The second and final day of the Spring HIT Sale saw the completion of the 2016 Spring Sale at Doncaster and, like Tuesday’s Store Sale, all the Spring figures have shown significant increases on 2015. The clearance rate also finished at a strong 87%.
Although yesterday’s session did not boast the high prices achieved on Wednesday with the Million In Mind draft and select Point-to-Pointers, trade was solid throughout the day, once again driven by the huge crowd of buyers from every sector of the NH world. Strong demand saw the HIT Sale’s final average increase 16% on 2015 to £19,012, the median grow to £10,000, up 18% while the turnover grew 25% to £4,734,000 with 17 fewer horses catalogued.
Topping yesterday’s trade was Barbury Castle Stables’ Grade 2 winning chaser Ned Stark (Lot 516) who sold to Oliver Murphy and Gordon Elliott for £70,000. Godolphin offered a large consignment at the sale this year and their triple Bumper winner Waterlord (Lot 472) achieved the second highest price of the day when selling to Donald McCain for £58,000. The sale saw a further four horses meet the £50,000 mark with Nicky Henderson’s Days of Heaven (Lot 448) selling to Highflyer Bloodstock, Robert Tyner’s Vicangelome (Lot 511) going to the bid of Kevin Ross and Ben Case, Paul Nicholls’ Solar Impulse (Lot 531) selling to Chris Kellett and Godolphin’s Keep In Line (Lot 558) going to Kevin Ross.
Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby commented on the three-day Spring Sale:
“The Doncaster Spring Sale has proved to be the ultimate NH sale for many, many years as it uniquely combines top class NH stores with classy horses with form.
“However it is fair to say that it appeared to have lost some of its allure in recent years as the market evolved and, frankly, perhaps we were a little slow to react. But that is very much in the past now as the last three days have returned a proper trade for each category as we have found a format that plays to each sector’s strengths and gives the time and space for vendors and purchasers alike to focus on the very distinct sections of the sale without losing the enduring appeal of Doncaster in May.
“The store trade made significant advances on day 1 enjoying a vibrant trade from start to finish that saw all the key statistics advance with the average growing by 20%, the median jumping 33%, joint top lots of £105,000 and a mighty clearance rate of 82%.
“The second short day was designed to give maximum time for buyers to concentrate on both the Million In Mind Dispersal and the recent form of a really strong bunch of Point-To-Pointers. As ever Million In Mind proved a genuine highlight and we are indebted to Anthony Bromley and David Minton for trusting us with their sale every May. It is a source of some considerable pride that we have handled every Million In Mind Dispersal since the start and we were so pleased to deliver another set of stunning results led by the sale toppers at £290,000 and £260,000; once again JP McManus has made a real difference and we are no less grateful to him and every other bidder.
“At the same time the Point-to-Pointers were an equal highlight and we extend our heartfelt thanks to every vendor for giving us the chance to re-establish Doncaster in May as a leading sale for the category. Rarely has a sale ring been as full as Wednesday as the NH fraternity flocked to Doncaster for real quality at every level.
“Yesterday’s sale has continued the vibrant theme with a really strong day featuring the annual dispersals from so many leading NH stables. They too have been rewarded with a diverse buying bench leading to strong results to vindicate their choice of sale venue.
As ever we would like to thank every vendor and every purchaser. We can do nothing without the horses and it has been a pleasure to welcome so many purchasers old and new to Doncaster over the three days.”
Stores 2016
Offered: 222
Sold: 183 (82%)
Turnover: £4,280,500 (+11%)
Average: £23,391 (+20%)
Median: £20,000 (+33%)
Horses-in-Training & Point-to-Pointers 2016
Offered: 286
Sold: 249 (87%)
Turnover: £4,734,000 (+25%)
Average: £19,012 (+16%)
Median: £10,000 (+18%)
Whole Sale 2016
Offered: 508
Sold: 432 (85%)
Turnover: £9,014,500 (+18%)
Average: £20,866 (+17%)
Median: £14,000 (+17%)
View the Spring HIT Sale results »