RECORD turnover of £647,000 was recorded for 53 horses sold at Brightwells 2014 Elite December Auction at Addington, at which the clearance rate was an extraordinary 91%.

A live stream of the dressage auction horses with Michael Klimke prior to the sale proved very popular with new clients active from Ireland, Britain, the USA, Switzerland and The Netherlands.

The demand for high quality dressage horses was evident with Germany producing the five top-priced horses, led by the four-year-old gelding Bonfire Heart (by Bonifatius), selling for £47,000 (€59,220).

The second highest price was paid for the four-year-old Blue Hors Rudisha (by Romanov) who fetched £45,000 (€56,700).

Eventing prospects included Livingstone, a four-year-old coloured stallion by the three-times Bundeschampionate, Lissaro VD Helle out of a Fidermark mare, who sold for £38,000 (€47,880) and Convince Me, a lovely daughter by Conteur out of a state premium mare by Wolkentanz, who fetched £33,000 (€41,580).

There was strong interest in promising show jumpers with 28 of the 30 finding new homes.

The two top prices came once again from the horses selected in Germany. G star, a three-year-old grey colt by Up To Date out an Indoctro mare sold to America for £20,000 (€25,200) while Cool Boy, another grey three-year-old by Coco Jambo sold for £18,000 (€22,680).

Richard Botterill of Brightwells said: “We are delighted with such strong trade throughout all levels of the market, the overall group of horses selected this year were of a very good standard. We would like to thank all our vendors for their continued support and to our buyers, both new and old, for their trust.”