Caption: Jason Schmidt with his 2020 G3 Ipswich Auction Series winner Rio Valiente. (Photo: Just Greyhound Photos)

By MIKE HILL

OFFICIALS hope a decision in August to extend nominations will boost \’sale pup\’ numbers at October’s annual Ipswich Puppy Auction.

They were disappointed with early numbers and extended the cut-off date from August 14 to August 31.

\”We only had about 30 lots for the \’pups for sale\’ section and about 60 in the buy-back category,\” club president Colin Fry said.

\”At the same time we added an extra month on the age of pups eligible for the auction.

\”Originally only pups whelped between October 1, 2020, and June 1, 2021 were eligible, but we pushed the whelping date back to September 1, 2020, in the hope of encouraging more breeders to nominate pups.\”

He said officials would really like at least 40 pups in the \’for sale\’ section at the Sunday, October 10, auction to make it worthwhile.

The club introduced two new classifications this year – \’sale only\’ and \’breeder buy in\’ – in the hope of providing a more balanced auction.

\”In recent years potential buyers have had difficulty securing pups with so many breeder buy-backs,\” he said.

Pups nominated for the \’for sale only\’ category will be offered at the auction with a genuine reserve price specified by the nominator.

Mr Fry said bidding would begin at $1500 and the auctioneer would be advised when a pup had reached its reserve.

\”If a pup fails to reach its reserve price, the nominator will be able to negotiate with the final bidder on sale day,\” he said.

\”Each \’for sale only\’ pup must change ownership on sale day to be eligible for the auction series races.\”

He also said \’breeder buy in\’ pups were not required to be at the auction.

\”However, owners of these pups will be required to pay an $860 fee for each pup,\” Mr Fry said.

\”A fee of 12 per cent of the purchase price will apply to all \’for sale only\’ pups capped at $960.\”

The club hopes the changes will allow more people the opportunity to enter the sport.

Pups sold at the auction will be eligible for a series of races, including the $40,000-to-the-winner Ipswich Puppy Auction feature over 520m and the $14,000-to-the-winner sprint (431m).