Pins gelding tops Hong Kong International Sale

The Hong Kong Jockey Club offered 24 lots at its Hong Kong International Sale (HKIS) held at the Sha Tin Parade Ring on Saturday, 14 March, and all sold for an aggregate of HK$94.9 million.

The auction’s highest-priced purchase was Lot 5, a brown Pins gelding. Owner Alan Cheng Kin-sang went to HK$7 million to secure the New Zealand-bred.

“Overall we are very pleased with the results today,” said Mr William A. Nader, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Executive Director of Racing. “I think the buyers left satisfied with the depth of the catalogue and the choices they had.”

Mr Nader said that the return to one sale this season, the Club having dispensed with the December edition of the HKIS, appeared to have worked well.

“This year we went back to just having one sale and in having one sale we were able to offer 24 horses, which we believe is a good number for us. Last year we had 15 horses in one sale and 16 in the other, and having 24 in one sale gives the buyers a lot of options. We saw that in the great depth to the catalogue today; Owners and Members had really good horses to select from and that was clear in the prices, which were pretty steady throughout the sale.

“We hope these horses can now go on and produce good results for our Owners and add to the quality of racing in Hong Kong. That is what this sale is always intended to do. It is about bringing in good horses that have gone through a very thorough process in the selection, buying, pre-training and then gaining veterinary approval, before they are able to go through the ring.

“We have had some good horses this season perform as ISGs (International Sale Griffins), horses like Pleasure Gains, Domineer and Fabulous November; the hope is always that a certain percentage of horses coming out of this sale will be that type of horse.”

The average price paid for the 24 lots was HK$3,954,167, while the median was HK$3,900,000.

Source: HKJC