York S. winner and G1 Coronation S. runner-up Nemoralia (USA), clinched the top spot when offered in foal for the first time to Invincible Spirit (Ire).

The 4-year-old's sole win in five starts for John Gosden came at Chelmsford in March, and she was covered in Ireland a month later before being brought to Tattersalls.

Tom Goff of Blandford Bloodstock placed the final bid of 220,000 gns (AU$388,500) and, in common with a number of those who signed for the day's leading lots, was unable to divulge for whom the mare had been bought. Bred by Newtown Anner Stud, Aureum had previously been sold at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale for US$800,000 (AU$1.07 million).

Goff said, “She has been bought for an established owner/breeder client. She has a fantastic page, and she made a lot of money as a yearling. She is a lovely mare, the sister was top-class over here and she is in foal to a great stallion.”

Another of Goff's Godolphin picks was the once-placed Siyouni (Fr) filly French Rose (Fr), who is out of a full sister to the Jim Bolger-bred G1 Dewhurst S. winner Parish Hall (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). The 3-year-old, sold as Lot 266, fetched 125,000 gns (AU$242,813).

The agent also signed for Royal Eloquence (Ire) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}), who was consigned as Lot 107 by the National Stud for breeder Joseph Tabet with her Night Of Thunder (Ire) colt foal at foot and in foal to Ribchester (Ire). The half-sister to Lordship Stud's good broodmare, Swiss Lake (USA) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), the dam of stakes winners Swiss Spirit (GB), Swiss Diva (GB) and Swiss Dream (GB), was bought on behalf of an Irish client for 130,000 gns (AU$252,526).

International involvement

Two other members of the Godolphin draft were bought by American and Australian breeders respectively. Matt Houldsworth paid 160,000 gns (AU$310,800) for Lot 124, the unraced 4-year-old Birdwatcher (USA), a daughter of Uncle Mo (USA) in foal to young Darley stallion Blue Point (Ire). Her own lack of racing prowess was counterbalanced by her pedigree: Birdwatcher's dam Bizzy Caroline (USA) (Afleet Alex {USA}) was a dual Grade 3 winner herself and is a half-sister to the top-class racemare Lady Eli (USA) (Divine Park {USA}). Birdwatcher was another expensive Keeneland September purchase by Godolphin at US$1.1 million (AU$1.47 million).

“I thought she was a very good physical and obviously she cost a lot of money as a yearling,” Houldsworth said. “She's got a good covering, too. I'm a big fan of Blue Point, and it's a lovely, deep family. She's heading to America.”

On her way to Highclere Stud is the Teofilo (Ire) mare Subella (Ire) (Lot 121) who was bought by Jake Warren for an undisclosed breeder. The unraced 4-year-old is a half-sister to the dam of 1000 Guineas runner-up Cloak Of Spirits (Ire), a daughter of Invincible Spirit, who is also the stallion Subella was covered by on March 28. More pertinently, Subella's dam Suba (USA) (Seeking The Gold {USA}) is a three-part sister to Darley's flagship sire Dubawi (Ire), who is the most illustrious of five black-type performers for grandam Zomaradah (GB) (Deploy {GB}).

After bidding 150,000 gns (AU$291,375) for the young mare, Warren said, “She is for an Australian client. We are thrilled to buy her as she is a beautiful mare, she has a lovely cover and a pedigree that needs no explanation. She will come back to Highclere and we will decide on plans when we get her home and see what the foal is like.”

John Dance also added a Godolphin filly to his broodmare band at Manor House Stud–one of three online purchases by the owner/breeder–when going to 150,000 gns (AU$291,375) for Lot 265, Desert Star (GB), a once-raced 3-year-old daughter of Dubawi and sister to the Listed winner Duneflower (Ire).

