“Impulse buys” top elite auctions
Although no records were broken this year, there were some good prices achieved at Brightwells dressage and show jumping sales at Addington, which were both topped by “impulse buys”.
The now familiar eighth annual November sale of dressage horses attracted 37 lots, including four foals. And while the seats might not have been as full as in previous years, the sale got off to a promising start, with the first two horses flying out of the arena for £10,000 and £15,000 respectively.
Sandro Hit, a former World Breeding Champion and the sire of last year’s World Breeding Champion mare, Poetin, was the stallion in demand. Three of his offspring and one out of his daughter fetched £102,000 between them, with the attractive mare Soul Sister realising the night’s top price of £37,000.
Olympian Carl Hester secured the mare after bidding on behalf of Aram Gregory, who bought her for his partner, Jane Bredin. “I thought we’d come here to look,” said Jane.
The auction of show jumpers, which took place two days later, was a more straightforward affair, with a “no frills” approach compared with the gala evening style of the dressage sale.
Despite prospective purchasers taking time to get their bidding arm warmed up, the majority of the 38 horses sold. Two made more than £20,000, while at the other end of the spectrum several good-looking horses looked a steal at less than £4,000 — a considerable saving on the cost of breeding one in Britain.
Bidding was strong for a smart chestnut colt, the athletic two-year-old Veni-Vidi-Vici. He was the top lot at £30,000, paid by Katherine James from Cardiff for this son of popular sire Heartbreaker out of a Carthago Z mare.
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“I came mainly to have a look and he caught my eye, but I won’t be producing him myself. I’ll have to find a rider for him,” said Katherine.
Top lots: dressage horses
Soul Sister 3-y-o mare (Sandro Hit-Classiker) £37,000
Wishful 3-y-o gelding (Welt Hit II-Sandro Hit) £32,000
Rolling Ball 3-y-o mare (Rubin Royal-Davignon) £24,000
Lasting Memory 3-y-o gelding (Laurentianer-Ehrentusch) £23,000
Santana 4-y-o approved Oldenberg stallion (Sandro Hit-Rohdiamant) £20,000
Offered 37; sold 23; avge: horses £15,737; foals £4,025; Sale total: £315,100
Top lots: show jumpers
Veni-Vidi-Vici 2-y-o stallion (Heartbreaker-Carthago Z) £30,000
Vagant 2-y-o stallion (Cantos-Iroko) £26,000
Lucid Dream 4-y-o mare (Gralshuter-Pilot) £13,000
Uderma-N 3-y-o mare (Voltaire-Nimmerdor) £12,000
Cap It All 4-y-o gelding (Captain Paul-Domino) £12,000
Offered 38; sold 25; avge: horses £8,229; foals £3,000; Sale total: £200,500
Read the complete report on all action at both sales in the current issue of Horse & Hound (2 December, ’04)
