Olympic showjumper up for auction
Dutch showjumper Gerco Schroder’s Olympic 2012 silver medallist London is one of several international horses going under the hammer next month.
This follows a ruling by Dutch courts that Rabobank has a right to collect assets from the bankrupt Eurocommerce Stables.
Eurocommerce Holdings filed for bankruptcy in July 2012, and the horses’ destination has been under discussion since.
London was seized shortly after the Olympic Games, but was returned to Mr Schroder while proceedings were underway. However, since a judge ruled on 5 March that the bank has a right to €38,250,000 (£32,000,000), all the horses, stables and trucks will be sold at BVA Auctions (4-7 April). Many international prospective buyers have already registered their interest in the online auction.
A price-tag of around €10million (£8.3million) was rumoured when London was seized in 2012.
The provisional list of lots up for auction includes other top Dutch showjumpers, such as the Gerco Schroder-ridden New Orleans, Callahan and Seoul; Wout-Jan van der Schan’s Capetown and Sacramento; Albert Voorn’s Tobalio, as well as breeding stallions.
Eurocommerce said in a statement that the receivers and the bank had “determined that the stables are not profitable to run and therefore cannot see any other responsible option than a forced auction, which is also deemed in the interest of all creditors”.
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Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.