Mehmas momentum

Breaking up the Godolphin stronghold at the top of the leaderboard was Excellent View (GB), who presented a three-for-one deal as the 10-year-old Shamardal (USA) mare (Lot 214) was offered alongside her filly foal by one of the hottest young sires of the moment, Mehmas (Ire), and she is back in foal to the same stallion.

Buyer Charlie Gordon-Watson, who paid 200,000 gns (AU$388,500), is certainly a fan of the Tally-Ho Stud resident. He said, “She has a very nice foal at foot. I love Mehmas. He can do it anywhere, with any trainer, and he has a couple of really good horses in America at the moment.”

It is of course not just the sire of the foal who appealed to the agent as Excellent View has already produced the black-type performer and four-time winner Mutaraffa (Ire) by Mehmas' sire Acclamation (GB) and, though she was a modest performer herself, her first three dams are all stakes winners.

“She has been bought for an English owner/breeder and it is good to see that she has produced a foal like that and she is back in foal to the stallion, who looks the real deal,” added Gordon-Watson, who was also the purchaser of Mehmas' dual-winning juvenile Lusail (Ire), who is declared for Thursday's G2 Tattersalls July S.

Two lots earlier (Lot 212), Barton Sales had also consigned another mare in foal to Mehmas: Tianadargent (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}), an unraced sister to Restiadargent (Fr), who chased home Black Caviar (Bel Esprit) to be a close third in an all-female trifecta in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. of 2012. She sold for 100,000 gns (AU$194,250).

Cormac McCormack was the busiest buyer of the session, signing for seven fillies and mares, including Dubai Fashion (Ire) (Lot 42). The daughter of Dubawi has the great Shadwell mare Height Of Fashion (Fr) as her great grandam and was sold in foal to Blue Point for 140,000 gns (AU$271,950).

Last orders

As most people's attention had already turned to England's match against Denmark in the semi-final of the European Football Championship, the Group 1-winning sprinter and young stallion Garswood (GB), a son of Dutch Art (GB), paraded through the ring as the final lot of the day.

The 11-year-old started his stallion career at Cheveley Park Stud where he was born and has recently stood two seasons at Haras de la Huderie in France. He will continue his stud duties in Saudi Arabia after being bought for 40,000 gns (AU$77,700) by agent Ted Durcan on behalf of Ahmad Alabdullatif.

“He's off to Saudi Arabia and his progeny should be well suited by the racing there,” Durcan said of Lot 340. “It's a lovely stud and he will be well-looked after.”

Australian and New Zealand buyers

First Light Racing, combining with Paul Willetts as per usual, purchased two horses, Norma (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) and Alsephina (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).

Norma, offered as Lot 255, is a stakes-placed 5-year-old mare who has won one of her 10 starts, and was picked up from The Castlebridge Consignment for 85,000 gns (AU$165,113). She is out of the Listed-placed mare Deidre (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who is a half-sister to the G1 Irish St Leger winner Duncan (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}).

They also paid 22,000 gns (AU$42,735) for 3-year-old filly Alsephina, who has had just two starts for Charlie Appleby in the Godolphin colours. She is out of Listed winner Pabouche (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

Tweenhills/Widden combined to pay 85,000 gns (AU$165,113) for Nozhar (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}), the half-sister to Pasar Silbano (Ire) (Elnadim {USA}), who is the dam of Australian Group 2 winner and Widden stallion Zousain.

Nozhar, who was offered by Shadwell, has already produced the winners Kohoof (GB) (Tamayuz {GB}) and Israaj {GB}) (Helmet).

Bloodstock agent Paul Moroney combined with Belannah Stud to pay 16,000 gns (AU$31,080) for Pitch Blue (Fr) (Muhaarar {Ire}), an unraced filly from the family of influential stallion Peintre Celebre (USA), while Moroney also teamed up with Armando Bloodstock and Pegasus Bloodstock to pay 15,000 gns (AU$29,138) for Majoram (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), a 4-year-old mare from the family of G1 Sydney Cup winner Grand Marshal (GB) (Dansili {GB}).