Hutch looks forward to 2026 as Inglis opens yearling sale entries

Cover image courtesy of Inglis

With the four Inglis yearling sales to be held in the summer and autumn of 2026, the dates have been announced, and entries are open. Inglis opens with the Classic sale on February 8, 9 and 10, moves south to Melbourne for the Premier Sale on March 1, 2, and 3, then heads back to Sydney for the showcase sale of Easter on March 29 and 30, before ending with the good value HTBA sale on April 19. Entries for all four sales close on August 15.

“We were delighted with how our yearling sales series in 2025 played out, particularly relative to the performance of other sales early in the season, so to have defied and then reversed the negative market trend of those sales was very satisfying,” said CEO Sebastian Hutch.

When asked by TTR AusNZ about the difficulties in the market, especially at the middle of the market, Hutch said, “There’s a reward for quality regardless of pedigree. In some ways, this year has been a survival of the fittest with those better operators, who are often smaller farms, having strong results as people recognise the quality coming off those farms.”

The changing stallion environment

With Champion Sires of the recent past like Fastnet Rock and Exceed And Excel both retired, and Snitzel and Lonhro recently deceased, while I Am Invincible and Written Tycoon are reaching the twilight of their careers, Hutch feels the market has been more selective in taking risks on emerging horses, but the counter to this is that vendors who took punts on the second, third, and fourth seasons of those emerging sires will benefit in 2026.

“We often make year on year comparisons, as if the profile of the stock offered is the same year on year, but it’s not necessarily the case. It’s not a secret that we have a stallion population in transition, and the market has been heavily scrutinising the stock of emerging stallions to work out who will be the next successful horse. It’s hard to quantify that effect on the market, but it feels like we don’t have the same depth of stallions as a decade ago.

“There is opportunity for buyers to take chances on emerging stallions and be rewarded for their judgement, while others might be more circumspect in their choices. These young stallions have the capacity to become more important to the market in 2026, and there will be plenty of people who have stock by those stallions who bred to those horses at fees lower than they stand in 2025 and those vendors have an opportunity to strike a big payday in 2026.”

Stallions such as this season's Leading First Season Sire Ole Kirk, this season's Leading Second Season Sire Too Darn Hot (GB) are among those stallions who are looking to join the likes of Zoustar in becoming the new wave of market leaders.

Excited for Easter with the Winx colt to headline

The 2025 Inglis Yearling Sales saw a rise in turnover and average, against the expectations of the marketplace, headlined by a massive Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale that saw 399 yearlings sold at a clearance rate of 88% for $151 million, similar to the year before which was propped up by the $10 million sale of Quinceanera (Pierro), the first foal of Champion race mare Winx (Street Cry {Ire}). Her second foal, a colt by Champion Sire Snitzel, is earmarked for Easter in 2026.

“We are particularly excited about the Easter Yearling Sale, given the incredible performance of the sale in 2025, and we firmly believe that the format of the sale, with catalogued lots to be capped at 450, will allow us to again deliver outstanding results for those who support the sale with appropriate stock,” said Hutch.

The 2025 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale was expected to show falls on the year before, because there wasn’t the Winx filly to add $10 million to the aggregate, yet the aggregate stayed the same thanks to a lift in the average and median price to $447,000 and $360,000 respectively. The 2025 sale-topping colt who sold for $3 million to Gai Waterhouse, Adrian Bott and Kestrel Thoroughbreds was a Home Affairs colt who is yet to be named. He is the first foal of Group 1 winner Shout The Bar (Not A Single Doubt).

Middle of the market impact

It’s easy to write about the headline horses, but what about the middle of the market? In 2025, breeders found it tough selling at the mid-level sales across Australia, but Inglis sales did well. “From our perspective, we ran a very healthy Classic sale. Premier was the first sale of 2025 to be up on the year before, and there’s a compelling case to be made that Easter was the best Easter of all time relative to the number of horses on offer.

“The HTBA sale was up 50% year on year. We delivered market leading results across the board, and the feedback we had from the majority of vendors was positive and ultimately, a reflection of the work we’ve done at Inglis. We’ve been preparing for a difficult year for some time, and it’s like the saying, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

The Inglis Premier Yearling Sale in Melbourne showed good gains for vendors with the median in book one rising from $90,000 in 2024 to $100,000 in 2025, while book two stayed static with a median of $30,000 in both years, but the average rose from $40,000 to $44,000.

The Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, which has been growing a strong reputation among buyers for being a sale where you can buy a good type for decent value money. Vendors were rewarded in 2025 with the median and average staying static compared to 2024 at $70,000 and $92,000 respectively. Importantly for vendors, there was an 82% clearance rate, meaning the team at Inglis worked hard to find buyers for a high proportion of the catalogue.

At the lower end of the market, which struggled during 2025 as the economic pressures and cost of living crisis began to prevent racehorse owners from taking a punt on a nicely conformed yearling, HTBA yearling sale increased from a median of $10,000 in 2024 to a median of $15,000 in 2025, with the average rising from $18,700 to $21,900.

Impact of Inglis Digital on the yearling market

One key point of difference between Inglis and their competitors is the reach of their Inglis Digital platform for sales. “Our digital platform has been a fantastic window for us into new business. It’s developed as a tremendous entry point to the bloodstock market, and I would say with certainty that people begin at the digital sales, then progress into the yearling market (as buyers),” said Hutch.

“There are several trainers who’ve grown their own ownership base because someone purchased a share in a racehorse via digital. It’s been an access point for new breeders, new traders, and new pinhookers. It’s an important part of our business and of the market. We have invested heavily in the platform, and have a strong team who operate it every fortnight.

“We think it’s been a net positive for the market, as it provides a cost efficient sale platform for vendors and buyers, and most importantly it has brought transactions that traditionally happened in private into the public domain. An auction environment gives more options for people trading in and out of stock through it; and buyers can invest in a yearling at one of our sales with a legitimate option to trade out of the horse later through the digital sale. That’s been a real positive for the digital market, and we’ve seen a huge growth in horses being sold to Hong Kong through there.”

“We are not ignorant of the challenges in the market, but we are trying to facilitate the best market for our vendors and buyers. We are better prepared than anyone else.”