Cover image courtesy of Inglis

Two days of selling commences at the Riverside Stables sale complex on Tuesday morning as the 2026 Inglis Australian Weanling Sale gets underway, with 504 weanlings catalogued for sale. A total of 48 individual vendors from across three states will converge on the complex to offer the progeny of 101 stallions, including 13 first season sires.

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INTRODUCING CHARYN

Selective selling

The Inglis Australian Weanling Sale has seen tremendous growth in scale and gross over recent years, which has contributed to a rise in average by over $9000 since 2021 and a rise in median over the same period of $6000, while the average has remained relatively steady for the last four editions of the sale.

Table: Key metrics across the last five editions of the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale

“We have spent a lot of time, money, and energy on this sale, and it has reaped dividends,” said Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch. “We have gotten better support, in terms of the profile of the vendors and the profile of the horses engaged in the sale, year on year.

“We are really pleased with how the catalogue has come together; even though it's down on numbers from last year, the quality of foals on offer remains solid. There are plenty of horses here that will appeal to a very broad cross-section of people.”

The 2026 catalogue has shrunk in size from last year, something that Hutch attributes to vendors and breeders becoming more selective with where they choose to present their weanlings.

“I think people have become better at identifying what weanlings are worth bringing to a sale, and at what venue,” said Hutch.

Table: Change in catalogue size year on year at the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale

“Vendors are becoming more judicious with their drafts. I am less concerned with the number in the catalogue, I am more interested in trying to raise the quality of the foals offered here every year and making sure we continue to engage the best group of vendors we possibly can. And I think we have achieved that again this year.

Belief in this specific sale

“There are a huge number of the best breeders in Australia who are selling their foals this week,” said Hutch. “There is a large number of vendors who are exclusively selling their foals at this sale, or offering their whole foal crop here. Those factors alone are reasons for anybody who's in the market to engage with the sale.”

The 48 returning vendors have travelled to the complex from across New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, led by a 32-strong draft from Newgate Consignment - a jump from the 12 they catalogued in 2025 - followed by Alma Vale Thoroughbreds with 31 in the catalogue.

Table: Top five vendors by size of catalogued draft at the 2026 Inglis Australian Weanling Sale

Alma Vale were the leading vendors in 2025 by aggregate, selling 15 for $1,445,000, with a top price of $340,000 and an average of $96,333, almost double the sale’s average. They also come with a larger draft again than in 2025, up from 25 last year (before withdrawals).

“It's a fantastic facility to present horses for sale, but in particular foals,” Hutch said on why vendors keep patronising the Sydney sale. “It's a very natural environment that is very safe and has plenty of surfaces to walk on. There’s a lot of space for inspections.

“It's also convenient for lots of vendors, and also vendors like Rathmore Lodge have come a long way knowing the foals are arriving into an environment that's not confronting to them in any way, shape or form.”

Stallions that get results

Many of the names amongst the list of most represented stallions in the catalogue are no surprises to those hoping for commercial returns at the 2027 yearling sales. Tassort is the most represented, with 25 to his name, followed by Champion First Season Sire elect Home Affairs on his heels with 22.

Table: Top five most represented sires in the 2026 Inglis Australian Weanling Sale catalogue

Tassort’s current weanlings are his first crop to be conceived off of his elevated $38,500 inc GST service fee, a jump from his initial price of $11,000 inc GST that he stood for over his first four seasons.

Much of that leap can be attributed to G1 Sires’ Produce Stakes winner Manaal, a dual Group 2 winner in 2025 and second in the G2 Guy Walter Stakes and the G3 Triscay Stakes this autumn, and G2 Silver Shadow Stakes winner Ameena. Juvenile Agrarian Girl snagged the Listed Lonhro Plate this autumn to give her sire a third stakes winner.

Home Affairs averaged over $248,000 across the 2026 yearling sales on both sides of the Tasman, highlighted by a $1.3 million colt out of Victoria Quay (Dundeel {NZ}) at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. Having sired a G1 Golden Slipper Stakes winner Guest House in his first crop to the track, his service fee has understandably risen to $176,000 inc GST. His 2025 crop of foals were conceived off of a $82,500 inc GST fee.

Ozzmosis is the most represented of 13 first crop stallions, with 21 in the catalogue. In fact, four of the top five most populous stallions reside on the Newgate Farm roster, as do six of the top 10. The G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes-winning son of Zoustar had 137 first-crop foals arrive in 2025, conceived on a $44,000 inc GST service fee.

Table: First crop sires with two or more weanlings catalogued at the 2026 Inglis Australian Weanling Sale

Stay Inside and Capitalist round out the top five, both of whom have held steady on their 2025 fees ahead of the 2026 season. Capitalist is currently Australia’s leading sires by winners, and he provided the third highest priced weanling in the sale’s history in 2023 when the Newgate colt syndicate purchased a full brother to G1 Champagne Stakes winner Captivant for $625,000.

Stay Inside is currently third by prizemoney and joint second by winners in the first season sires’ premiership. His 11 runners from his first crop has yielded five winners, three at stakes level on either side of the Tasman in Group winners Incognito and Blue Door, and Listed victress Lassified.

The place to participate

It is still anticipated that the economic environment created by the conflict in the Middle East will have an impact on the sale, but Hutch extends encouragement to buyers who might want to participate in the 2027 yearling sales.

“There's a traditional cohort of people that participate in a sale like this, and they're supplemented by some people who you wouldn't ordinarily expect to see on the buying sheet,” he said. “It’s part of our mandate to vendors to try and assemble the biggest, strongest buying bench for the sale that we can and that is what we have tried to do.

“The reality is, if you want to participate in the 2027 Australasian yearling sales and you don't breed your own stock, it's paramount that you take sales like this very seriously.”

The last two years of the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale have been fertile hunting ground for pinhookers; last year’s top lot, a $775,000 son of Too Darn Hot (GB) yielded $2.2 million at Inglis Easter, a $1500 son of Harry Angel (Ire) sold for $525,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Yearling Sale, and Alma Vale’s $340,000 daughter of Anamoe sold for $800,000 at January’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale - to name a few.

“Certain elements of the market have been very challenging in 2026,” Hutch said. “But our sales series has increased turnover year on year, which is a very positive thing for the market to see.

“We have brought more money into the market in 2026 than we did in 2025, and we will certainly be doing everything we can to facilitate the best year for the market that we can in 2027.”