A Million-Euro highlight for the anniversary

He was the four-legged star of the anniversary auction hosted by Holger Hetzel on the last Wednesday in November at his equestrian centre in Goch on the Lower Rhine. The seven-year-old Holsteiner Dior, who had already caused a stir several times this year in the world of show jumping, achieved the top price of the evening with a hammer price of exactly one million euros – the highest bid among the total of 21 auctioned show jumpers.

With Holger Hetzel’s head rider, Belgian Laurens Houben, in the saddle, the impressive son of Diamant de Semilly, bred by Friedrich Meyer, delivered outstanding performances at both the Tiemeyer x Hetzel Young Horse Masters and the Al Shira’aa Bundeschampionate in Warendorf, securing the newly introduced title of Young Horse of the Year in his age group. The grey was purchased by Ulli Horrig, a long-time friend and supporter of Holger Hetzel.

Just shy of the million mark was the second most expensive horse of the auction: Playboy, a Dutch-bred son of Harley VDL, sold for €900,000. With a knockdown price of €420,000, the ten-year-old Disco Inferno, who has already achieved success in international Grand Prix classes, was the third most expensive lot of the evening.

In addition to the 21 show jumpers, two foals with exquisite jumping pedigrees were auctioned for charitable purposes, raising the remarkable sum of €98,000, which will be donated in full to the RTL Foundation “Wir helfen Kindern” (We Help Children). More than 700 guests from over 50 nations followed the auction event live on site.

For Holger Hetzel, the entire evening – combining the gala programme and the auction – was a deeply emotional occasion: “Over these 21 years – except in 2020 when the auction could not be held due to COVID restrictions – many customers have become long-standing friends, and many friends and employees have devoted themselves to this event in an incredible way over the past two decades. My heartfelt thanks go to them and my entire team.” Asked about the secret to the auction’s success, Hetzel commented: “We really try to select nothing but exceptional horses for the auction and to provide them with the best possible training. And it is also my very personal concern that the customers receive exactly the horses that suit them perfectly.”

Thomas Hartwig