Hong Kong International Sale needs ‘holistic review of every element'
Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said he would order a 'holistic review of every element' of the Hong Kong International Sale (HKIS) after a string of disappointing results at Friday night's auction at Sha Tin.
After six of the catalogue's 21 horses were withdrawn before the sale on veterinary advice, the average purchase price dropped 9 per cent year on year, and only five of the 15 lots to go through the ring fetched more than their presale cost, resulting in a loss of HK$8.82 million just on the gallopers sold.
The total presale cost of the six late withdrawals came to HK$24 million, although the Jockey Club was expected to look to recoup some of its losses by selling some of the withdrawn lots by private tender.
Those numbers came a year after the average purchase price dropped more than 30 per cent.
'It's simple – disappointing,' Engelbrecht-Bresges said when asked for his thoughts on a sale that has long been maligned for its lack of overall quality.
'I'm especially disappointed about the number of horses who had to be withdrawn. This is a number which, in my view, needs a complete review,' he added, confirming as many as 11 further horses were bought by the Jockey Club that did not even make it into the catalogue, meaning fewer than half the total purchases were sold on Friday.
'When you look statistically, you would have to expect that 25 per cent, maybe 30 per cent, will not make it. But we are way beyond that, so you have to factor in the whole chain – is it from the buying, do we always buy the right pedigrees, what is the preparation?'
Engelbrecht-Bresges put a decline in interest from buyers down to a change in market conditions in Hong Kong.
He pointed to the club's continued efforts to entice owners to buy Private Purchases (previously raced horses) by offering a bonus scheme which sees gallopers scoop as much as HK$3 million by winning at certain levels before they turn five.
'With the PP bonuses, some people say 'I would have bought at the auction before but I pay now maybe even HK$1 million more, I buy a PP and I get another HK$1.5 million',' he said.
'There was not enough depth because a lot of times there was not a really strong underbidder. So that is a demand issue besides a supply issue.
'We normally have a lot of mainland buyers. This year we had only one, so we have to look at everything.
'The market has changed and when the market changes, you have to see if what you do is still the right thing to do and you have to think how you put a value proposition there.
'So, it's one thing when you get the withdrawal of horses, which definitely makes it not very sustainable, but the other one is to step back and say how the market has changed. You need to make an analysis and see what you do.'
The HKIS exists to offer Jockey Club members an alternative way to buy bloodstock, with gallopers sourced from 'many of the world's premier yearling sales and pre-trained in Australia and Great Britain before coming to Hong Kong'.
The world's highest-earning racehorse, Romantic Warrior, is the sale's flag-bearer, although his owner, Peter Lau Pak-fai, was a notable absentee from the list of purchasers after being active at multiple recent sales.
Telling was the fact one of this year's most prominent buyers was the Jockey Club itself, who snaffled two lots through its The Racing Club membership arm for HK$6 million.
Group Three winner Patch Of Theta and Hong Kong Derby hopeful Markwin are other gallopers to come out of the HKIS in recent years.
'If you look at the overall picture, the sale is a tiny part of our business and what you want to achieve is a good service for owners and an experience for new owners – so that they're familiar with how we select horses with pedigree, so there is a certain educational part of this, too,' Engelbrecht-Bresges said. 'I still believe there are some really good horses in the sale.'
An I Am Invincible gelding led the way on Friday night, fetching a bid of HK$5 million.
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