By Andrew Adermann
The records tumbled at Albion Park over the weekend at the Australian Pacing Gold’s first sale of the New Year.
The 2020 edition saw nearly $820,000 in turnover, up more than $300,000 from last year’s sales.
The average sale came in at $29,250, almost $11,000 more than last season’s average, which included five lots sold at more than $50,000.
“It’s a sensational day and a record-breaking day for Queensland,” APG Marketing and Operations Manager Dean Baring said.
“We’ve set two records and never before have we seen colts sell for this kind of money with averages up $11,000 for the pacers.
“It’s just a wonderful day for Queensland and a wonderful sign that if you invest in harness racing up here, people will come forward and support your product.”
A colt by Always B Miki from Victree Bette topped the charts, fetching $77,500 thanks to prominent Victorian breeder Ian Slater.
“When we saw him, he just looked like a beautiful colt and he’s got a really good pedigree,” Slater said.
“We’ll head back to Goodtime Racing down south where we’ll break him in, probably head to the paddock and get him gelded and hopefully we can get some wins under the belt form there.”
The new QBRED for Life initiative has been hailed as a major factor in sales figures increasing across the board.
The scheme removes age restrictions on the first and second win bonus while also offering access to the QBRED cash bonuses, resulting in QBRED benefits being available to standardbreds of all ages.
“The QBRED incentives were massive, and Racing Queensland got behind this product so not only do we have a massive increase on our averages, but we also have a very strong increase in our clearance rates,” Baring said.
“It’s been a win-win for Racing Queensland so congratulations to them and we’re looking forward to coming back next year and making it bigger and better.”