AES and Brightwells Elite Foal Auction Results

Sunday, August 21

AES and Brightwells Elite Foal Auction Results

The AES are delighted to announce the results of our very first Elite Foal Auction organised in conjunction with Brightwells Auctioneers on Friday, 19th August 2016 as part of the Elite Sales at Addington Manor EC. Over half of the foals presented on the night sold, with an average prize of over £4,000, and an overall auction revenue of almost £100,000.

However, this does not tell the whole story, as in many cases bidding went far above those averages, and at times into double figures, but did not make the reserves.

AES Director Joris van den Oetelaar explains:

"Our aim was to provide breeders with a shop window to promote their breeding to a national and international audience, and this auction has certainly achieved that with interested attracted not only in Great Britain, but also in Holland, Germany and beyond.

What an auction really needs is good promotion and good presentation. Not only did we travel the length and breadth of the country to select, photograph and video the very best foals available and promote them in our very well received printed and online auction catalogue. We also provided professional runners on the night, to ensure that the presentation went smoothly and horses were shown off to their best advantage.

We are immensely proud of all our breeders who worked incredibly hard. All the horses were turned out beautifully and showed that great care have been taken by everyone in the preparation of this auction."

Not only was this the first time in recent years that something of this magnitude has been tried, but it also happened under some challenging circumstances. Because of all the other events at Addington Manor EC that weekend, the auction had to be scheduled for the day of the Rio Olympics Individual Show Jumping Final.

AES Representative Steve Lamb feels positive about the outcome:

"We asked competitive riders in this country how we could persuade them to look at British bred foals, rather than buying exclusively from the Continent. The answer was always the same: they would like to see a wide range of foals together in one place, rather than having to travel up and down the country. This is exactly what we provided here, attracting entries from places as far away as Scotland, Wales, and the South West.

"The Sale provided not only a great opportunity to sell more foals to wider audiences. It also raised the profiles of many of our breeders who do outstanding work often below the public radar. We already heard from some taking bookings for their stallions this weekend because people liked the foals they saw in the auction and want to breed something similar for themselves. This demonstrates how this auction is not only an effective selling platform, but a great way of gaining wider recognition and publicity for AES breeders and British breeding in general."

The AES are looking forward to building on the many positives that came out of this year's auction and make next year's event even bigger and even better. 


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