News

Inglis Acquire Bloodstock.com.au

5th Feb 2011

Inglis Managing Director Mark Webster today announced the acquisition of Bloodstock.com.au, Australia’s leading online thoroughbred classifieds website.

Since its launch in 2009 Bloodstock.com.au has attracted over 8,000 listings from agents, trainers, breeders and owners looking to trade horses in between auctions. The website currently has more than 2,000 listings, including large numbers of broodmares, tried racehorses, weanlings, stallion shares and nominations for sale. The website also contains hundreds of interactive stallion profiles, allowing studs to promote their stallions to a wide audience with up to date and relevant information. With more than 60,000 visits to the website each month Bloodstock.com.au is popular with buyers from all over the world.

In making this announcement, Webster commented that “Bloodstock.com.au is an excellent online horse trading website that will compliment our existing auction business extremely well. We recognise that people want to be able to trade horses outside of the traditional auction cycle and bloodstock.com.au allows this to happen. A good example is the recent sale of a 5% share in one of the world’s most exciting young sires, Starspangledbanner, via the website.”

When asked about Inglis’ plans for the website Webster added “Our focus is on continuing to innovate to meet our clients’ needs and we think bloodstock.com.au will be an extremely important part of the overall Inglis offering. In the coming months we will launch a number of new services that will make the process of marketing and selling thoroughbreds whether it be via auction or private sale, even easier and more compelling for our clients.”

On the increasing importance of technology to the industry Webster commented “Solutions based on the internet and new mobile platforms are going to become more and more important to our clients. This shift is something we have already embraced wholeheartedly. We were the first auction house outside of the USA to introduce live internet bidding during auctions and we were the first auction house in the world to develop an online repository, an online make-an-offer service and provide e-commerce solutions. The acquisition of bloodstock.com.au is just another example of our willingness to be innovative and adopt technology based solutions to ensure that we offer our client’s a level of service that is second to none.”

Bloodstock.com.au is not only a destination for thoroughbred traders, but also offers industry participants the opportunity to promote racing and breeding career opportunities and to advertise equine properties for sale. The site is also a wonderful source of industry news, with stories updated on a continual basis to keep visitors informed.

All Bloodstock.com.au employees are being retained and will relocate to Newmarket. The business will maintain its own brand and identity, but will benefit from being part of the Inglis group of companies. Existing clients will be contacted in the coming days.

The acquisition of Bloodstock.com.au follows hot on the heels of Inglis’ launch last year of Horsezone.com.au, a website for the professional and recreational equestrian market. With Inglis.com.au setting the standard for auction houses, the addition of these two new internet based companies will ensure the Inglis group is best placed to service all horse enthusiasts and investors, whether the focus is finding a future champion for the race track or the show ring.

For further information, contact Mark Webster on 02 93997999 or 0419610809.