Test run for digital Easter yearling sale

Thoroughbred auctioneers William Inglis & Son will conduct a test run of its online facilities ahead of the Australian Easter Yearling sale which has been forced off-site because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Inglis has been running smaller online auctions for some time but the Easter Sale is traditionally the most valuable in Australia.

The sale has lost its biggest vendor, Arrowfield Stud, which will sell its draft of 60-plus yearlings by private treaty.

Under normal circumstances, the Riverside complex adjacent to Warwick Farm racecourse would be a hive of activity with high-end vendors and international buyers.

The trial of the system will be on Friday from 10am to 3pm and will operate along the lines of the smaller online auctions already in place.

Bids can be registered from 10am on Sunday with the actual selling to run over Tuesday and Wednesday.

“While we have over 4000 registered users built up from our highly-successful twice-monthly Inglis Digital Online Auctions, there will obviously be new clients using the online portal for the first time for what is our first ever Easter Yearling Sale online,” Inglis managing director Mark Webster said.

“This test auction on Friday will give them and everybody a chance to trial the software, get a feel for how the online auction platform works and make themselves comfortable so when the Easter Sale goes live at 10am Sunday morning, everybody will know how the process works and how simple it is.”

In order to bid, each participant must be officially registered through Inglis and all existing digital accounts are eligible.

Every new buyer who registers will have the services of Inglis staff qualified to give telephone assistance if they encounter technical or other difficulties.

Standard credit approval requirements will apply as with any Inglis physical or online sale.