By Bren O'Brien
The much-awaited return of live auctions in July will set the scene for one of the busiest months of thoroughbred sales in recent memory, with nine sales to take place in the space of 24 days.
Inglis has confirmed that the Great Southern Sale, which was to be initially staged in Melbourne, has been moved to Sydney after it consulted with vendors and buyers following a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Victoria. The Riverside complex at Warwick Farm will now host four sales in early July.
The live sales will kick off on Sunday, July 5, with the Inglis 2020 Australian Easter Yearling Sale - Round 2. It features a catalogue of 100 yearlings from the original Easter catalogue, with inspections to be held from Thursday, July 2.
Inspections will kick off on Thurday, July 2 at the Inglis Riverside complex
That sale will be immediately followed at Riverside by the 2020 Scone Yearling Sale, which features a catalogue of 156 yearlings.
On Wednesday, July 8, the Australian Weanling Sale, which has a catalogue of 331 foals, will be staged, while a day later, Inglis will conduct the Great Southern Sale, which has a catalogue of 276 lots at the same venue. The sales will combine for a two-day offering of some of the Southern Hemisphere’s finest weanlings.
The full schedule for the weanling sales will be confirmed in the coming days by Inglis, who will require all those who wish to attend for either inspections or the live sales themselves, to register as part of Inglis' COVID-safe approach to the sales series.
Inglis will require all those who wish to attend either the live sales or inspections to register as part of its COVID-safe approach to the sales series
The 2020 Melbourne Gold Yearling Sale is still scheduled to be held on July 16 at Oaklands Junction near Melbourne at this stage, but that is subject, like all sales, to public health advice.
Melbourne has emerged as a recent hotspot amid a second spike of COVID-19 infections, with recommendations imposed of limited travel in certain suburbs where cases have peaked.
| Australian Easter Yearling Sale - Round 2 | July, 05 | Inglis Riverside Stables, Warwick Farm |
| Scone Yearling Sale | July, 05 | Inglis Riverside Stables, Warwick Farm |
| Australian Weanling Sale | July, 08 | Inglis Riverside Stables, Warwick Farm |
| Great Southern Sale | July, 09 | Inglis Riverside Stables, Warwick Farm |
| Melbourne Gold Yearling Sale | July, 16 | Inglis Oaklands Complex, Melbourne |
| National Broodmare Sale | July 20-22 | Magic Millions, Gold Coast |
| National Weanling Sale | July, 23-24 | Magic Millions, Gold Coast |
| National Yearling Sale | July, 27-28 | Magic Millions, Gold Coast |
| National Racehorse Sale | July, 28 | Magic Millions, Gold Coast |
Table: Remaining 2020 live sale dates
Magic Millions will resume its live auctions for the first time since March with its National Series on the Gold Coast later in July.
The Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, which was initially scheduled in May, starts off on Monday, July 20, with 630 fillies and mares to be sold across three days.
That will be followed by the National Weanling Sale, which will run on Thursday, July 23 and Friday, July 24, and has an initial catalogue of 309 foals which will be sold through the ring.
The Magic Millions National Yearling Sale will take centre stage on Monday, July 27 and Tuesday, July 28, featuring a 447-lot catalogue before the National Racehorse Sale concludes proceeding on the Gold Coast on Tuesday, July 28.
