For the best part of two years, Australasian auction houses have backed the rise and rise of the digital bloodstock market. From Inglis Digital, Magic Millions Online and Bloodstockauction.com to Gavelhouse in New Zealand, this new arm of trading has risen above necessity to be a viable, reliable business.
While COVID led its growth, the return of physical sales hasn’t slowed the kick of online buying and selling. In fact, the landscape of trading bloodstock has changed irreversibly, and the market share of digital platforms appears here to stay.
Each of the platforms is vying for a slice of what is becoming a larger, more permanent market in thoroughbred trading.
Just last week, Inglis Digital announced its Horse of the Year award to formalise the unprecedented growth of its online platform, something that the company’s Bloodstock CEO, Sebastian Hutch, said had taken him by surprise.
“To be perfectly honest, and particularly in the last two years, we’ve been taken aback by the extent of its success,” he told TDN AusNZ.
The figures to back that up are striking.
Inglis Digital states that one in six race-winners around Australia in the season just completed emerged from its platform at one point or another. That’s up on the previous season’s tally of one in nine winners.
Sebastian Hutch | Image courtesy of Inglis
The Magic Millions Online platform has emerged as a significant player when it comes to digitally handled farm dispersals and, in fact, the genesis of Magic Millions Online lay with its inaugural event, the 2020 Cornerstone Annual Reduction.
Since then, the Gold Coast auction house has overseen similar online reductions or dispersals for Mungrup Stud, Spendthrift and Rosemont, and a second for Cornerstone last year.
In New Zealand, Gavelhouse Plus set an online world record when it sold the nine-time Group 1 winner Avantage (NZ) (Fastnet Rock) for NZ$4.1 million. At the time, it was hailed ‘virtual theatre at its very best’, and the result announced itself as the highest price paid for any horse online the world over.
Avantage (NZ) set an online world record when fetching NZ$4.1 million on Gavelhouse Plus | Image courtesy of NZ Racing Desk
Avantage was suddenly in the good company of the likes of Sunlight (Zoustar) and Milanova (Danehill {USA}), those mares respectively fetching $4.2 million and $5 million at public auctions.
Since then, names like Away Game (Snitzel) and Tofane (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}) have gone into similar ball parks at physical sales, demonstrating that the online platforms are very capable of competing on the top shelf.
Options the new norm
For vendors, the online market has shifted the landscape significantly, and one of those vendors is the Toowoomba-based breeder Jane Barham who, alongside her husband Chris, has been a mainstay small breeder in Australia.
The Barhams owned the wonderful blue hen Legally Bay (Snippets), whose penchant for Fastnet Rock produced the stakes winners Merchant Navy, Setanta and Jolie Bay. Alongside their bloodstock representative, Irishman Peter O’Brien, they’ve had dazzling success with the family.
Chris and Jane Barham and Peter O'Brien | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Largely, the Barhams have been traditional sale-ring clients, but this week they’re debut digital vendors.
Their 6-year-old mare Charleise (Foxwedge), owned in partnership with O’Brien and a number of others, is for sale in the current Inglis Digital catalogue.
“We bought a horse online for the first time earlier this year, but we’d never sold a horse online until now,” Jane said, chatting with TDN AusNZ. “It’s quite exciting for us actually because it’s looking like it will be a good Sale.”
“We bought a horse online for the first time earlier this year, but we’d never sold a horse online until now. It’s quite exciting for us actually because it’s looking like it will be a good Sale.” - Jane Barham
The Barhams’ earlier purchase was Hold Me Closer, a Danehill Dancer (Ire) mare that was offered by Tarcoola Stud and bought for $230,000 through the 2022 Inglis Digital June (Late) Online Sale. The result topped proceedings that day, Hold Me Closer being the dam of the G3 Caulfield Classic winner Thought Of That (So You Think {NZ}).
When it came to Charleise this year, the Barhams had yo-yoed about selling her in a physical sale.
Initially, the daughter of Foxwedge, who is a Listed winner, was entered into the 2022 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale as part of the Segenhoe draft, but she was withdrawn.
Lot 80 - Charleise | Image courtesy of Inglis Digital
“We saw her in work down in Victoria and we thought she looked amazing,” Jane said. “That was before Magic Millions, and she looked so good that we thought she’d have an amazing season. We really didn’t want to sell her in case she ran really well and we ended up regretting that we’d sold her. It was as simple as that.”
