The 11-year old Celle State Stud owned stallion Don Darius has been sold to aspiring German Under 25 Grand Prix rider Nina Neuer (née Weiss).
Don Darius is bred by Claus Quast and is by Don Frederico x Markus Deak xx. He was listed as owned by Ludwig Fuchs, while the Celle State Stud has the breeding rights over the dark bay.
Don Darius was approved at the 2009 Hanoverian Stallion Licensing and did his 300)-day Stallion Performance Test in Adelheidsdorf in 2009. He scored 132.59 points to finish second out of a group of 30 stallions. He got a dressage index of 139.73 and a jumping index of 100.69 points.
Mike Habermann took the stallion from the riding horse tests to Intermediaire I level. The stallion became the reserve champion at the Hanoverian Young Horse Championships in Verden and Bundeschampionate in 2011. In 2012 he was 3rd at the Bundeschampionate and in 2013 he finished 9th.
Don Darius has no licensed offspring, but 8 of his daughters are state premium mares. He has sired the 5-year old Darjeeling, who sold for 200,000 euro to Grand Ducal Dressage at the 2017 Verden Winter Auction.
The stallion has now been sold to the Munich based Nina Neuer-Weiss, who has been training with Benjamin Werndl in Aubenhausen, Germany, for the past year.
Nina, who married German soccer star Manuel Neuer in July 2017, also owns the 14-year old German Sport Horse gelding Elliot (by Expo'se x Chico S-R), previously ridden by Jochen Vetters and Ute Kröger-Rück, the 6-year old Oldenburg mare Schatzruhe (by Sir Donnerhall x In Extenso) and the 10-year old KWPN gelding Davranches (by Spielberg x Cocktail).
Nina plans on competing Don Darius in the Piaff Forderpreis selection trial in Warendorf in February.
Photo © Petra Kerschbaum
Related Links
Eurodressage Photo Database: Don Darius
Darjeeling, Top Seller of the 2017 Hanoverian Winter Auction
Scores - 2013 Bundeschampionate
Scores - 2012 Bundeschampionate
Scores - 2011 Bundeschampionate