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December 1st, 2008
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Horse auction bucks the trend

Largest sale in decades marks increased Czech interest in horse trade

By Bibiána Duhárová
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
October 1st, 2008 issue

ISIFA
Germany's Baden Baden horse auctions will be the model for the Oct. 10 thoroughbred auction in the Czech Republic.
Thoroughbred horse breeding, a market in which the Czech Republic has only been a buyer since its own traditions were interrupted for nearly seven decades, is making a comeback in Central and Eastern Europe.
Though a form of horse trading still existed under communism, the local market for thoroughbreds all but ceased after the Velvet Revolution. An upcoming auction of Czech, Slovak and Polish-bred horses is a sign that the market is re-emerging as investors strengthened by the crown can afford the flashy investment.
On Oct. 10, two days before the famous Velká Pardubická steeplechase in Pardubice, 34 horses will be up for auction in the first one of its size in nearly two decades. Organizers of the event hope the Czech market will improve and grow to reach international standards.
“Every year, buyers are willing to pay more for horses, whose value grows as they are bred with quality English thoroughbreds,” said Tomáš Janda, the auction’s organizer and a horse breeder himself.
The rules of the upcoming Czech auction are modeled after Germany’s Baden Baden auction houses.
“This is the first attempt. People here are getting used to it; they are learning, so we don’t expect it to be huge. Still, we hope it will meet with success,” he added.
Janda, 27, has lived and worked in Ireland, where he was trained as a “bloodstock,” a horse trader who represents either a buyer or himself at auctions. Janda learned the traditions of auctioning and, together with the Czech Horseracing Association, decided to bring those methods to the Czech horse market, which has been nearly nonexistent since communism. During that time, no foreign horses were allowed into the country, and the quality of Czech thoroughbreds suffered and fell below international standards and countries where the tradition has been uninterrupted for nearly four centuries.
Symbol of success
“Some auctions did take place under communism, but they were more like pseudo-auctions. State-owned stables sold horses among themselves,” said Vítězslav Vanda, member of the Steeplechase Association. “Buyers didn’t want to purchase a horse publicly because they did not want to show off. They used to buy horses from stables, where the choice was limited and the owner rushed to sell quickly,” he added.
In countries such as England, Ireland, Germany, the United States and Japan, 90 percent of horses are sold by auction. According to Vanda, the process is more transparent, the selection is bigger and potential buyers learn the real market value of horses. Decisions can be made more objectively, and Vanda says it is the best way to buy or sell a horse.
“I have 25 horses, and, by selling and buying them, I make a living. I care about choosing customers depending on what their intention is. If they wish to train it, I make sure I know the trainer and his qualifications,” said Vanda.
The fear of showing off has faded, and now potential buyers have embraced the prestige and consider horse auctions a symbol of success, both financially and socially.
“Successful wealthy people like to show they can buy the best horse and make even more money on it,” Janda said.
Czech buyers have typically bought from foreign auctions, however, because the horses are considered of a better quality and value. The most expensive Czech-owned horse is Blue Corral, bought by entrepreneur Jiří Charvát for 7 million Kč.
Buy to win
Although the Czech Republic produces 300–400 colts a year, private buyers say the market to sell them is lacking.
“The Czech Republic raises an excessive amount of horses, but there is nowhere to sell them. Buyers thus choose to buy on foreign markets,” said Václav Luka, a Czech entrepreneur and a member of the Czech Jockey Club. Luka owns 70 horses and typically buys them at auctions in Warsaw, Baden Baden, London, Ireland or France.
“It’s an obsession. The point is to buy at a good price and start winning. You want to win everything. It is just like any other hobby, like sports or racing cars or dogs. It’s a competition, and it’s high-stakes gambling.”
Luka’s most expensive horse cost 1 million Kč, and he will offer four of his thoroughbreds at the Pardubice auction.
The Pardubice auction will offer horses from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. Each horse will have a “reservation price,” to be set on the day of the auction, which can range from zero to 5,000 Kč ($302).
“I suspect the maximum price at this auction to reach 400,000 Kč, not much more,” said Janda.
Prices of horses auctioned off abroad can reach millions of dollars for a horse. The most expensive horse auctioned in the United States cost $130 million (2.15 billion Kč), and the most expensive sold in the United Kingdom came to £2.5 million ($4.5 million/77.2 million Kč).
The most risky auctions are with yearlings, young horses which haven’t yet proven their value.
“With young horses it’s a long-term thing. You must take extra care of their health and their physical condition, and the horse might still turn out incapable. But there is a certain risk to it, so it’s exciting enough,” said Luka.

Bibiána Duhárová can be reached at bduharova@praguepost.com


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