Davis has become one of the most recognisable faces and voices in Australasian bloodstock auctioneering, renowned for a remarkable ability to coax one more bid from a wavering buyer.
“You’re dealing with the psychological thing,” Davis says. “You know, I love the line, ‘Always buy the one you want, rather than the one that’s left.’ It gets people every time when they stop and think about it.”
However, as Davis takes us through his varied career selling everything from livestock to art and real estate, he reveals that his go-to strategies in the bloodstock sale ring aren’t always as effective in other settings.
Tim Brown and Steve Davis
“I’ve had no luck with real estate,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a live bid in all of my seven auctions of real estate in my career.
“I’ve had people ring me and ask me if I’m available, and I say, ‘Listen, I’m seven-and-oh,’ and they say, ‘Thanks, yeah, we’ll get someone else.’ Maybe it just doesn’t happen quickly enough for me, I don’t know, or maybe I’ve been unlucky.”
Davis looks back at his early memories of accompanying his father on trips to the races, igniting a passion that would eventually become a career.
“My dad was only a small punter, but some of my fondest memories were getting up on a Saturday morning and going to the races at Hawke’s Bay,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you anything about the pedigrees, but I could tell you who worked the best at Takanini on Thursday because I read the Friday Flash.
“My dad was only a small punter, but some of my fondest memories were getting up on a Saturday morning and going to the races at Hawke’s Bay." - Steve Davis
“This is how old I am – I remember there being sawdust on the floor of the public bar, and I remember the TAB gave out handwritten tickets. You put on your bets on one side of the tote, and you had to go around behind the tote to collect. They’d say, ‘I’ll see you around the back of the tote,’ and that means you’re collecting.
“They’re great memories, but one of the problems racing had back in those old days is that if you were 12 years old and under, you couldn’t get on to the members’ stand. We lost a generation as a result of that. At Hawke’s Bay there was even a floor that was for men only.”
Originally training to be a teacher, Davis credits the end of a relationship for putting him on to a different course.
“I had great ambitions of being a teacher, and I thank an ex-girlfriend for the fact that I’m in the position I am now,” he said. “We broke up and I struggled with that, being young and emotional, and I ended up going to Auckland.
“I had great ambitions of being a teacher, and I thank an ex-girlfriend for the fact that I’m in the position I am now." - Steve Davis
“I was boarding with a family in Epsom, just down from Alexandra Park, and I went there one Sunday and had a go at race-calling the harness workouts. That’s where it all started.
“In terms of auctioneering, I started off in the stock and station side of things. I went to bloodstock about an opportunity, and in those days you could walk in off the street. I told them I’d done public speaking at school and was doing race-calling, and I scored a job.
“It’s easy to say it was a little bit easier then than it is now, but it’s a bit like the Darley Flying Start today – that gives you a real leg-up. There’s opportunity there.
“I didn’t have any educational background, but I just had desire and an interest in pursuing this job. At that stage, it was going to be just my holiday job, but it just grew and grew and grew.”
In-depth knowledge of bloodstock and pedigrees came later when Davis drew on the pedigree department of Wrightson Bloodstock.
Steve Davis at the 2012 Magic Millions Yearling Sale | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“The real advantage of working for what was then Wrightson Bloodstock was that they had their own pedigree department, which has now become Arion Pedigrees,” he said.
“I was in there for some time. Perhaps it doesn’t happen as much now with the bloodstock companies, because Arion do it all, but I was very fortunate. I had that day-to-day involvement in the pedigree – how it’s constructed and how it all works.”
Davis also offers insights on the current state of the thoroughbred industry, including New Zealand Bloodstock’s ground-breaking decision to move its National Yearling Sale from January to March due to COVID-19 logistical challenges.
“They were left with no option,” he said. “At the stage when they made that decision, there was no chance that Australians would be able to get there by the end of January.
“The hope was, by putting it back and making that decision early in terms of the preparation of yearlings, it would give surety to breeders as to when they can bring their horses in and prepare them for the Sale, and also give an opportunity for the borders to open up.
“Having spoken to a lot of Australians, they would love to come back to New Zealand to buy horses. It seemed at the time to be a great decision.
“Having spoken to a lot of Australians, they would love to come back to New Zealand to buy horses." - Steve Davis
“Post that, our government has decided that borders won’t open until the end of April. It’s frustrating, no doubt, for the powers that be at NZB.
“Whether they can come up with some arrangement with the government where they can use their hotel to facilitate some Australians coming in in a COVID-safe way, I don’t know.
“It is frustrating, but who knows? This is an ever-moving thing. We may see, by that stage, Australians being able to come into the country without having to quarantine.
“A number of breeders out there are loving the fact that they’ll have a Christmas that’s a bit quieter than normal, and who knows? It may even become the norm. It all depends, obviously, on how successful the Sale is in March.”
