 |
|
 |  |  |
Group 1 winning daughter of Adelaide, Funstar will join her half-sister Youngstar at Northern Farm after being purchased by leading Japanese owner Katsumi Yoshida for a record price of AU$2.7 million in the Inglis Digital July (Early) Online Auction.
“What was really interesting to say of the depth of the market is that we had eight individual bidders bidding over the A$ 1 million mark,” said Inglis’ Managing Director Mark Webster.
“As it was via the digital auction, everyone was bidding on their home or their office from around the world. Out of the eight bidders, four of them were international parties bidding from overseas that have never sighted the horse, which was interesting,” he said.
“And even some of the locals that were bidding at that level weren't able to see the horse because of the inter-state travel restrictions here in Australia. People had to have faith in the vetting that they would have received from the vets on the ground and our videos. Of course, the pedigree stood out by itself,” said Webster, “This shows how far digital has come now. At a media interview, the vendor said that there's no way the mare would have made more at a physical sale instead of a digital sale.
Funstar's managing owner Olly Koolman, discovered the filly at the 2018 Easter Yearling Sale where he purchased her for AUS$80,000 was overjoyed at the result.
“I'm absolutely stunned. It's hard to fathom just how much of an amazing result this is,'' Koolman said.
“She was a fabulous race filly and mare and we had a lot of fun with her but never in our wildest dreams did we expect she would sell for $2.7 million in any sale, let alone a digital sale.”
 |  |
“The vendors actually popped a bottle of champagne at the A$1.3 million mark but the bidding finally stopped at A$2.7 million, almost double that,” added Webster.
Her AUS$2.7 million price tag also makes Funstar the highest priced mare to be sold 'under the hammer at public auction in 2021.
“There is a lot of trust and confidence involved in a digital sale. The bidders are sure that they are bidding against genuine bidders and that the auction house they are bidding with is operating very ethically,” said Webster, “and we don't disclose all the other bidders where I'm happy to say that there eight biddings over the A$1 million mark and overall, there were more than a dozen altogether bidding right through.”
The results of the completely online Inglis Easter Yearling Sale (2020) showed the strength of the Australian breeding industry, and once again Inglis has broken another record with Funstar’s sale this month. However, the success of the digital platform has not been an overnight one. Mark Webster has been with Inglis for over fourteen years of which ten have been championing the cause of digital.
“It's something that we started more than ten years ago. So, it's not as if it's happened recently. I have certainly seen recently the prominence of that early investment. We had to start a long time ago, not only to get the technology right but also to get the culture right within the company. Today Inglis has a whole business approach to digital,” he said.
“It's interesting to watch the evolution of digital. In terms of digital since the first of January (2021) until we have seen an online trade of over A$45 million. At the same time, all our traditional sales have happened, and no other traditional sale has shrunk or suffered as a result. So it's all additional sales and we are really excited,” said Webster.
“We have been able to get the best of both worlds, and if there's been some shifting, it has shifted to us on to somebody else. And in fact, the strength of the market overall is the sum of the whole market, whether physical or digital,” enthused Webster.
During the same sale, Missed The Alarm made more than 10 times her reserve while stallion Native Soldier sold to Wermer Stud in Denmark.
Another mare to sell well was the Gr.2 placed Maximak, who became the third-highest lot sold on Inglis Digital and the most expensive race filly, with Dave Morrissey’s Cannon Hayes Stud securing the daughter of Smart Missile for $420,000.
The hot mare market was one of the deciding factors for Matt Laurie Racing to offer Maximak on Inglis Digital.
“We would’ve liked to have gone on with her and we were weighing up whether to spell her and race her on,” Laurie said.
“We made the decision to sell online because the whole process is just so easy, it attracts the big-time buyers, they all do their due diligence and horses like this sell themselves, he said, “the recent results demonstrate how well the platform is working and Maximak certainly made more than we thought she would.”
“It’s not only a significant milestone for Inglis Digital but for the bloodstock industry worldwide,” said Inglis Digital Manager Nick Melmeth, “To have Inglis Digital break a world record, to have Northern Farm pay $2.7 million for Funstar without even seeing her, just demonstrates the unbelievable confidence in our platform.”
“I am so thrilled that we were able to purchase a beautiful mare,” said Northern Farm owner, Katsumi Yoshida, “We have her (half) sister Youngstar and also have mares related to the grand-dam User Friendly. We are looking forward to seeing their progenies winning in Japan.”