It was January 2004 - the US and European auction houses had just come off the back of record breaking sales, leaving the Australian vendors bristling with New Year enthusiasm. It was the year of Danehill's final offering of Australian conceived progeny; and the last progeny - globally - of the mighty Sunday Silence.

SARS had faded to a distant memory. January may have provided the hint of another potential pandemic - this time with avian flu - but thankfully that came to nothing more than media hype and there was to be no consequent fall-out from the Hong Kong buying bench at Easter. Elsewhere in Asia the Koreans arrived with a flourish at the Classic sale. A couple of high profile bloodstock agents were also spotted in China a few times during the early part of the year giving rise to rumours that the China market may not be as dormant as many would have us believe.

'Globalisation' continued to make its presence felt. At the Magic Millions January sale alone at least 30 sires that had quality yearlings on offer in Kentucky or England, Ireland or France late in 2003 also had yearlings on offer a good number of kilometers south of the equator as well.

The equine flu appeared in South Africa. The Australian currency suddenly flourished against the USD and those pegged to it such as the HKD and the UAE dirham. As catalogue size increased for various sales the usual gripe appeared that there were simply too many yearlings for sale. There was also the not so comforting report that getting a yearling from conception to sale (ignoring the initial service fee) would leave vendors with little change from AUD$15,000.

Auction houses

In the Premier League Sales, Inglis, Magic Millions and Karaka went head to head in their, oft times, sophisticated marketing wars. Long gone were the days when these companies didn't employ marketing teams and spend countless dollars promoting their sales. Pick up any thoroughbred related magazine published in December 2003/January 2004 and the weight of promotional material made the remaining content a bit light in comparison.

BRANDING

Each auction house faced the challenge of differentiating their sale to maximise buyer interest. Some sales - such as Inglis' Easter (and increasingly January's MM sale) - stand out on brand; others such as the Melbourne Premier and NZ Premier still struggle to really stamp themselves as different.

Classic: Classic is renowned as a "type" yearling sale; despite that there were a number of pedigrees on offer as well. There were 46 withdrawals. 6 vendors had yearling photos available on Inglis site. Of 504 catalogued, 390 were sold (clearance 85.7%); average 34,646 (up 16.7%) and total turnover AUD$13.51 million.

Premier: There was still no clear 'differentiator' for the Melbourne Premier sale in 2004. Inglis have successfully improved the sale over past years and the pedigrees in this year's catalogue reflected that. However the marketing department still weren't able to really 'label it' as was shown in the summary on the Inglis site early this year: "The positive atmosphere generated by the runaway success of the Melbourne Spring Carnival has provided the perfect prelude to the 2004 Premier Yearling Sale. This showcase event will feature 510 of the finest young thoroughbreds in the State, setting a new standard in excellence for bloodstock sales in Victoria." And the difference there (apart from the fact that it is held in Victoria) would be what exactly?. There were 25 withdrawals. 3 studs had photos available on Inglis site. 375 sold from a catalogue of 510 (clearance rate of 79.3%); average of AUD$48,712 (up 18.6%) and total turnover AUD$18.27 million.

Easter: "Depth of quality is what sets the Australian Easter Yearling Sale apart from its major rivals" said the website and they were spot-on for Inglis' blue ribbon event. 129 youngsters from stakes-winning mares as well as siblings to some 200 stakes-winners of which 50 have been successful in Group One competition were on offer. Inglis have been very committed to promoting this sale internationally and the results speak for themselves and seemed to take even Reg Inglis by surprise. Of 497 yearlings catalogued, 370 were sold for a clearance rate of 81.5%; an average of AUD$204,736 (+41.1%) and a turnover of AUD$75.75 million (increase of 37.3%). Even before Inglis smashed every conceivable record at their Easter sale the 'Sale of all Sales' was already making headlines courtesy of the number of yearlings on offer that had been conceived in the Northen Hemisphere. They included progeny of:

• Sunday Silence: colts from Bright Finish, Lurestina & Sonoray.
• Green Desert: a colt from Cloudy Skies.
• In The Wings: a filly from Tambara.
• Mark Of Esteem: a colt from Mythical Play.
• Rahy: a filly from Nimphidia.
• Saint Ballado: a colt from Backcountry & fillies from Nuryeva & Splashing.
• War Chant: colts from Memories & Volavola.


Magic Millions Premier: It's hard to believe that Magic Millions have grown so much in the past 4 years. Despite the company's relative youth (just 20 years) their promotion of their 2004 Major sales series (Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth) was a text book study for anyone wanting to understand how the marketing mix (the combination of marketing tactics an organization uses to communicate with its target market: advertising, public relations, trade shows and events, etc. Product, price, and place are also key components of the marketing mix) should work in practice. Their well-marketed 'Brisbane Carnival' (races plus social) is as much a part of the Magic Millions as the sale of horses these days. (Note that the 2005 Adelaide format is set to follow the Brisbane precedent). The January sale horses are starting to brand themselves as 'type-typical' - well conformed, well grown yearlings and the pedigrees are starting to rival Inglis' in many instances. Most importantly, the horses from this sale seem to perform exceptionally well at stakes level. Apart from the video feed of the Sale (which the company got right later in the year - but didn't have right in Jan 04) Magic Millions produced a whole host of innovative marketing tactics including extensive international promotion, a very focused press release service, online video footage of more than 100 yearlings, an online fully searchable catalogue, a range of social events to complement the Magic Millions Race Day, and a half hour documentary of the 'record Breaking' 2004 Conrad Jupiters Magic Millions Sales & Racing Carnival which aired nationally on Channel Seven on Sunday 18th January 2004. Of 710 catalogued for January 2004, 564 sold (clearance rate of 85.5%); for an average of AUD$110,063 (up 19.7%) and total turnover of AUD$62.08 million. Of note - in 2004 MM went for record sized catalogues - something that prompted its share of debate.

NZ Premier: The 'brand' for the NZ sale is a difficult one to categorise (which most marketers would be troubled by) as in many ways it competes alongside the Australian sales and so is considered in the same basket (rather than being considered on a 'per country' basis). NZ marketing therefore tends to focus on enjoying the 'lifestyle'/'environment' as much as the sale, and significant inroads have been made in marketing the sale in Asia, providing vendor incentives and also taking groups of potential clients on a tour of the studs prior to the sale to generate increased interest. 515 lots were catalogued for the Premier sale with 400 sold (83.3% clearance), and an average of AUD$97,466 and turnover of AUD$38.99 million. A unique marketing differentiator offered at Karaka in 2004 should not go unmentioned however. Jane Smiley (Horse Heaven) once wrote: "Thirty-two thousand foals mean thirty-two thousand stories, because a Thoroughbred never goes unnoticed or undiscussed. And most of the stories are the stuff of drama". In a similar vein, New Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing also chose to tell the story of 51 lots at its Premier 2004 sale. Vendors, pedigrees and final sale results were covered from the Pencarrow offered lot 509 b.c.Danehill-Grand Echezeaux (Karaka's top lot) that sold to David Ellis for $1.1 million, to the million dollar Danehill/ Push a Venture colt (from the family of Riverman and closely related to Danehill's champion son Rock of Gibraltar who had been the darling of the media in the lead-up to the sale) right through to a couple of lots who grazed in at $27,000 - nowhere near covering their production/preparation costs ... each story added a very personal element to the NZ Majors and all were worth following.