Edited press release
The second and final day of the revamped Emirates Racing Authority horses in training sale attracted solid interest from buyers around the Middle East. A total of AED2,031,000 was spent on the 55 horses sold March 5 in Dubai. The average price was AED36,927.
The auction attracted purchasers from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The second day's top-priced horse was Red Duster, who was bought by Suliman Bhana for AED 225,000.
A 5-year-old Red Ransom gelding, Red Duster has won three of his nine starts in the United Arab Emirates, and was last seen coming in fifth in the Derrinstown Stud Marju Jebel Ali Stakes for trainer Satish Seemar and owner Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed al Maktoum.
The Dubai Racing Club’s Martin Talty was happy with how the two-day sale went, saying: “The idea of moving the sale to the week of the Super Thursday meeting certainly worked and this sale is certainly something we can build on for future years. I think, next year, the Dubai International Racing Carnival sale, in particular, will be pretty strong and we could have around 70 horses go under the hammer.”
The sale, run by the ERA and the European auction company Tattersalls, began March 4 with the inaugural Dubai International Racing Carnival portion of the auction, which was topped by New Freedom, who brought AED2.3 million.