An athletic Starcraft gelding was the standout at this year’s Hong Kong International Sale at Sha Tin Racecourse, the hammer dropping at HK$8.5 million, as the 24 offered lots reaped an aggregate of HK$100.5 million, a 5.9% increase on last year’s HK$94.9 million return.
Spotlights beamed down on the sale floor as owner Liu Yu Wen secured the winning bid for tonight’s (18 March) auction topper, catalogued as Lot 17, the price coming in just half a million dollars shy of the HK$9 million sale record set in March 2012. The Australian-bred three-year-old is out of the speedy Anabaa mare Top Cuban.
A total of seven lots sold for more than HK$5 million, among them Lot 19, a Manhattan Rain half-brother to Wandjina and Inspiration, knocked down for HK$7 million. The sale average was HK$4.187 million.
Mr Anthony Kelly, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Executive Director of Racing Business and Operations said: “We’ve broken the HK$100 million mark, which is almost six percent up on last year, so we’re very pleased with that.”
This year saw the sale shift to a Friday night slot, having been staged on a Saturday morning in recent years. A cocktail reception beforehand created an ambience within Sha Tin’s covered Parade Ring that added a new dimension to the occasion.
“In terms of the event tonight, this represents everything that the Hong Kong Jockey Club aspires to for its owners. We want to give them an elegant experience and create an occasion that enhances their enjoyment of racehorse ownership,” said Mr. Kelly.
“Ownership is a journey and this event tonight is the start of that journey. People have dreams, and the reason the Starcraft gelding sold for as much as it did tonight is because people want to follow that dream; the dream that their horse might be the next Able Friend, that’s what drives this sport, it drives the ownership experience. That is why this event was such a success tonight and it is something we will try to replicate next year.”
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2016 Hong Kong International Sale is held at the parade ring of Sha Tin racecourse tonight, with a total of 24 unraced horses sold.
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Lot 17 (Starcraft ex Top Cuban), purchased by Liu Yu Wen, fetches HK$8.5 million, which is the highest price at tonight��s Hong Kong International Sale.
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