Data from Inglis website as at 4 March 2026
Inglis were thrilled with the results at their recent Premier Yearling Sale, pointing to a lift in all metrics, particularly with the gross of $68 million being the highest since the five year peak of $85 million in 2022.
The story is more interesting when digging into the quadrant analysis - while there was a more cautious top end, the middle and lower ends of the market showed strength.
Five year figures
While yet hit the heights of the best sale in the past five years in 2022 where the median reached $140,000 for book 1, the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale was a clear success with all metrics rising year on year.
The market dropped after 2022, hitting a low point in 2024 with a median of $90,000. The past two years have shown an upwards trajectory with the median in book 1 climbing to $100,000 in 2025, and then reaching $120,000 in 2026.
The all important aggregate figure, or the gross spend, which indicates how much money is being returned to breeders, hit $68 million across the whole sale in 2026. This is a lift of 14% on 2025’s gross of $60 million, down on the five-year peak in 2022 of $85 million.
| 2026 | 814 | 88 | 586 | 81% | $117,246 | $68,706,000 | $120,000 | $36,250 | $850,000 |
| 2025 | 803 | 113 | 551 | 80% | $109,953 | $60,584,137 | $100,000 | $30,000 | $1,000,000 |
| 2024 | 800 | 88 | 571 | 80% | $103,409 | $59,046,500 | $90,000 | $30,000 | $925,000 |
| 2023 | 816 | 88 | 584 | 80% | $110,842 | $64,731,500 | $100,000 | $30,000 | $1,100,000 |
| 2022 | 793 | 61 | 654 | 89% | $130,800 | $85,543,000 | $140,000 | $40,000 | $950,000 |
Table 1: A five year look at the changes across key metrics at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale
A stronger middle in 2026
The lift in gross in 2026 came through a higher number of horses sold and at a higher average. In 2026, 586 yearlings sold across both books compared to 551 in 2025, and the average lifted from $109,000 to $117,000.
The sale’s catalogue size has stayed fairly static over the five year period, at an average of 805 horses listed. This year showed a lower rate of withdrawals (88) compared to 20205 (113), so buyers had more opportunities to secure a yearling.
This was also shown out with 22% rise in the number of lots selling for $100,000 or more from 2025 to 2026, and a 17% lift in the number of lots making $300,000 or more. This figure shows some positivity at the top end, but the overall position at the top remained one of caution.
Lot - 238 Zoustar x Nudge filly | Image courtesy of Inglis
At the very top end, the top price of $850,000 for Lot 238, the Zoustar filly from Group 3 winner Nudge (Fastnet Rock), was the lowest sale topper in the past five years. This along with the rise in average indicates a lift in the middle, rather than at the top.
In the past five years, three yearlings have reached seven figures at this sale. In 2023, the now 4-year-old mare Socrazyinlove (I Am Invincible) sold for $1.1 million, and she’s the winner of three of her six starts with her most recent start this spring.
In 2025, two yearlings reached $1 million, and the pair of colts are now 2-year-olds. Lot 201 has been named Franked Up (Frankel {GB}), while Lot 197 the Toronado (Ire) colt sold by Gilgai Farm is unnamed.
Quadrant analysis of the sale
By breaking up Inglis Premier Yearling Sale Book 1 into four quartiles, it allows an analysis of the shifts in the various parts of the market. It is here that the data demonstrates the strength in the middle of the market.
With 2022 being the best Premier sale in the past five years, any comparison between 2022 and 2026 might be found wanting a little, and this is certainly the case at the top end, where the average for the top 25% of lots sold fell 2% in this time period from $295,569 to $289,813. Similarly, there was a small fall from this quadrant’s average in 2025 to 2026.
Quadrant two, being the lots who were above the median but not in the top 25%, showed a significant gain by average from 2025 ($139,892) to 2026 ($146,286), with the 2026 figure down 15% from the peak achieved in 2022.
Quadrant three, the lots in the 25% of the market just under the median, has been steadily climbing out of the low set in 2024, to reach $93,857 in 2026, up from $83,763 in 2025. And the bottom quadrant – the cheapest 25% of yearlings sold – achieved a significant lift from $40,367 in 2025 to $46,858 in 2026.
