News

Record average as Easter defies global uncertainty

30th Mar 2026

A Too Darn Hot colt topped Day 2 of an Easter Yearling Sale that ended with a record average and a staggering 26 $1m+ lots, despite ongoing global uncertainty.

Sir Andrew and Lady Madeleine Lloyd Webber’s Watership Down teamed up with Johnny McKeever and Waterhouse/Bott Racing to secure the day’s leading lot for $2.2m from the Widden draft.

On a significant two days at Riverside:

*A total of 26 horses sold for $1m or more – up from 25 last year - to 18 different entities, by 10 different stallions and for 12 different vendors

*The sale’s average sits at $464,108, a record for the Easter Sale

*Arrowfield ended as leading vendor by gross, while Newgate was leading vendor by average at a staggering $867,778 from 18 sold

*Andrew Williams Bloodstock was leading buyer, spending $9,860,000 either outright or with partners while Dean Hawthorne bought the most lots, signing for 16 purchases outright or with partners

*The depth of the buying bench was again incredible with purchasers coming from China, France, USA, UK, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and all around Australia

*Snitzel was the sale’s largest-grossing stallion with 32 of his progeny selling for a total of $19,205,000 while Extreme Choice was the best by average, with nine of his 10 progeny offered selling at an average of $1,561,111 and incredibly seven for $1m+

Today’s top lot was the Too Darn Hot colt (pictured) from Widden, one of seven $1m+ lots for the famed Hunter Valley nursery at the sale.

“It’s a lot of money, it’s fantastic, that was a wonderful result and to see the joy and delight for the Watership Down, Johnny McKeever and Gai and Adrian partnership to win that titanic bidding battle was really cool,’’ Widden’s Antony Thompson said.

“It’s been an incredible week, an amazing two days of selling.

“We came here with what we thought was an incredible draft…we had some anxiousness with where the market might be at but it’s just been a stunning set of results right across the board. We’re so proud.’’

Watership Down’s Simon Marsh was “absolutely delighted’’ to have secured the highly-touted colt.

“To be honest with you, from the first time I saw him I said to Johhny ‘we’re going to have to have this horse’, he was just so exceptional,’’ Marsh said.

“It’s been a wonderful week and Inglis do a fantastic job. They look after everybody really well so we can’t thank Inglis enough for everything they do for everybody, especially those of us coming from overseas.’’

McKeever added: “I just didn’t want to lose him because my whole week centred around him but having said that, I knew it was asking a lot of Simon. He was simply the best yearling on the grounds I thought.’’

Today’s second-top lot honours were shared between a pair of $2m colts.

The first was Newgate Farm’s Extreme Choice x Giza Goddess colt which sold to Yulong and trainer Matt Laurie.

The colt’s breeder Steve O’Connor – who was gifted the mare as a wedding present by his employer Go Bloodstock owner Sir Own Glenn – was stunned by the result.

“It’s nerve-racking but we thought this was the best place to advertise this colt and it couldn’t have worked out any better,’’ O’Connor said.

“She’s such a beautiful mare that we wanted to breed her to the best to give her the best opportunity and Extreme Choice is the top stallion and he just kept getting better and better and the stars aligned for this sale. It’s great to come to Easter and get rewarded like this.’’

Yulong’s Jun Zhang said: “He’s the one we definitely had to buy. He ticked all the boxes, he moves well and has a very strong body and we believe he could be a very good racehorse in the future. Also we wanted to buy Extreme Choices, he’s a very successful stallion.’’

The other $2m colt late in the day was the brother to G1-winning Easter superstar Switzerland (Snitzel x Ms Bad Behavior) which Arrowfield sold to James Harron Bloodstock Colt Partnership, Tony Fung Colts and Coolmore.

Harron was delighted on the purchase and how the Easter Sale played out overall.

“Pedigree aside, we just thought he was an awesome horse and we’re delighted to get a horse of that calibre,’’ Harron said.

“It’s been a super strong sale. It’s very good to see the quality in the market, there’s been great depth to the buying bench and such beautiful animals being presented, I think everyone should be walking away tonight feeling very buoyant about the industry.

“If you brought a really nice, well-bred horse here – which is what [Inglis] is trying to achieve with the Best of the Best – you got very well rewarded.’’

Arrowfield’s Jon Freyer added: “He was quite a special colt, we loved him and I think this colt was as good as [Ms Bad Behavior] has ever had. He was a horse everybody admired.

“He was late in the sale but it didn’t make any difference, everybody stayed here for him and he made a great price.’’

Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch was pleased with the sale’s overall numbers.

“I am very proud of the efforts of the while Inglis team, in not only assembling and promoting a great catalogue, but also executing the sale with incredible professionalism and dedication,” Hutch said.

“Our objective with each sale is to try and achieve the best possible results for each horse offered by each vendor and in the case of this sale, there is an unparalleled level of pressure given the profile of the stock, so I think the team has done an admirable job under the circumstances.

“The records might not reflect it, but I will always remember the extraordinary effort of our group to conduct an Easter Yearling Sale to the standard that they have against the back drop of a major international conflict and the ensuing economic crisis.

“There are a lot of positives to take from the sale, including the entry to the Australian market for the first time of major international investors like ‘The Flying Dutchmen’ and Sumbe, as well as the demand for quality stock that met the criteria of buyers.

“The Day 1 clearance is now up to 82% and there are a number of other sales in the process of being finalised, while we will continue to work with vendors and buyers over the coming days to generate further sales and bring the clearance rate up further.

“We are hugely grateful to the vendors and breeders for their support of the sale with a group of fantastic yearlings, and to the buyers for their patronage of the sale, I have no doubt that this sale will be particularly significant as a source of top-class racehorses of the future and look forward to following their exploits on the racecourse.”

To enquire on any passed in lot from the Easter Sale, please contact Will Gardner on 0480 515 694.

Buyers’ attention now switches to Inglis Digital, with the April (Early) Sale now open for entries.

The sale will run from April 10-15, with entries closing at midnight on Wednesday April 8.

To enter CLICK HERE.

2026 EASTER YEARLING SALE STATISTICS (2025 in brackets)

Offered: 415 (387)

Sold: 314 (332)

Clearance: 76% (86%)

Average: $464,108 ($451,913)

Median: $350,000 ($360,000)

Gross: $145,730,000 ($150,035,000)