Cover image courtesy of Inglis

Inglis has unveiled the catalogue for the 2026 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, where 806 yearlings will be offered at the Oaklands Junction sales complex in Melbourne across the first three days in March. The first two days will be taken up by 579 Book 1 Yearlings, with 227 Book 2 yearlings offered on March 3.

Sixty four vendors have engaged drafts for the sale, where 110 stallions will be represented by their offspring, including members of the first crops of Anamoe, Artorius, Bruckner, Daumier, Diatonic (Jpn), Hitotsu, In The Congo, Jacquinot, Paulele, Sejardan, and State of Rest (Ire).

“I feel the standard of yearlings catalogued for the sale for 2026 is higher than at any time I can remember and I know my colleagues feel the same,’’ said Inglis Victorian Bloodstock Manager James Price.

“The quality of the pedigrees, in terms of both stallion power and female families, reads exceptionally well. Our expectation was that the strength of the sale in 2025 - noting it was the first Southern Hemisphere sale of 2025 to post improved metrics year on year - would help us to consolidate a stronger catalogue in 2026, and we are confident that is the case.”

A bumper 2025 sale resulted in a turnover of $60.58 million for a similar sized catalogue, with a Book 1 clearance rate of 81% and a Book 2 rate of 78%. Thanks to heavy investment at the top end, including joint seven-figure top lots by Toronado (Ire) and Frankel (GB), Book 1 boasted an average of $134,939 and a median of $100,000.

Table: Five year sales metrics for the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale

A sale built on quality local support

Local vendors Yulong Stud lead by draft size with 85 in the catalogue, followed by Widden Victoria with 50 yearlings on offer. Blue Gum Farm and Rosemont Stud tie for third largest draft with 34 each.

Table: Top 10 vendors by size of draft in the 2026 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale

“The catalogue has come together really well,” said Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch. “We have the likes of Gilgai Farm, who are selling exclusively through Inglis Premier this year, and all of the major Victorian breeders, and then that has been supplemented with Coolmore Stud, who are selling in their own name this year with a draft of real substance, and Newgate Farm, who enjoyed their experience in 2025 and have come back with an even better draft in 2026.

“There's a really good lineup of interstate supporters of the sale; drafts from Milburn Creek, Newhaven Park, Twin Hills Stud, and Mill Park who have sold a huge number of good horses at the sale over the years. It just profiled up really well.”

Having local vendors bring high quality drafts of horses to Melbourne is what, in Hutch’s opinion, get people engaged with the Premier sale.

“Certainly the support of the likes of Yulong and Rosemont and Gilgai was a big factor in the success of the sale in 2025,” he said. “I think it got buyers engaged with the sale in a way that maybe they wouldn't have ordinarily. I think that sort of momentum is something we can build on.”

Commercial offerings aplenty

Buyers will have access to the country’s most desirable stallions in Melbourne next year, including 10 yearlings by this year’s Champion Sire Zoustar, seven each by I Am Invincible and Written Tycoon, 11 by sale graduate and Champion First Season Sire Ole Kirk, and two colts by the late Snitzel.

Of the 11 first season sires with yearlings in the catalogue, Widden Stud’s dual Group 1 winner Jacquinot has the lion’s share, with 19 entries - accounting for 17.75% of his first crop of foals.

Table: Top five first season sires by representation in the 2026 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale

Leading international sires also have a place in the catalogue, with Frankel and Siyouni (Fr) both having three offspring featured, plus yearlings by Lord Kanaloa (Jpn), Kingman (GB), Lope De Vega (Ire), and No Nay Never (USA).

“Historically the Premier Sale has been a hugely significant producer of superstars with graduates including Black Caviar, Starspangledbanner, Nature Strip, Bella Nipotina, Ole Kirk, Sacred Kingdom, Written By, Booker, September Run, Masked Crusader,” said Price. “I’m confident the 2026 catalogue will produce any number of stars as well.”

As recently as last season, the sale has produced two Group 1-winning juvenile colts in Nepotism (Brutal {NZ}) and Vinrock (I Am Invincible).

The majority of the catalogue are eligible or already qualified for one of the VOBIS Silver, BOBS, Racing Rewards SA, Westspeed, and TasBred incentive schemes. All entries are eligible for the lucrative Inglis race series.

Gallery: Group 1-winning juvenile colts produced by last season's Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, images courtesy of Sportpix

On having a catalogue steeped in quality, Hutch said, “we had a good sale season in 2025, it worked out really well for us, and that's generated a form of momentum and confidence in what we're doing that's being backed up by vendor behaviour.”

A robust local buying bench

Hutch also highlighted the appreciation that the Inglis team has for the local buying bench in Melbourne, who take home a large number of the yearlings on offer.

“At Premier, the local buying bench is crucially important,” he said. “We want to have yearlings that appeal to the local buyers. The catalogue this year feels really good (for this) - you want to be offering yearlings that you feel the market's going to respond really well to.

“It’s also a sale that the Hong Kong buyers have been particularly positive about. Again, I feel like we have a pretty strong line of horses for them as well, so I think there's a lot to be positive about going to that sale.”

The sale has proved 195 individual winners in Hong Kong since 2018, including the likes of Victor The Winner (Toronado {Ire}), Beat The Clock (Hinchinbrook), Invincible Sage (Thronum), and Senor Toba (Toronado {Ire}).

Gallery: Some of the individual winners in Hong Kong since 2018 produced by the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, images courtesy of the Hong Kong Jockey Club

While the expectations are going to be high after this year’s results, which saw two million dollar lots sold and an 80% clearance rate across the whole sale, Hutch has confidence that the 2026 catalogue can deliver the results for both vendors and buyers.

“Anyone can look at the figures and see it was the first sale of the year to post year on year gains, and I think that's given people confidence or impetus to support the sale with better stock in 2026,” he said. “Judging by the vendor and horse profiles, it has a good feel to it.

“At this stage, we're better prepared than at any stage in my time here for the 2026 sale season, and hopefully, that's borne out for the results.”

The catalogue is available online now, and hard copies will be available within the fortnight.