Inglis will conduct just one physical breeding stock sale in 2026, with declining demand for live broodmare auctions prompting a decisive shift to digital. The company's breeding stock session will now operate as Day 2 of the April (late) Online Sale, replacing both the Australian Broodmare Sale and Great Southern Broodmare Sale. The change leaves the elite Inglis Chairman's Sale as Inglis' only live breeding stock auction, focused on the top end of the commercial market.Bidding for the restructured broodmare session will close Thursday evening on the Inglis Digital platform, marking a clear departure from traditional sale-ring trading at this time of year.Inglis CEO Sebastian Hutch said the move was grounded in market evidence, not policy, telling The Thoroughbred Report the company is reacting directly to vendor preferences. “From an Inglis point of view, we are responding to the preferences and trends of the market,” Hutch said. After offering just over 200 lots at the Australian Broodmare Sale in 2024, numbers dropped to just over 100 in 2025 as key vendors opted to sell online.“The evidence was there,” Hutch told The Thoroughbred Report. “When the number of lots catalogued for your sale is halving year on year… it tells you that there isn't the demand in the market for the service.” He added that Inglis has not ruled out live broodmare sales entirely, but is responding to clear market signals. “If the market overwhelmingly wanted a live broodmare sale, we'd be running a live sale,” he said.The April (late) Online Sale will be staged across two sessions, with 210 lots in the standard digital sale closing Wednesday, followed by a 267-lot race fillies and broodmare session on Thursday. Hutch told The Thoroughbred Report the shift reflects a broader industry trend, particularly across the middle and lower tiers of the breeding stock market. “We feel like the digital market has become a true and fair market for the sale and purchase of bloodstock,” he said. “It's become a consistent, reliable market that people are very comfortable with.”Beyond market dynamics, welfare considerations are also reinforcing the move. With no requirement to travel to sale complexes, mares, particularly those in foal, can remain in familiar environments, avoiding the stress of transport, stabling, and repeated handling. The shift also reduces costs for vendors. “It's certainly better for the stock, especially for pregnant mares,” Hutch told The Thoroughbred Report. “Not having to travel unnecessarily to the sale ground, then parade for a couple of days before travelling again.”Tyreel Stud principal Linda Monds echoed that view, also speaking to The Thoroughbred Report. “I think it is the best thing that the industry could possibly do,” Monds said. “I absolutely love my mares and have always found it difficult to take a pregnant mare to a live sale. “We want to look after the pregnancy and we do everything on the farm to protect them, so it's about welfare. I like to keep them in a calm, relaxed environment. It's perfect because they don't have to leave the farm, and we know they receive the highest level of care until they leave us.” The post Inglis To Stage Just One Physical Breeding Stock Sale in 2026 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.