Speed thrills – Inglis picks up the pace and Classic Sale buyers are rapt

Outside of the million-dollar lots and the bidding wars, the novelty of the theatre of the auction ring can fade quickly over the course of a yearling sale.

When you are powering through 270 horses a day, balancing the needs of vendors, who want to give their horse its best chance to get sold, and buyers, who want every chance to bid, can lead to the usual 120 seconds per lot extending to three or four minutes.

Over a day, it can mean that rather than a sale concluding at a respectable hour of 6pm as scheduled, the last horses are still being put through closer to 7:30pm.

On Sunday at the Classic Sale, a deliberate strategy by Inglis to speed up the auction process yielded quite a remarkable impact.

While 270 horses were catalogued to sell, there were 238 that were actually offered.

Scheduled to conclude at 6pm, the auctioneers rattled through the day’s proceedings at a lightning tempo, banging the gavel for the last time at 4:38pm.

There was almost a stunned silence when things came to a halt 80 minutes early. Dinner plans were hurriedly being brought forward and the overwhelming view from buyers was that they were delighted with a quicker sale.

Hong Kong investment bolsters Classic opener

Hong Kong buyers dominated the top end of the first day of the Inglis Classic Sale in Sydney, with involvements in the top three lots on a day where the average dropped but the median stayed steady on 2023 levels.

The StraightBren O’Brien

“We have a very professional group of auctioneers, they are very conscious of steps they can take to improve the sale process all the time,” Inglis CEO – Bloodstock, Sebastian Hutch said.

“It was something that we’re very confident they could achieve and it was something they drove themselves. It’s worked out very well for the day.”

“I feel like the system is working to a high level, the group is working to a high level, and that helps generate a positive experience for buyers and hopefully optimum results for vendors.”

The speed of the sale didn’t have a discernible impact on the clearance rate on the first day, which at 82 per cent probably exceeded pre-sale expectations from vendors. While the sale average did drop, the format of the sale is different this year with just one book, as opposed to two.

Buyers who spoke to The Straight were overwhelmingly positive about the higher tempo. Vendors also praised the initiative, saying it contributed to a much better experience.

What a way to kick off Day 1 of #InglisClassic! Lot 1, King’s Legacy out of Vain Elaine offered by @Middlebrookstud, sells to @JTRacingRwik for $150k pic.twitter.com/L6CPWm2kOu

— Inglis (@inglis_sales) February 10, 2024

Hutch said it put the onus back on those making the bids to make sure they were ready to go.

“I don’t think it’s an unreasonable expectation at a bloodstock auction that if you want to buy a horse then you have to bid,” he said.

“We have a fantastic auditorium, loads of bid spotters, if you want to get a bid in, nobody is going to miss you.”

The faster tempo did lead to a couple of minor hiccups on the first day. One saw the same horse remain in the ring for two consecutive lots, but that was quickly remedied. They were small teething problems in a new faster-paced reality.

“We have a very professional group of auctioneers, they are very conscious of steps they can take to improve the sale process all the time” – Inglis CEO – Bloodstock, Sebastian Hutch

Having made a statement with a hectic first day, the challenge is now on Inglis to continue that tempo through the remainder of this sale and through their upcoming sales at Premier in Melbourne, Easter back in Sydney and the breeding stock sales later in the year.