Gross and clearance down, average up: Mixed results for the 2026 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale

Cover image courtesy of Inglis

With a war in the Middle East impacting on the supply of fuel to Australia and subsequently pushing up the cost of diesel for everyone, but particularly impacting on farmers, there were plenty of reasons for Inglis to be nervous ahead of their benchmark Easter Yearling Sale.

Figures sourced from Inglis website on 31/3/2026

The metrics for the sale showed a resilience at the top end with the average pushing to a record $464,108, while the median dropped slightly to $350,000 from $360,000 the year prior. TTR’s quartile analysis shows why this occurred.

A lower clearance rate of 76% at the end of the final sale day, down from 86% in 2025, was the reason for a lower gross, however, Inglis CEO Sebastian Hutch was hopeful to get more of the unsold horses into new homes in the next week to lift both these metrics.

“There are a number of other sales in the process of being finalised, while we will continue to work with vendors and buyers over the coming days to generate further sales and bring the clearance rate up further,” Hutch said.

Table: Inglis Easter Yearling Sale Five-Year metrics

Quartile analysis

In the last five years, the largest aggregate was in 2022 with $153 million in gross receipts, while 2023 was the worst at $139 million. Both 2024 and 2025 topped $150 million so the drop back to $145 million in 2026 continues a pattern of fluctuation in the aggregate at Easter over the past five years.

In that same time period, the average price has grown almost steadily year on year from $399,700 in 2022, dropping slightly in 2023 to $386,000, then rising since then until 2026’s record of $464,108. This is a 14% lift in average over the past five years. This average might end up slightly lower over the next few weeks as the unsold lots get sold, but these figures were sourced each year at the end of selling, so they provide a direct comparison at the same point in time.

The top end of the market – the highest priced 25 per cent of lots sold – has risen 14 per cent in the past five years, directly the same as the whole sale. Meanwhile, the bottom 25 per cent of the catalogue has lifted by 13 per cent.

Of note, in 2026, the biggest lifts from 2025 were in the top quartile and the bottom quartile, while the middle two quartiles went backwards on their 2025 averages. The best average recorded in the past five years for quartile one was in 2026, while the best for quartile two and three were in 2025, and quartile four had their best average in 2026.

The lowest quartile at Easter had a significant lift in 2026. This sector, the cheapest 25% of horses through the ring had averaged $142,000 across the last four years, and in 2026 this lifted to $163,000, well ahead of this quartile’s best year in 2024 with an average of $149,000.

The bottom of the top was healthy in 2026, although over the whole five year period, this lift only brings the bottom end in line with the 14% rise in the whole sale average.

Table: Quartile Analysis of the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale

Participant numbers

Analysis of buyer figures across all the sales in Australia are proving to be more complex in the past three to four years. Over this time, sales companies have moved from having only one buyer name in the buyers column to having up to four listed. This means that the data has become more complex, but also more transparent which is a laudable outcome.

In 2026, for example, Ciaron Maher Racing purchased three lots for $400,000, $360,000 and $320,000, while in four different partnerships, Maher was listed alongside another four lots.

Because this change has been around for several years now, the data is tending to stabilise. In 2026, the lower number of horses sold (315) compared to earlier years was reflected in a lower number of individual buyers at 195. Of those, 145 were listed as buying only one lot, which includes each of the four partnerships with Ciaron Maher in our example.

The average number of lots bought per buying group dropped slightly to 1.61, down from a peak of 1.81 in 2023. How much of this is due to the change in transparency on the buyer’s chart and how much is due to market conditions is unknown.

Table: Buyer numbers at Inglis Easter Yearling Sale over five years

Colts versus fillies in uncertain times

For the first time in the past five years, the colts averaged more than the fillies at Easter. Buying a filly at Easter is a long-term decision to buy into Australia’s best families as part of a breeding program, so it makes sense that fillies are highly sought after at this sale.

In 2026, the 154 colts sold averaged $480,000 and the 161 fillies sold averaged $446,000. At the very top end, 16 of the 26 seven figure yearlings were colts, including four of the top five yearlings sold.

In the past five years, the average price for colts has risen 19%, while the average price for fillies has risen 8% (against the whole sale average rising 14% in the same time period).

Table: Average price for colts vs fillies at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale

Location of buyers

The remnants of COVID lingered in 2022 when only 14% of buyers were from outside Australia, and this peaked in 2025 when 24% of buyers were internationally based. In 2026, there was a slight drop in international participation with 21% of buyers coming from outside Australia.

New Zealand buyers were the highest nation by volume with 25 yearlings purchased in 2026, while Hong Kong buyers came in second taking home 23 yearlings. Other nations listed in the buyer location by Inglis were the United Kingdom with four lots, while two lots went to each of China, Ireland, Mongolia, Japan, and USA. A single lot was purchased each by buyers from France, Philippines, and Singapore.

Table: Local versus international buyers at Inglis Easter Yearling Sale over last five years