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The Jockey Club suffered a significant setback as the average purchase price plummeted by over 30% compared to last year's figures. Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the CEO of the Jockey Club, expressed no surprise at the outcome of Friday night's Hong Kong International Sale (HKIS) held at Sha Tin, where only three lots were sold for more than their initial value. This year, the sale, typically held in June or July, was moved back to March for the first time since 2019. The total expenditure for the evening amounted to HK$46.3 million, a steep drop of HK$25 million from the previous year.
In the previous auction, 10 out of 15 lots fetched prices exceeding HK$4 million, with an average sale price of HK$4.77 million. However, this time, only two horses were sold for more than HK$3.8 million, causing the average price to plummet to HK$3.3 million. Furthermore, six out of the 20 lots slated for auction were withdrawn, including four within 48 hours before the event.
"To be honest, I expected it," Engelbrecht-Bresges said. "We took a gamble that we wanted to have the sale earlier, in March, so there were the new permits missing. The other thing is the performance of the sales horses the past two years was not up to standard. Then there's the economic situation and we also lost some good horses who would have made money."
The Jockey Club incurred a loss of HK$15 million solely from the horses that were auctioned, as the presale value of the 14 lots totaled over HK$61 million. To offset some of these losses, the club plans to sell some of the withdrawn lots through private tender.
While the primary purpose of the Jockey Club's auctions is to provide its members with an alternative means to acquire bloodstock, profitability isn't the main objective. However, the club aims to at least break even rather than facing substantial financial losses.
"We have a lot of confidence in the horses that we have offered," said HKIS executive manager Danny Rolston.
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"What we're probably seeing is that when we bought these horses two years ago, we were operating in a very intense yearling market, so we've bought these horses at the very top of the market.
"We're seeing a softening in horse sales around the world, which we've seen [on Friday night]. We've also seen a softening in our wagering turnover and also in the local stock market.
"I think the story of the night is that the sale has seen a bit of a drop in average, but with that comes an opportunity that we were able to give forward to our permit holders with some really nice horses."
A horse by Starspangledbanner stood out as the highest-selling item, with Cheung Kwok-wing paying HK$5.4 million for the horse.
Another lot, number 11, was a Zoustar horse that the Jockey Club purchased for HK$5.1 million at the 2022 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.
Despite a presale value of HK$7.25 million, it only fetched HK$3.2 million at the auction.
Ryan Moore is gearing up for the Gr.1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan on Dubai World Cup night. He will ride Sight Success, trained by John Size, whom he partnered with in the same race a year ago. Sight Success finished close behind the winner, Danyah, in that race.
Although Sight Success had a strong performance in last year's Al Quoz Sprint, coming in third in the Gr.1 Centenary Sprint Cup, his recent form has been less impressive, finishing 12th out of 13 horses in a race at Sha Tin.
In addition to Sight Success, another Hong Kong horse, California Spangle, will compete in the Al Quoz Sprint with Brenton Avdulla as the jockey. Voyage Bubble and Straight Arron will represent Hong Kong in the Gr.1 Dubai Turf, with Mickael Barzalona and potentially Avdulla as their jockeys.
Before heading to Dubai, Moore and Size will aim for success in the BMW Hong Kong Derby with Ensued, who finished third in the Classic Cup. It was revealed that Helios Express, Size's top seed, had missed two days of training due to an infection, but he is expected to recover soon.