June Auction of the Stars goes to Sydney Polo Club

This year our annual Sydney “Auction of the Stars” is being held at the very beautiful and exclusive Sydney Polo Club which is located at Richmond, just some 50 odd minutes from Sydney Mascot airport. This year the auction is made up of 3 spectacular broodmares. One of which is Stirling Savannah who is older but is in foal and does represent one of the last Salute mares available. Remember Victory Salute who is now ranked in the top 10 Grand Prix dressage horses in the world is also by Salute.  Stirling Savannah is also famous for being the dam of Australian Grand Prix dressage horse Byalee Magic. Also included in the broodmare section is the magnificent moving 3yo broodmare Joyful Morning who is a collection of the best dressage bloodlines in the world. The main thrust of the auction however is all about some amazing unbroken youngsters which does convert into an opportunity to buy at a much reduced price horses that represent the best quality available in Australia. The sires of these amazing youngsters include: Regardez Moi (imp) - current Australian Grand Prix Dressage Champion, Furst Love (imp), Samarant (frozen semen), Highlight Australia (imp), Highborn Powerlifter, Royal Hit (imp), Jive Magic (imp), Wolfingham Dalziel, Whisper IV (imp), Don Frederico (frozen semen), Fiji R (imp), Lauries As (imp) and Promise R. These stallions pretty well represent every dressage bloodline in the world of any significance. Amongst these youngsters will be individuals which are very quiet, very trainable and going to offer enormous pleasure to any rider including those that are in horses for recreational and enjoyment considerations. On the other hand some of these youngsters are born with souls that naturally sing and have an inner synergy with a prima ballerina or Olympic performances. Finally there are seven specially selected ridden horses. This section mainly represents the dressage discipline and it goes from Jackman R, who is 8 years old, black and has four white socks and is pretty well right across all of the Prix St Georges movements. Jackman R is outstanding for his handsome looks and his soft temperament which makes him suitable for not only a competition rider but also a recreational rider who yearns for something special. Conversely Rogue Trader R is a big, beautifully bred dark chestnut just 4 years of age. Rogue Trader R has already started his competition career with a multitude of wins and scores over 70%. This is one of those youngsters for the soaring soul and a destiny to be the best. In between these two representatives are horses like Princess. A black mare by Regardez Moi out of a stock horse mother who although just 4 years of age is so quiet she can be ridden by beginners and who is just beautiful to look at and beautiful by nature. Princess would be just as happy in the hack ring, or a led class, or a dressage arena, or cantering over little ditches and water splashes and banks on a cross country course. Although Princess does have talent her nature makes her highly suitable for nearly anybody. In addition to all of this the auction traditionally starts with one service fee to 6 “Auction of the Stars” stallions which are offered with no reserve. i.e. Regardez Moi (imp) normally stands at $3,850 but in the auction situation it has been known for this service fee to be purchased for as little as $1,500. The other five stallions offering an unreserved service fee for auction include Jive Magic (imp), Byalee Romance, Byalee Briar (imp), Fiji R (imp) and Starnberg (imp). The “Auction of the Stars” does go over 2 days starting on Saturday 25^th June at 12 midday. At this time the 25 young horses are led in individually and free schooled in their initial presentation to the public. Of course this is a dress rehearsal and lets us not only get a handle on how each youngster is going to handle the arena and circumstances but also lets us check all of our sound gear and also the co-ordination of staff and the timely presentation of each lot. For a potential buyer however seeing the horses and how they handle the atmosphere and facilities first up does provide insight into the character of each horse. The parade will finish by 2.30pm and the 7 ridden horses will then come in to the arena in two groups. The first group will be three horses and they will be shown off by their vendors for 10 minutes or so under saddle and then members of the public who are interested in trialling these horses will be invited to come forward and have a ride. Each group lasts for about 30 minutes only. Of course some people will be organised enough that they will have trialled the horses in the week or so leading up to the auction. Nevertheless watching the horses being ridden by other riders and also riding the horses in an environment which they are not so used to does represent an opportunity to have insight into the character, temperament and the long-suffering aspect of each horse. For some people this is a little intimidating to ride a new horse in front of other people. Certainly this is very understandable but we do promote the fact that if you are not prepared to look after your own interests then it is highly likely no one else will either. At the end of the day the worst thing that happens in these trialling situations is that people feel self conscious and somewhat embarrassed. In the cold light of day feeling self conscious or embarrassed is a pathetic reason to stop you from doing something you love. Most people do overcome this embarrassment phenomena when they rationalize it like this. This trialling is not a schooling session, rather just a familiarization session. It does happen that occasionally a nice looking horse does not feel nearly so good once you get on and have a ride. We would just recommend that you get off after a little ride, be polite, and then write on your catalogue, not for you. Of course the opposite does happen sometimes as well and a horse that did not catch your eye in the catalogue actually rides unexpectedly well. In that case we would encourage people to make a positive comment on their catalogue and then follow up a little later by talking to the vendors to research out further details. 7 horses is actually quite a number and people searching for a horse will often trial 5 or 6 of these or why not all 7. In this case one horse will blur into the other so making notes on your catalogue to keep your thoughts straight is important. The trialling will finish by 4pm and then the 6 “Auction of the Stars” stallions being Regardez Moi, Jive Magic, Byalee Briar, Byalee Romance, Fiji R and Starnberg will all come in one at a time and do a 10 minute presentation. The stallion parade will take around one hour and by 5pm there will be a free sausage sizzle and glass of wine available to all and sundry. Now that is the “quiet” day. Sunday the 26^th June is action packed starting at 8am sharp. The trialling of the ridden horses is repeated from 8am until 9am. From 9am until 11am the parade of youngsters is again repeated and by now the “Auction of the Stars” team will be starting to present in a very professional manner (hopefully). Come 11am and we present our traditional masterclass which involves all of the “Auction of the Stars” stallions. In this presentation we talk about the training of the dressage horse from the very beginning right through the different grades to the end product – the Grand Prix horse. The stallions we have do represent different positions in the pathway to Grand Prix and just what we are doing and how we are trying to achieve the next step is all part of the masterclass. Rozzie Ryan traditionally does a Grand Prix freestyle performance to music on Jive Magic and Heath Ryan, riding Regardez Moi, will traditionally talk his way through the obstacles a rider needs to overcome as they navigate their way through the Grand Prix dressage test. The masterclass is expected to finish around 12.30pm. The auction will start at 1.30pm. We will be congratulating ourselves if we can get the last lot through the auction by 5.30pm. The auction itself is magnificent entertainment and at times very moving when bidders battle it out for ownership of individual lots. The howls of delight from a successful buyer makes even the hardest of souls soften and smile. Without a doubt whether people are successful in securing a new horse or not or if people have come just to watch and be entertained (which they are very very welcome to do) all will go home acknowledging that a group of horses of the highest quality have just changed hands. These will be two days free of charge that will make up a fascinating experience.