Breeding & Racing Magazine

Inglis Easter Broodmares Day-1: Average Down 35%

Overall on Day-1 at the Inglis Broodmare Sale, 147 lots sold for $7,905,500 at an average $53,779 & a median $22,000. Yesterday's average was down 35% on the overall 2008 sale average of $85,000 (ex the Swettenham Stud dispersal). Yesterday's clearance rate was 76% & Inglis managing director Mark Webster said that in the current climate, those results were outstanding & noted: "When compared with the major broodmare sales in the northern hemisphere last year, which all came in around the 63% to 67% mark, to achieve 76% clearance during the opening session is a fantastic result. And as we saw last week with the opening session of the yearling sale which began quite slowly, that figure is only likely to rise as the week goes on, with vendors & buyers getting a better feel for the market & more passed-in horses are sold privately." The Race Fillies & Mares section achieved an outstanding clearance rate of 90% at an average of $70,000 & Webster added: "Today's results should give owners confidence that they can put quality horses on the market knowing the demand is still there for those types of horses." Webster summed up: "It's difficult to compare Broodmare sales from year to year, especially owing to the fact we had the Swettenham Stud Dispersal at this sale last year, but a gross of almost $8 million and average of $54,000 with that clearance rate is about as good as we could expect right now & is on par with results achieved in 2006."