Moody steps up as Maher lies low at Premier

Peter Moody made a splash at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale in Melbourne, spending $1.405 million, including the top two priced yearlings of what was otherwise a sluggish first day of trading.

The day was also notable by who wasn’t on the buyers’ sheet with only one purchase from the country’s leading trainer Ciaron Maher, who has signed for 71 yearlings at this sale since 2020.

Maher was the biggest buyer of yearlings in the land over the past few years and while his name featured on 36 horses in the Gold Coast, seven at Inglis Classic and seven at Karaka, but his only purchase was a Too Darn Hot filly for $60,000.

The clearance rate battled its way to 73 per cent by the end of the day, down on recent years, with 185 transactions overall and $25.7 million spent, $400,000 down on the first day in 2023.

However, the average and median held up reasonably well. The average ended up $140.022, the median on $105,000. Last year the respective figures were $142,568 and $110,000.

Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch felt the market performed slightly about the pre-sale expectations, which were quite muted.

"We expected demand for the popular horses to be strong and that certainly felt the case, but it's been a selective market all year and the expectation was that would be more pronounced here," he said.

"That's how it has played out to an extent, but the day has ended with a close to 74 per cent clearance, compared to 76 per cent last year.

"All things considered, I think most vendors would reflect on the results and think things were better on the horses they expected to do well with and as challenging as they thought it would be the others."