Of note, the average for the bottom quadrant of Book 1 was marginally higher than the average for Book 2 which hit $45,181 in 2026, up from $44,718 in 2025.
| 2026 | 426 | $120,000 | $289,813 | $146,286 | $93,857 | $46,858 | $45,181 |
| 2025 | 375 | $100,000 | $293,842 | $139,892 | $83,763 | $40,367 | $44,718 |
| 2024 | 413 | $90,000 | $279,660 | $123,131 | $72,670 | $35,957 | $40,092 |
| 2023 | 438 | $100,000 | $274,545 | $131,972 | $85,963 | $46,445 | $38,818 |
| 2022 | 490 | $140,000 | $295,569 | $168,770 | $108,374 | $57,336 | $50,445 |
Table 2: Five year changes in quadrants for the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale
Increased expenditure by locals
With many buyers ending up in the buyers charts multiple times with different buying partnerships, the number of individual buyers lifted from 313 in 2025 to 330 in 2026, a rise of 5.4%. This correlates to the number of horses sold with a rise of 6.3% from 551 to 586 in 2026.
Unsurprisingly, the two strongest buying locations at Inglis Premier for 2026 remained Victoria (who bought 305 of the 586 lots sold), and NSW. Third place on the table changed in 2026, going to New Zealand, with Hong Kong shifting from third place in 2025 to fourth in 2026.
Sebastian Hutch | Image courtesy of Inglis
Victorian buyers increased their expenditure in 2026 to $35 million, up from $31 million in 2025.
“We have worked hard over a number of years to give vendors and breeders confidence that we can deliver the best results,” Inglis CEO Sebastian Hutch said. “In the context of this sale, there is a particular focus on getting the support of local breeders with their best horses and hopefully the results this year create a platform for us to progress this sale even further in the years to come.”
| VIC | 305 | $35,230,500 | $31,554,500 | 12% |
| NSW | 98 | $15,466,000 | $11,967,500 | 29% |
| NEW ZEALAND | 49 | $4,450,000 | $3,090,000 | 44% |
| HONG KONG | 48 | $5,994,500 | $6,341,000 | -5% |
| SA | 36 | $2,420,000 | $611,000 | 296% |
| WA | 20 | $2,513,000 | $2,296,000 | 9% |
| QLD | 11 | $1,215,000 | $1,242,000 | -2% |
| All Others | 8 | $1,307,000 | $3,173,500 | -59% |
Table 3: Buyer location in 2026 and 2025 for Inglis Premier Yearling Sale
Local stallions do well at their local sale
In 2023, the year these yearlings were conceived, NSW based stallions made up 46% of all stallions who stood for $5,000 or more in Australia. Victorian based stallions accounted for 30% of these sires. Queensland and Western Australia had a further 23% of stallions in that price bracket, but they were not highly represented in this sale.
While NSW based stallions dominated the market, making up 63% of the gross sales, Victorian stallions more than held their own. They accounted for 34% of the gross, more than the 30% of their overall commercial stallion market share.
Toronado (Ire) | Standing at Swettenham Stud
By gross, Victorian based stallions made up three of the top five stallions on the leaderboard. Toronado (Ire) topped the sire list by gross, with his 31 yearlings sold making over $5 million at an average of $162,000 of an $80,000 (plus GST) fee in 2023. Exciting second season sire Ghaiyyath (Ire), who stood at Darley’s Victorian base, came in second with 16 yearlings sold for $2.8 million at an average of $177,800, off a $25,000 (plus GST) fee.
Extreme Choice and Home Affairs came in next by gross, followed by Victorian based Alabama Express whose 18 yearlings sold made a total of $2.3 million.
The five yearlings by Northern Hemisphere based stallions did best on average at $264,000, although with the additional costs associated with importing a mare from Europe or America, the exercise is probably one to be cautious around.
| NSW | 338 | $43,075,500 | $127,442 | 63% |
| VIC | 230 | $23,190,500 | $100,828 | 34% |
| INT | 5 | $1,320,000 | $264,000 | 2% |
| NZ | 6 | $760,000 | $126,667 | 1% |
| QLD | 2 | $230,000 | $115,000 | 0% |
| TAS | 1 | $20,000 | $20,000 | 0% |
Table 4: 2026 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale results by stallion location at conception
