The contrast between global economic uncertainty and the bullishness at the recent Australian Easter Yearling Sale makes sense in the context of the opportunities the crisis presents the Australian market, according to a leading global bloodstock agent.
British-born Jamie McCalmont has spent the better part of 40 years doing bloodstock deals on either side of the Atlantic and is better placed than most to assess what the upheaval around tariffs and trade might mean to the global thoroughbred market.
The well-respected and well-connected global player believes the uncertainty regarding the trade of horses in and out of the United States could play into the hands of Australian buyers and sellers.
He was ringside at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale as international buyers supercharged their spending, making up nearly $40 million of the $150 million splurged across the two days at the Riverside Stables.
That is a jump of nearly $15 million, or 60 per cent of what was spent in 2024, with buyers from New Zealand, Hong Kong, the United States, Japan, South Africa, China, the United Kingdom and the Philippines active.
The comparative low value of the Australian dollar - it was at its lowest in five years during the sale - no doubt played its part, but McCalmont believes that Australia will become an even more attractive market for international investors in the likelihood that tariffs and trade provide barriers to investment in the American market.
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