Prospective buyers from Victoria have been banned from attending upcoming horse sales in NSW by the state government and the state’s governing racing body.
The ban affects all those living in Victoria, including vendors, vendor staff, vets and bloodstock agents.
Inglis managing director Mark Webster said the company had to comply with a directive from the NSW state government and Racing NSW.
He said there was farms in Victoria that had been impacted by the decision brought on by the spike in COVID-19 cases that have closed some suburbs around Melbourne.
Webster said farms that had sent horses, Inglis had assisted them put together a NSW-based team to present the horses for sale.
The second round of the Easter Yearling Sale, combined with the Scone Yearling Sale, commences at Riverside on Sunday after inspections opened on Wednesday.
Webster said the initial Easter Sale was crowdless.
“Round one was virtual, round two is horses present, but without Victorian owners,” Webster told RSN927.
“It’s unfortunate we can’t have buyers from one state in the country attending the sale, but if we reflect back on Easter round one, we didn’t have anyone here.
“We will have over 300 people in the sales arena, whereas last time we had five or six Inglis people taking bids from people on-line or over the phone.
“Online bidding will be available for those that can’t attend.”
