Yearling Sale Season 2025  Specific Sale Information
My own personal thoughts on each Yearling Sale (that I will be attending) in Aus/NZ and the value each sale can offer for clients:
Magic Millions Jan
2024 Book 1 Median $200,000
2024 Book 2 Median $39,500
With 1200 +/- yearlings now catalogued across two books it is simply a ‘must attend’ sale regardless of your budget.
With the two race days’ worth a total of $20 Million+ is it such a ‘destination’ event that everyone who attends wants to be involved at a deeper level, especially owners.
Yes, value in Book 1 can be hard to find, but my experience is that it can actually be easier to sell shares in the MM yearlings than any other sale on the calendar.
The mindset for many is “get in quick (pitching to your owners) before the $$ runs out”
(Which it can tend to do as the season rolls on).
NZB Karaka
2024 - The combined median price across Books 1 and 2 was $87,500.
My belief is the median for Book 1 is NZ$120,000 +/- while the median for Book 2 is NZ$35,000 +/-.
Obviously, the place to shop when looking for the 3yo Classic type horses.
Book 2 is easily one of the best value yearling sales of the year for ‘trainer’s horses, or trade type colts. The reason being a lot of Aussie trainers come over just for Book 1 and don’t have time to inspect the later horses.
Inglis Classic – Feb
2024 Median $70,000
Great buying sale. Again, it’s a must attend for all trainers regardless of your budget.
As they did last year there is no longer a book 1 and 2 meaning there is always a lot of variances in the prices paid from one lot to the next, hence you can find a really nice horse for a ‘value’ price.
Inglis Melbourne – Late Feb
2024 Book 1 Median $90,000
2024 Book 2 Median $30,000
The most parochial sale of the year – A good number of local vendors sell their entire crop here and the local buyers tend to want to buy from their home state sale.
VOBIS horses obviously in good demand. With M Millions sucking more (better quality) yearlings than before into their Jan sale, the quality can vary in Melbourne but on the flip side can that also mean good value to be had.
MM Adelaide - March
2024 Book 1 Median $40,000
Everyone’s favourite sale. I’ve bought some cracking horses from this sale for around sale average. My own experience tells me that overall, the better horses to graduate from here are more-often-than-not the locally bred yearlings. Not to say there are not nice horses from interstate but the ‘visitors’ tend to bring their B teams down.
MM QTIS - March
2024 Median $28,000
Essentially a Qld version of the Adelaide sale for QTIS bred horses.
Inglis Easter – April
2024 Book 1 Median $300,000
A read an article recently that asked one of Australia’s leading breeders where he bought his best broodmares from. – and his reply was “Easter”!
Obviously some fantastic pedigrees on offer and IMO still the blue-chip sale in Australia.
With that said, a lot of Vendors will tell you it is not the easiest place to sell a yearling and there is ALWAYS value to be had in that 150-200k range.
Inglis VOBIS Gold - April
2024 Median $14,000
The median price tells it all really.
A great sale to shop for a bargain, especially trade type colts.
Inglis HTBA – April
2024 Median $10,000
As above!
MM National Sale – June
2024 Median $20,000
Hands down the best value sale of the year. I love this sale!
In conjunction with Flying Start syndications we purchased Multiple Group winning mare Flying Mascot for $20,000.
Fantastic shopping for those willing to do the work and/or save some ammo specifically for this sale. Aside from the value on offer the thing to remember is that compared to the early sales in Jan/Feb someone else is essentially paying for their upkeep for 6 months.
You will also find a number of these yearlings have actually been broken in already.
More savings!
NZB Ready to Run Sale
For 2024, the exact figures are not supplied but the average for 2023 was $156,000 and all key indicators were up in 2024 so safe to assume the average was north of NZ$160,000
I realise RTR sales are not everyone’s cup of tea but I’m a huge fan
A common response is that “we’re still selling down last year’s yearlings”
I can’t argue with that because I know it’s tough out there for a lot of people.
IMO the advantage of buying 2yo’s is being able to assess their action and their temperament and attitude once they are in work.
I strongly believe these purchases need to be viewed as Spring 3yo’s because they do need a good amount of time after the exertions of a 2yo preparation.
However, if you’re crossing the ditch to buy yearlings as potential 3yo classic types then why would you not consider buying a 2yo and saving yourself a year’s expense, often for a better value price?
With the sale being in November, straight after the Spring Carnival the interest in racing from the public is probably at its highest, so if any $$ was set aside to buy a 2yo, then you are perhaps catering to a more receptive buying audience and probably facing less competition (in selling shares) than yearling season.
There are always big-ticket items at this sale paid by HK, but underneath the obvious big hitting horses by Deep Field, I Am invincible, etc. I think there is tremendous value to be had.
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 Why Choose Dave Mee to Buy Your Yearlings?
IMO the best attribute I offer clients is Value for Money
The value I offer a client can be explained on two fronts:
1. Buying Superior Horses at Below Average Prices:
Do the results on the racetrack reflect value for money given what you’ve paid for the horse? I’ll let the stats do the talking:
Results for the 2023-24 racing season for Dave Mee selected horses:
56 individual winners
97 race wins
(That is a win every 3.76 days)
Over $4 million in prize money earned
4 stakes horses – Scentify, King of Roseau, Saint Bathans, Overflow Miss.
Average purchase price (only) $72,000!
43 horses purchased at public auction
The 2024-25 season has also started nicely, and as at Dec 1 my stats are:
17 individual winners
21 race wins
Over $1.5 million in prize money earned
1 stake horse – being multiple stakes placed King of Roseau
$95k yearling (9:1-2-2 $301,530)
For those new horses that have stepped out we have some very exciting prospects including debut winners The Boom Box (HK), Alluring Laos (HK), impressive Melbourne winner Piplup; promising 3yo filly Sirkel.
 Value. What Does It Actually Mean? 2. Pound for pound (measured on agents $ yearling spend vs racetrack results I believe I’m one of the best bets in the marketplace.
WHY?
• My Record:
It speaks for itself – as above!
The average price of the 56 individual winners (97 wins) was $72,000, approximately half the price of what an average Australian yearling cost in 2023.
• My Dedication:
Ask around, I work as hard as anyone, both on the sales ground and off it, to find value.
• My Independence.
I am a genuinely independent agent with your interest as the client top of mind at all times.
• My Expertise:
I have genuine international expertise and perspective as an independent agent.
I’ve bought/sold horses throughout the world - Aus, NZ, HK, France, UK, USA and Argentina.
• My Client Focus:
Firstly, as any agent should, I take spending my client’s money seriously.
Secondly, I tailor my service to suit your buying needs, including different service/pricing options depending on your requirements.
• My Process:
Before I bid on a horse I will I’ll look at any prospect at least three times, while off the grounds I cross check my short-listed horses with pedigree consultants and form analysts (assessing close relations) to find an edge.
• My Commitment to Improvement and Learning:
Does the above guarantee every yearling I buy is a good horse? No Unfortunately.
Have I bought horses I wished I hadn’t? Yes.
Have I learned from the slow horses I’ve bought? Absolutely. That must be a priority.
• My Discipline and Experience:
I inspect between 7000- 8000 potential equine athletes a year (yearlings and weanlings)
Experience counts for a hell of a lot in this game.
• My Ambition:
I am driven by your future success.
Client success is my success, and my ambition is making them as successful as possible.
In summary, whether you have $500,000 or $50,000 to invest, using my services gives you superior value for money!
Jan is not far away. I am open for business!
Feel free to call one and all.
Regardless, I wish you all the very best of luck for 2025.
Regards
Dave Mee
Pinhook Bloodstock International (PBI)
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