Early Bidding Strong for Online Sale
22 May 2020
-By Michael Guerin
The early numbers are very encouraging for New Zealand’s largest ever online standardbred sale.
has met his reserve.
And NZB Standardbred representative Cam Bray says that it is not just from the early bids on the All Age Sale that is online now at gavelhouse.com.
The Sale which would usually be held at Karaka migrated online due to the COVID-19 restrictions and early bidding has been very strong.
“Really, really promising,” says Bray.
“Obviously it is a week-long sale so bidding runs until next Wednesday, which is when things start to get serious.
“But we already have horses with bids of $27,000, $17,500 $12,000 and quite a few in that $5,000 range.
“That is a great start considering we have so long to go.”
The Sale is predominantly of weanlings and the top bid today (Friday) stands at $27,000 for Lot 35, a Downbytheseaside weanling filly out of Revere Me, an unraced sister to Have Faith In Me and Adore Me, therefore a rare chance to buy a filly from perhaps Australasian harness racing’s hottest family of the last decade.
Lot 75 from the Alabar draft is the brother to Alta Maestro sitting at $17,500 and certain to fetch far closer to six figures by Wednesday’s bidding cut off.
Bray says while the strength of early bids is more than encouraging he is just as excited by the new registrations to the gavelhouse.com standardbred site.
“We had 131 new registrations in the week to last Monday and about two thirds of those were from Australia,” says Bray.
“That puts us well over 1000 registered potential buyers and of course they might come back for other sales. So this sale is already strong but with real benefits for future sellers on the site.”
Bray said there had been strong interest from potential pinhookers looking to buy stock at a time of uncertainty and re-offer them at the yearling sales next February.
“I think there has actually been more pinhooking interest on gavelhouse.com than there would have been had it been under the usual sales format.”
View the catalogue on gavelhouse.com here.
The first Lot closes at 1PM (NZT) on Wednesday 27 May with all weanlings purchased eligible for the Harness Million Series.