Record gross at Inglis Ready2Race Sale achieved

Cover image courtesy of Inglis

At A Glance

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2025 was a record gross for the sale, achieving $19 million up from $15.37 million in 2024 and $10.9 million in 2022.

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There were 163 horses (after withdrawals) catalogued versus 148 last year, and 179 in 2023. The clearance rate improved to 73 per cent up from 62.1 per cent last year which was up from 57.5 per cent in 2022.

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Last year’s record $1 million price set by Signature Scent (Written Tycoon) wasn’t quite reached with a top of $900,000 for Lot 188, a colt by Toronado (Ire) and he became the record top priced colt at this sale.

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The average price was $156,180, down from $167,065 in 2024. However, the median stayed static at $100,000. Seven horses sold for $500,000 or more, down from eight in 2024.

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Toronado (Ire) was the leading stallion by aggregate ($1.99 million), while Exceed And Excel led the averages at $400,000 for three lots sold. Wooded (Ire) had the highest average among first-season sires, with two horses sold for an average of $332,500.

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Hermitage was the leading buyer by gross ($2.585 million) and average ($430,800) with six horses purchased, including the sale topper.

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Just as they were last year, Nolen Racing was the leading vendor by aggregate, selling 15 horses for $2.18 million, with an average of $145,800. Rathosheen Bloodstock was the leading vendor by average, achieving $349,000 across their draft with six sold at an aggregate of $2.09 million.

Record gross has Inglis smiling

Inglis CEO Sebastian Hutch was in a jovial mood after the sale, with a record gross set and a clearance rate pushing over 70 per cent. The sale reached a gross of over $19 million at close of business, and met the same median as the previous year at $100,000.

The sale saw 122 horses find new homes, compared to 96 in 2024, and the average dipped from $164,000 to $156,000.

“We’d done the work. I said before the sale that we were the best prepared in terms of the work we had done and the vendors had done, and put together a group of buyers and so we were in a good spot to run as good a sale as we could,” said Hutch, who was pleased with the sale’s metrics.

“We had great depth among the buyers at the top end. One thing we lament at this sale every year is that we don’t have enough horses to satisfy every buyer in that top third or top quartile, and we see that as a likely growth area for the sale.

“I think there were plenty of people making money today. If you want to participate in the sale, and participate well, it’s a professional exercise. You can’t just wake up one day with the idea that I’m going to buy a yearling and bring it to a breeze up sale. (The results for vendors) is part of consolidating a good structure, a good plan, and a good team of people. There’s more than enough opportunity for people to lift the bar again.

“Turnover is going to go through $19 million, that’s a significant step up on the previous record for the sale. I feel like we can take it further again. We want to grow the market and encourage more domestic and New Zealand-based vendors to take part.”

Hutch doesn’t want to grow the size of the sale but rather lift the quality.

“There are a number of our team, Will Stott, Harry Bailey, Brett Gilding, who worked specifically with vendors for this sale and that work starts tomorrow (for next year’s sale). Nicky Wong and James Price have worked very hard canvassing buyers (from Asia).”

Hermitage dominate the buying bench with sale topper

With three of the top five lots, Guy Mulcaster buying on behalf of Eugene Chuang of Hermitage Thoroughbreds, was the leading buyer for Inglis Ready2Race 2025. Overall, they bought six 2-year-olds for $2.585 million including the sale topping Toronado colt.

“It was great to have Mr Chuang here. He’s been a very good client of Inglis for a long time and had incredible success, domestically and internationally,” said Hutch.

“Lady Shenandoah gets all the plaudits, but he also won the Hong Kong Derby last year with an Easter graduate. He’s had a lot of success buying yearlings from Easter and he came here and bought a number of nice horses today. He bought horses for which there was tremendous competition.”

The sale topping Toronado (Ire) colt was offered by first time vendors Hunter’s Lodge. “He really stood out,” said Guy Mulcaster of Lot 188 who is the first foal of G3 Sunshine Coast Guineas winner Baccarat Baby (Casino Prince).

“We identified him off the breeze ups and then we saw him physically and he matched his breeze so it was a no brainer for the Hermitage team to have a look at a horse like that. They saw him this morning for the first time and loved him. It was a great result for them. When you saw him physically you could see there was a fair bit of improvement in him too, so it worked out well.”

Baccarat Baby is a half-sister to Group 1 winner Duais (Shamus Award) and G2 The Roses winner Philia (All Too Hard). He was originally sold by Gilgai Farm at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale where he made $300,000 to the bid of Hunter Lodge and Liam Ruddy.

“It couldn’t feel any better to be honest, it couldn’t have gone any better. I mean the whole draft has sold really well, it’s been a good clearance rate and everybody is getting a good return on investment, so we’re really, really over the moon,” said Ruddy.

“We had the reserve at $400,000 so when the bidding opened at $400,000, that was just the best feeling, we took a deep breath and after that it was just fun. We were trying to keep track of who was bidding but there were so many bids coming from so many directions.

“To have a judge like Guy (Mulcaster) buy a horse off us, we’re stoked. It’s unbelievable that Caspar (Fownes) was desperate to have the horse, he loved him. I guess it’s a real credit to us that those sorts of judges want to buy a horse off us and hopefully we can find another one for them next year.”

On the whole sale, Mulcaster said, “The stock was very well prepared. When they’re buying them at Easter or Melbourne etc, some of them are really nice horses that we already had notes on and they’ve all gone forward and I think their preparation for this sale is a testament to the vendors. There’s so many people here.”