Charleise has been there or thereabouts at Listed level her whole career. She was third to Microphone on debut in the Listed Talindert S., and her Listed victory in the Spear Chief H. came last year. She’s since been third in the Listed Cup Day Plate at Flemington and third again in the Listed Glasshouse H. on July 2.
“We decided that we’d run on with her and, because of the digital options being available to us, we were able to make that decision,” Jane said. “I can’t really say yet if that was the right decision or not. I guess we won’t know until Wednesday night.”
Charleise, winner of the Listed Spear Chief H.
The right choice?
At the time of writing, with less than 24 hours to go of the Inglis Digital August (Early) Online Sale, 6-year-old Charleise had attracted 39 bids to the tune of $160,000. Jane is confident she’s been well-found.
Inglis Digital has marketed the mare well through publications such as this, and included her in a round of email publicity last weekend. The high-profile nature of this particular catalogue, which features a breeding right to I Am Invincible and a 50 per cent share in the Group 3-winning mare Nudge (Fastnet Rock), has meant that many prolific bloodstock agents and buyers are coming across her.
“Inglis has done so much work in presenting her to the front of the market,” Jane said. “I feel really confident that she’ll be as exposed as she would have been in a physical sale, and possibly more. There were just so many brilliant, high-profile mares at the National Sale in May, so you just don’t know how it might have gone for her.”
“I feel really confident that she’ll (Charleise) be as exposed as she would have been in a physical sale, and possibly more. There were just so many brilliant, high-profile mares at the (Magic Millions) National Sale in May, so you just don’t know how it might have gone for her.” - Jane Barham
As vendors, the Barhams were faced last May with putting Charleise into a sale that might have buried her a little, so strong was the catalogue. Online this week, the catalogue is smaller (317 horses against 753), and Charleise, in Jane’s opinion, has been put into the right sale.
However, there is a flip side. The Barhams might well wonder if the market has softened considerably in the last two months with costs of living and inflation, and if they’ve consequently missed the boat.
“In May, the economy was probably a little stronger than it is now and we were less concerned,” Jane said. “That’s probably the only thing I’m wondering about our decision, whether we’ve missed the top of the market.”
Jane concedes that these are considerations when it comes to physical sales too and, overwhelmingly, the regular presence of the online sales has changed breeders’ options indefinitely.
Three years ago, if they missed out on a physical sale for whatever reason, they had few exposure options outside of a private sale. Not so anymore.
“The online sales give you so much more flexibility,” she said. “You’ve got more choices. You can’t control everything in a horse’s environment obviously, but once upon a time in the sale ring you could get left with a horse if it didn’t sell. Now, there are platforms where you can continue to sell all year round.
“The online sales give you so much more flexibility... once upon a time in the sale ring you could get left with a horse if it didn’t sell. Now, there are platforms where you can continue to sell all year round.” - Jane Barham
“But also, the thing about them is that I can come to the end of the financial year, like we did when we bought Hold Me Closer, and just jump online to buy a 12-year-old mare.
“You can manage your tax and cash flow so well with this level of flexibility, and I love that about the online sales. There is basically one every two weeks and you don’t miss out if you’re not organised.”
Without doubt, the rise of the digital platforms is unstoppable. Their convenience and flexibility is part of the fabric now of year-round trading, and sales companies are finding that their databases are full of entry-level clients, established and major breeders, and everyone in between.
Hold Me Closer | Image courtesy of Inglis Digital
“Also, I don’t know why this is, but the older I get the more stressful I’m finding the physical sales. The day this year that we sold the Jolie Bay yearling by Zoustar, and that was at Easter for $950,000, I was an absolute wreck.
“It was a rollercoaster, up and down the whole day with vet scopes and opinions. So I can definitely see the advantages of the much less stressful online platforms.”
All of these things are why the digital sphere is growing and growing as an option industry-wide.
The Barham's Zoustar x Jolie Bay colt that sold for $950,000 at this year's Inglis Easter Yearling Sale | Image courtesy of Inglis
The Barhams have Charleise in a catalogue this week with Nudge, the Group 3-winning Savabeel mare Duchess Kate (NZ) and a daughter of Makybe Diva (GB) (Desert King {Ire}). Still, she sits inside the top five by price at the time of writing.
“We’re confident that she’s in a good catalogue and that she’ll sell well,” Jane said. “And honestly, we think it’s that very good catalogue that has found her. There’s been calls and enquiries from agents and others, so we’ll just have to see what happens now.”
