Brightwells Elite, plus AES Foal Sale
Two horses share top-lot honours of £39,000; the average is up by nearly £3,000 with 12 making more than £20,000
WITH a catalogue of 66 horses forward, it was perhaps not surprising that there was a no-nonsense feel to Brightwells August Elite sale. Thankfully for the auctioneers, bidding was brisk and two-thirds of the horses found new homes with 12 making more than £20,000.
Potential showjumpers were most in demand — 10 of the top 12 priced horses had jumping pedigrees. The top price of
£39,000 came twice; the first time for lot 25a, Creto, a sevenyear-old medium level dressage mare, bought for a British young rider. Creto is by the Holstein Conteur, the sire of Helen Langehanenberg’s international small tour mare Annabelle.
The second high point came for the penultimate lot, Gember Z. The three-year-old stallion not only demonstrated an impressive jump, but also possesses an attractive and interesting pedigree being by Gemini, the clone of the Olympic silver medallist, thoroughbred showjumper Gem Twist (a gelding) out of a Berlin x Chin Chin mare.
Lot 42, Julyander, a Dutchbred jumping mare by Cardento out of a mare by Odermus R attracted several bidders, finally being knocked down for £38,000 to a Brightwells regular, Dan Wright of Stafford, who also took home San Libero, a three-year-old son of Stakkato (lot 25).
While the percentage sold was similar to this sale last year, the average price showed a considerable rise of almost £3,000.
FILLIES SHINE BRIGHT
FRIDAY’S foal auction got off to a shaky start, with protracted bidding and auctioneers working hard on behalf of the breeders.
However, from lot 13 onwards, business picked up and foals starting selling. Once again, jumping pedigrees were most in demand, with well-known sires behind the three leading lots that made five figures.
The top lot at £24,000 was Bright Star, a filly by
Nick Skelton’s Olympic gold medal partner Big Star out of a daughter of Argentinus (the sire of his Nick’s 2004 Olympic ride Arko). She was bred by Peter and Kelly White of PK Stud near Basingstoke, Hampshire.
Two daughters of Billy Twomey’s grand prix winner Luidam also found favour; Olistar’s Lucina (out of an Andiamo mare bred by Oliver Gibney of Olistar Stud) sold for £12,000 and Market Damsel, out of a mare by the 2000 Olympic silver team horse Tinka’s Boy and bred by Derek Ricketts, sold for £11,500.
The highest-priced dressage foal was Volatis Ferriamo (Feinrich x Mondriaan), bred by Sacha Shaw of Volatis Stud, who sold for £8,000, while dressage rider Tina Atkins acquired a new grand prix prospect in the Fürst Romancier colt, Furst Of Wales, bred by Ruth Skillen of Tyddyn Cochyn stud.
By the end of the evening, just over half the lots had sold, with an increased average on last year’s inaugural AES foal sale.
“We are delighted that we made a lot of progress from last year and there was a substantial increase in the average price (£4,054 to £7,362), said AES spokesperson Eva-Maria Broomer. “Just over half of the auction lots sold, which is a similar percentage from last year. However, we are confident that the publicity generated from the auction will help breeders with their sales in general.”