The only I Am Invincible in the sale

The only I Am Invincible in the sale, Lot 68, sold for $675,000 to be the second top lot of the day. He was bought by Hermitage Thoroughbreds who were very active at the sale. Vendor Mitch Pearce of Crossley Thoroughbreds presented the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale graduate.

“He's just stood out all week. He was very busy with parades. He is very tired but he conducted himself very well. Just a beautiful horse to look at. I really think he's going to have a great future,” Pearce said.

“He’s very typical of the sire. I don’t think he’s reached his full potential and should be better at three. He’s a lovely shape, strong.”

The colt was purchased by Kuda Bloodstock from Emirates Park’s Easter draft for $375,000. Crossley Thoroughbreds, based in Victoria, launched in 2023.

A full brother to Ebhaar who won the Listed Merson Cooper Stakes on debut at two, and added another win at three. Ebhaar has a Proisir yearling filly and is due to Brave Smash (Jpn) this spring. The colt’s winning dam Maroon Bay (Exceed And Excel) has also produced the stakes placed pair of G3 Blue Diamond Prelude (c&g)-third Shotmaker (Shooting To Win) and Listed Redoute’s Choice Stakes-third Mednyi (Capitalist).

His second dam, Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed Legally Bay (Snippets) is the dam of Group 1 winner Merchant Navy and his full sister stakes winner Jolie Bay (Fastnet Rock) who is the dam of Group 1 winner Joliestar (Zoustar). This is the family of Group 1 winners Bonaria (Redoute’s Choice) and Paulele.

On the sale, Pearce said, “Very pleased, obviously with the top lot so far. We’ve also sold an All Too Hard for $160,000 and a So You Think for $150,000.”

Baystone Farm’s different strategy

An unusual lot at the sale was 2-year-old filly Rachini (Zoustar) who raced on Wednesday in the Listed Debutant Stakes, running fifth, for trainers Leon and Troy Corstens and Will Larkin. She went through the ring for Baystone Farm without being there, and made $500,000 to the bid of Bjorn Baker and Clarke Bloodstock (FBAA).

Baystone had purchased her for $200,000 from The Chase’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft. “We try and get into the trials to give the buyers more information more confidence in buying the product, but the flipside of that is that sometimes they’re pushed too hard and we have to withdraw them,” said Dean Harvey of Baystone Farm.

“The filly that we took to the races, I suppose it was a new idea. We thought a fair bit of her, she's very, very talented. She’d done nothing wrong and Troy (Corstens) knew that if she wasn’t right she wouldn’t have gone. It would've been a big reward that she won. She still ran well, she just got a bit lost in traffic and got a few things wrong as 2-year-olds can."

“She had a lot of work in the last month. Two trials and a breeze up, then a race in a month. She has a great constitution. Bjorn is going to give her a break and bring her back and she'll be really good for them.”

She might be the only one to go to the races, but Baystone Farm also won a jump out with Lot 48, the Satono Aladdin (Jpn) colt who made $250,000.

“Some (vendors) get to their grand final here and a lot of ours get to the trials so they've already had a big preparation before they breeze. You'll probably find that our don't always run quickly. The actual breeze up is just going through the gears and I think the market is becoming educated enough that they look more at the action than times.

“This market is going forward, and I think there’s more room for more fillies with the way the broodmare market is going too.” Baystone Farm’s draft of seven horses included two fillies. They sold five of their seven for $1.225 million to be the sixth top vendor at the sale.

Pinhooking thrills for Merricks Station

The Rubick colt, Lot 121, was touted as a huge pinhook for Merricks Station. Sold by Supreme Thoroughbreds at the 2024 Inglis Great Southern Sale as a weanling to R A G Syndicate for only $1500, the colt went to the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale for vendor Willow Grove Consignment. Trainer Lloyd Kennewell and Group 1 Bloodstock (FBAA) put their hand up at $22,500 on behalf of clients, and he was sent to Merricks Station to be prepared for this sale. Kennewell and Group 1 Bloodstock had to stump up $300,000 to buy him back for a different group of clients.

“It’s blowing up on Twitter, but I didn’t realise the weanling price,” said buyer Lloyd Kennewell.

“I found him at the Adelaide sale for clients and put him through our system. He stands out and shoulders above every 2-year-old we have, and I was not letting him go through the sale without bidding on him. Obviously when he’s going through a sale for clients, I have to take a serious look at (the perception of buying him back),” Kennewell said.

“He ticks every box. He's got a really good brain on him. All the work he's done at home been nothing short of brilliant and if I could've bought him before he went through the sale, I would have. He's really a lovely horse. I was very keen to put a team together and he’s already fully sold with a couple of clients arguing over the last shares.”

The sire is popular in Hong Kong with the likes of Rubylot. “I was worried about Hong Kong and that I might not have enough money to buy him back but we were lucky to get him as that was sort of my budget roughly around.

“He’s probably the best 2-year-old I’ve got in the stable and if I’ve got that sort of intel, why would I let him go elsewhere. Of the 25 we have this year, he’s head and shoulders above, from what I've seen so far, but that's got to replicate into a race now.”

The colt, who breezed in 10.61s, is the third foal of four-time winner Scandimania (Magnus) whose only foal to race is three-time winner New York Scandal (Manhattan Rain). Further back, this is the family of Black Caviar (Bel Esprit), with the colt’s fourth dam Song Of Norway (Vain) being the dam of Black Caviar’s Group 2 winning granddam Scandinavia (Snippets).

Table: Inglis Ready2race Sale top lots