Easter Sales Begin

THE Inglis Easter sales begin today at 10am, with 580 lots going under the hammer.

A colt by Street Cry and Planet Rock from Sledmere Stud.

Johnathon D’Arcy director of bloodstock for Inglis said they were very excited about the showpiece sale in Australasia.

“There is a very good buying bench both nationally and internationally a lot of people from Europe, America, China, South-east Asia, New Zealand and the inspections have been very good,” said Mr D’Arcy.

“The majority of the horses are coming down from the Hunter Valley from farms like Widden, Arrowfield, Coolmore, Yarraman Park, Segenhoe, Vinery have all got very good drafts in the sale,” he said.

“The expectation is as we’ve seen throughout the year that it should be a pretty strong sale,” he said.

While the Magic Millions and Classic Yearling sales surpassed expectations, Johnathon D’Arcy is quick to play down the prices horses may fetch.

“Back in 2008 before the GFC (global financial crisis) we had a sale that went through the roof, so I don’t think we’ll see a record average but we’ll certainly see a pretty strong sale,” Johnathon D’Arcy said.

Last year the sale averaged $290,000 and if the sale can be something like that this year that would be a huge result.

A colt by Lonhro and Alteza Real to be sold today at the Inglis Easter Sales.

The horses expected to be soought after will include progeny of Snitzel, Fastnet Rock, Redoute’s Choice and young horses like Pierro and All Too Hard.

Catriona Murphy, owner of Sledmere Stud in Scone said they were excited about this year’s sale.

“It will be a very big sale, there are plenty of international buyers here which is very encouraging,” said Ms Murphy.

“This is as good as it gets in any sale anywhere in the world,” she said.

“It gives us confidence in the market and we have brought down 18 quality horses, so to have the numbers and the quality is very exciting,” Catriona Murphy said.

A colt by Sebring and Upper Crust from Sledmere.

Three of the lots Sledmere hope will fetch a good price today include:

• Lot 10 – a colt by Street Cry and Planet Rock;
• Lot 129 – a colt by Sebring and Upper Crust, and
• Lot 172 – a colt by Lonhro and Alteza Real.