The Winter Sale in Michałów, organized on December 10th, ended with a spectacular success – horses were sold for 380 thousand euro*, which is a close result to the Summer Sale in Janów Podlaski. It must be emphasized that the majority of the sold mares went to Polish private breeders, though there were also guests from abroad. The attendance was very good – already the day before, on Friday December 9th, a large group of buyers made use of the “open stables”. On Saturday the presentation of the offer began at 11:00. The auction was planned for 2:00 pm – after lunch.
This was the second sale in Michałów since the dismissal of the former director, Jerzy Białobok. The previous sale (on November 5th) was also held in the form of public auction and not like before, in the form of sealed envelopes. It was a dress rehearsal before the highly advertised Winter Sale.
Those that arrived were greeted with splendor – starting from the white clothed tables inside the indoor arena, through the catering, to the sparkling wine and Christmas ornaments as gifts for each winning bidder. An additional attraction was the local band playing in the background, as well as the mini Christmas fair in the Old Warehouse.
The sale offered 22 mares and 3 stallions (including 3 horses from Białka) plus geldings and ponies – in total the nicely edited catalogue (which was also a novelty – so far the monthly sales had only printouts with the offer) included 53 lots. For the first time the bidding was held in euro. Of course the largest interest and most emotions were stirred by the broodmares. Also offered for sale were five breedings to Ekstern. It was the only chance to secure a breeding to this stallion for the 2017 season. Ekstern was shown to the guests at the beginning of the auction presentation.
The stars of the auction were to be – and they were – Pyrra (lot 2) and Piaconella (lot 8). It was for these mares that everyone anticipated the highest prices for. The 8 year old Pyrra, by Ekstern out of Perga by Emigrant, a mare with a good movement, beautiful eye and correct conformation is a dam of four foals. In foal to Poganin, she can stir justified breeding hopes. The four year old Piaconella (QR Marc – Primawera/Emigrant), pretty though with a lot of white markings on her nose, in foal to Ekstern, is a mare from this year’s main sale. In August she had to return to the stable, but it is true that her reserve price then was just too high.
The bidding was conducted by Maciej Paweł Grzechnik, who is the director of Michałów Stud since the end of September. He did a good job, creating an amicable atmosphere which suited transactions, but fighting for the highest price for each horse. At first the bidding was slow – the first mare, Lusaka (Emerald J – Laranda/Ekstern), did not find a buyer and the next in line Pyrra also left the arena unsold. The demanded price of 45 thousand was too high for the buyers – the bidding stopped at 33 thousand. It was only lot 3 – Pasjenza (Enzo – Pasja/Wojsław), who achieved a price of 15 thousand euro, that found a new owner, Michał Żurawski. He also bid successfully on other horses later on. One of the most interesting offers of Michałów Stud was definitely Wieża Marii (lot 5), daughter of the sold to Sweden Wieża Marc’a who scored success recently at the World Championships in Paris. The just 2 year old Wieża Marii was purchased for 25 thousand euro by a representative of a new generation of breeders – Nazaret Parczewski (Best Arabians), son of Wojciech (Best Arabians). Some minutes later Parczewski Sr won the full sister to Morion, Minerwina (Kahil Al Shaqab – Mesalina/Ekstern) for 20 thousand euro. When it came time for Piaconella, the bidding was swift – there were several buyers wanting to incorporate the grey four year old into their breeding program. The most determined turned out to be Stanisław Redestowicz (StanRed Arabians), who offered 41 thousand euro for her. “I came to
buy this mare and I did”, he told us. “I am very pleased.” It soon turned out that Piaconella was not the only purchase for the breeder from Radom, who also became the owner of the two year old Effie (lot 16, 35 thousand) by Shanghai EA and El Ghazala by Ekstern, with a head as pretty as her pedigree and her peer El Kahra (Empire – Elihara/El Nabila B), lot 20 (15.1 thousand), an eye-pleasing balanced grey filly. Stanisław Redestowicz thus became the best and most generous client of Michałów during this sale, especially since he also bought two breedings to Ekstern. The breeding sold for prices between 4.1 thousand and 5.6 thousand euro.
When the last of the offered mares left the arena, Pyrra was again led onto it. This time the buyer and seller reached an understanding and the mare, for 41 thousand euro, went to the stud of PPH Parys. Such situations happen during public auctions and do not have to equal a lack of transparency. On the contrary. The mare, initially overestimated, finally achieved a very decent price, which together with the price for Piaconella was the highest of the sale. No tears were shed, no hairs pulled, no prosecutor was called for and nobody screamed about a scandal – a repeated bidding of the auction’s star did not shake anyone. Without haters in the audience and unfavorable media that wait for the organizers to trip there is no spectacle for them. Those that don’t buy horses but “save” them, at the same time doing everything to discredit Polish breeding, could not count on applause here. Guests came to Michałów to buy horses, not to execute the organizers.
Among the three offered stallions only Złocień (Laheeb – Zaleta/Piechur) found a buyer for 3.7 thousand euro. Buyers who offered the highest prices – Agata Parys and Stanisław Redestowicz – were gifted with bouquets of flowers. Later the auction continued – most of the geldings were sold (the highest achieved a price of 5.6 thousand euro!). And in the end there was even a buyer for Lusaka (10 thousand), who similarly to Pyrra entered the arena once more.
It seems that everyone left Michałów Stud with a feeling of satisfaction. It turned out that the market not only did not break, but is still absorbent. The organizers can congratulate themselves on high prices, so far hard to obtain at monthly sales (for example Piaconella was once offered for 80 thousand PLN and unsold). The Michałów brand is still a magnet for clients and they drive up the prices of the offered horses. Definitely the auction was quite a challenge for the new staff of Michałów – director Maciej Paweł Grzechnik and director of animal and plant production Hanna Sztuka – because they organized such a large event here for the first time. Their concept was a success – and the private breeders also positively passed the exam, proving that their buying power cannot be disregarded, as in one afternoon they can spend a million and a half Polish zlotys on horses.
Results (net prices in EUR)
Pyrra 41 thousand
Piaconella 41 thousand
Effie 35 thousand
Wieża Marii 25 thousand
Minerwina 20 thousand
El Omarissa 17,5 thousand
Kasjopeja 17 thousand
Paradna 16 tys.
El Kahra 15.1 thousand
Pasjenza 15 thousand
Esmeta (Białka) 13 thousand
Dębowa Droga 11 thousand
Złota Nić 10 thousand
Lusaka 10 thousand
Zendra 8.5 thousand
Euskaria (Białka) 8 thousand (sold after negotiations)
Zea 7.2 thousand
Karwa 7.1 thousand
Funaria 6.3 thousand
Dorea 5.2 thousand
Złocień 3.7 thousand
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*The total result of the auction was of EUR 404100.
