By MIKE HILL

CLUB president Rob Essex is confident this year’s Ipswich Puppy Auction in October will be one of the best ever.

“If everyone honours what they have been telling me, we’ll have between 180 and 200 pups for sale,” he said.

“Our numbers are already high.”

Essex said owners and breeders were already showing enormous interest in the auction, which was first introduced by the club in the late ’80s.

“And no wonder,” he said.

“Greyhounds sold at the October 9 auction will be racing in the 2024 series for a winner’s cheque of $100,000.”

That’s more than double the prizemoney of this year’s feature.

Essex said he was expecting a high-quality catalogue for this year’s auction.

“Breeders these days are using quality bitches and only going to the best sires,” he said.

And he reminded all owners and breeders that they only had a few weeks to nominate their pups.

“Nominations will definitely close on Saturday, August 13,” Essex said.

“We have a strict timeline that has to be met so we can prepare and print the catalogue and give potential buyers time to analyse all lots.”

Pups, whelped between October 1, 2021, and June 1, 2022, can be nominated in one of two classifications – for sale only or breeder buy-in.

‘Breeder buy in’ pups are not required to attend the auction but are eligible for all the auction races, Essex said.

And in 12th-hour decision to boost numbers even further and give more breeders an opportunity to be part of the Auction Series, Essex said the Ipswich committee had agreed to allow pups born in June ’22 to be included in the auction.

“These pups will only go into the ‘breeder buy-in’ category,” Essex said.

“We are allowing breeders to submit these pups only in the ‘buy-in’ section as they may not be micro-chipped or ear-branded when nominations close.

“They will be at least 22 months old when their 2024 Auction races come around.

“However, prior to the October Auction, the breeder or nominator must inform the club of the nominated pup or pups microchip and ear-brand information.”

He also advised breeders, who had pups born in late September, 2021, to contact the club.

“We are considering allowing pups whelped late in that month to also be eligible for the auction,” Essex said.

He again emphasised that the club had changed the fee structure for ‘breeder buy-in’ pups this year.

“A breeder or nominator, who has one or two pups, the cost is $880 per pup, anyone with up to four pups the cost is $770 for each pup and anyone with five or more pups the cost is $660 per pup,” he said.

“However, they will have to pay the full 12 per cent commission for any buybacks at the open auction.

“For example, if a pups sells for $10,000 and it’s a buyback, the nominator will have to pay the full commission of $1200.”

Essex said a couple of well-known Northern Rivers (NSW) trainers had told him that although they didn’t have any pups for the auction they were definitely coming to Ipswich to buy a pup.

He said  the auction would also be live streamed to enable potential buyers from any part of the country to bid for pups.

The prizemoney breakdown for the 2024 Auction Series is $100,000 to the winner, $25,000 for second, $12,500 for third and $6250 for fourth.

And the breeders haven’t been forgotten.

“The breeders bonus for the winner has been lifted to $10,000 with $500 going to each breeder of the other finalists,” Essex said.