Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions
In what was an uncertain market pre-Sale, Magic Millions backed the appetite of buyers to absorb an extra 200 lots, and an additional day of selling at the Gold Coast, and the results have shown it was exactly the right move, with the generation of an additional $20 million in sales, without a significant impact on the average, median or clearance rate.
Given the border restrictions prevented a percentage of the buyers' bench from travelling to participate in the Sale, resulting in a noticeable reduction in people on the complex, it was a phenomenally successful Sale which will give much confidence to the yearling market heading into the rest of the 2021 yearling sales season.
"There is a great thirst for horses out there. We had a quality line-up here at all ends of the market, we had people here to buy the horses. That's our mandate and is what we are here to do for our vendors. I'm pleased that overall, we have been able to succeed in that," Magic Millions Managing Director, Barry Bowditch, said.
"When you have pulled off what we have over the past 10 days, you’d like to think the market has faith in whatever Magic Millions is doing. This Sale has been a record breaker, $212 million gross has never, ever been seen before. We’ve exceeded last year's record gross by $23 million. It’s an incredible result."
"This Sale has been a record breaker, $212 million gross has never, ever been seen before." - Barry Bowditch
The 74-lot larger Book 1, held over an extra session with the Sale starting a day earlier, met buyers' desire to get involved in the market, with the average rising to $252,481, a $5000 increase on 2020, and a clearance rate and median on par year-on-year.
But the Book 2 results were also particularly pleasing to Bowditch. The average and median did drop, but with 97 additional horses sold that was to be expected. The clearance rate was particularly healthy at 83 per cent, compared to 79 per cent in 2020, pointing to the depth of the market.
"When you look at the fact that the clearance rate for Book 2 increased on last year, that's a fantastic result, an amazing result, really. So to be able to sell a lot more horses than what we did last year into a market where we had less foot traffic on the ground is an incredible result," Bowditch said.
Barry Bowditch
'Bigger' approach vindicated
While not suggesting the catalogue could grow even larger next year, Bowditch did see the results as an endorsement of the changes that Magic Millions had made to the format in 2021.
"You can always tinker with things and make them better, but I think the blueprint is there. We are in a position where the market has accepted we can sell the amount of Book 1 horses we do. We are also keen to continue to hold a good number of Book 2 horses," he said.
"It was a seriously good Sale. I want to thank the vendors for working with us. The logistics of this Sale were a bit more challenging than they have been in the past, but they worked with us and the results reflect that the buyers still got behind the Sale and it worked."
"I want to thank the vendors for working with us." - Barry Bowditch
He also praised buyers for finding ways around the evolving border situations to get to inspections and then facilitate their bidding.
"December was evident that everybody was out there working hard to look at horses and do as much heavy lifting as they could. The online bidding has been quite good. It’s been as busy as it has ever been for this Sale," he said.
"We’ve had agents working for a lot of people, I think the trainers are doing a lot of work, with the owners and syndicators that were unable to get here, the trainers have been able to get in and help them and ensure they can buy horses."
A relationship builder
One of the upsides of the trying circumstances in the build up to the Sale, is the strengthened relationships built between Magic Millions and the Queensland Government, according to Bowditch.
"We've always had a very important relationship with our government up here. We've worked closely with hem, building our carnival to what it has been in recent years," he said.
"The relationships we have had have been fostered during this time and we continue to communicate with these people and ensure we do things to the best of our ability, working within the confines and restrictions at any given time."
A Torryburn Stud yearling parade at Magic Millions | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
While the 'big show' on the Gold Coast has come to an end, the 2020 sales season has just begun for Bowditch and his team, with the challenges around movement of buyers and vendors continuing to present themselves as well as the usual logistics around conducting a yearling sale.
Bowditch said the past six months has taught his team many lessons which can hopefully prove useful through the upcoming sales in Western Australia, Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland.
"We've got a busy couple of months coming up. We've got Perth, Tassie, Adelaide and then back here for March, and they are all important Sales. They are sales we will be doing our best to ensure we can get as many of our buyers as possible to," he said.
"You can only deal with what is in front of you and what restrictions may be there, so we can succeed at these sales. We will be working hard with our vendors, and with our buyers to give them the best opportunities to view the horses. Hopefully, they can participate in these markets," he said.
"We just have to keep communicating and ensure we are across everything that is happening, whether it be to the health department, government, our vendors or our buyers. We just have to keep across everything and ensure we are making the best decisions to move with whatever is out in front of us. That's what we will do, and that's what we have done for both our sales over the past six or seven months."
