Top priced horse goes to first time buyers

Excee Smoko Queen, sold by Peter Bonython of Excee Stock Horses, Emerald, was purchased by Gavin and Carolyn Roberts, Charlies Creek, Injune, for $56,000.

The seven-year-old black mare was one of 117 lots in the catalogue, selling well above the $42,000 paid for a seven-year-old bay mare at last year's sale.

In total, the sale organised by Elders and run in conjunction with Stocklive sold 74 horses for a total of $956,000 for an average of $12,918/head. At auction, the clearance rate was 66 per cent.

Straight after the sale, Mr Bonython said he had not yet come to terms with the sale price.

"She's a good mare and I really like her," he said. "I'll be sad to see her go, but she's gone to a good home."

Asked what they would do with the horse, Mrs Roberts joked they would probably "wrap her up in cotton wool".

"We run a cattle breeding operation," she said. "She'll be used for mustering and campdrafting."

The couple said they bought the horse for her bloodlines were very similar to those of their own horses.

"She's very well bred, she's well put together, she's calm, kind, quiet," Mrs Roberts said.

"She's the first horse we've ever bought."

Mr Roberts said they had always bred their own horses, but good horses were worth the money.

He said another reason they had bought the mare was to breed from her later on.

"There could be an argument in the future as to who rides her, but we will both have a crack on her," he said.

Excee Smoko Queen was sired by Expected Hobble Chain, out of Expected Queens Ransom, and is a full sister to Excee Link.

Anthony Ball of Elders Stud Stock said it was a really good day.

"We've obviously shattered the record for the top price horse which is fantastic," he said.

"As an event, it was really, really well run and there was some great horses here and that's been reflected in the money we've achieved."

Matt Russell, Crescendo, Capella, with his wife, Jodie, had three horses - two mares and a gelding - in the sale.

Mr Russell said he was happy with the prices his horses fetched, but felt it was a bit back on what it had been in previous years.

"But the cattle industry is having a bit of a tough time at the moment."

Mr Russell said he was not surprised at the top price of $56,000 as the horse was a very nice mare.

"We had her picked out...I thought she'd get the top price," he said.

Mr Ball said the prices in the sale reflected the quality of the horses in the sale.

"The quality has been growing year in, year out, and we've seen stronger prices for those top end horses this year, which is good considering the downturn in the market and rural industries in general," he said.

The second top priced horse, Who Stole My Sock, a bay mare, was sold by Bill and Christine Matton to online bidder, Sarah Lindley, Gracemere, for $36,000.

Coming in third on price was Swan Dundee, a chestnut mare, that was sold by Phillip Monoghan to the Hancock Family Trust for $32,000. The Hancock Family Trust bought four horses for a total of $56,000.

Fetching $30,000 each were Brookston Annies Destiny sold by Brookson Pastoral Co to Sharinaz Stockhorses; Senorita Flo sold by Lance Spannagle and Melissa Lindley to Rowanlea Cattle Co, Calliope; and Tonlena Candy Time sold by Horseview Grazing to D.K. Williams.

Stocklive reported 166 registered bidders online with 101 entering the sale that also attracted 674 viewers.

Stocklive reported contributing $200,000 to the gross sales total with 80 per cent of the sale made up of online bids. A total of 17 horses sold online to buyers as far away as NSW, Victoria and Richmond in north Queensland.

Mr Ball said they had a new concept with the campdraft on Thursday this year with 67 horses entered and which was well received.

He said the campdraft was good for the sale and gave people a chance to showcase their horses in a different light.

"From an Elders point of view, it's something new and it's a space (of performance horse sales) that we want to play more and more in," he said.

"So we're testing the waters and the feedback we've received is very, very positive."

Mr Ball thanked the vendors for supporting their new concept and his staff for the work they had put in over the three days of Ag-Grow.

"Some have been here three days, some have been here five to six days and this (the yards) has all been built by hand and there's been a lot of love and passion go into it and I just want to thank my staff, they've been awesome," he said.