17.10.2026 11:12
The foal named Üstün Umut, raised at the TİGEM Karacabey Agricultural Enterprise in Bursa, found a buyer at an auction held at Istanbul Veliefendi Racecourse on October 6 for 12 million 50 thousand lira. Enterprise officials announced that this is the highest sale figure ever reached for a purebred Arabian horse in Turkey. Today there are 600 horses at the enterprise, where purebred Arabian horse breeding, whose foundations were laid during Atatürk's era, continues.
In Bursa, on the land that Köse Mihal gifted as a dowry to Orhan Gazi, who married his daughter, horses bred at the stud farm—established 7 centuries ago under the name Çiftlikat-ı Hümayun to meet the horse needs of the palace and the army, and now operating under the name TİGEM Karacabey Agricultural Enterprise—are being prepared to achieve success in races. The foal named 'Üstün Umut,' bred at the enterprise, found a buyer for 12 million 50 thousand lira at the open auction held on October 6 at Istanbul Veliefendi Racecourse.
At the Karacabey Agricultural Enterprise, which met the army's warhorse and provisions needs during the Ottoman period and is today one of Turkey's important thoroughbred Arabian horse breeding centers, efforts continue to breed million-lira racehorses. At the enterprise, where the foundations of thoroughbred Arabian horse breeding were laid with horses brought from Syria, Iraq, and the Arabian Peninsula between 1932 and 1936 upon the instruction of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, there are now 600 horses.
The horses, cared for by 60 personnel under the supervision of veterinarians, are fed twice a day, morning and evening, with oats, high-protein pellet feed, and vitamin and mineral mixtures. The horses, fed on green grass in the pastures, continue their development in their natural environment. At the enterprise, where stallions with championships are used as breeding stock, foals obtained from 12 stallions belonging to 6 different families are presented to breeders' appreciation through auctions held at the sales center in Karacabey and at Istanbul Veliefendi Racecourse.
NEW CHAMPIONS FROM A 10 MILLION LIRA STALLION Deputy Director of TİGEM Karacabey Agricultural Enterprise, Veterinarian Eren Karabulut, stating that they breed new-generation racehorses from stallions with championships at the enterprise, said the following:
"The place where we are now is our enterprise's stallion stable. Here we have champion stallions that have achieved outstanding success in races. We have 12 stallions from 6 different families at our enterprise. By obtaining offspring from these stallions through certain methods, we aim to breed new champions that will race at racecourses. Our horse named Demirberke, which we see here, was offered for sale for 900 thousand lira at Istanbul Veliefendi Racecourse in 2021. We purchased this horse from its owner for 10 million lira in 2025. Now we are obtaining new offspring from it."
A RECORD PRICE FOR A THOROUGHBRED ARABIAN HORSE IN TURKEY Saying that the foals bred at the enterprise find buyers for millions of lira, Karabulut said, "Each of our stallions here has valuable bloodlines and the potential to breed champion foals. We present the foals we obtain from these stallions to breeders' appreciation in the sales held every year. Most recently, at the sale held on October 6 at Istanbul Veliefendi Racecourse through the open auction method, our foal named Üstün Umut met its buyer for 12 million 50 thousand lira. This was the highest sale figure reached for a thoroughbred Arabian horse in Turkey. Our aim is to ensure these horses achieve success at racecourses and to continue Arabian horse breeding."
THE LEGACY FROM THE ATATÜRK ERA IS BEING PRESERVED Emphasizing that TİGEM does not only breed racehorses but also preserves the genetic heritage of thoroughbred Arabian horses, Karabulut said, "We want to carry the lineage of the horses brought from Syria, Iraq, and the Arabian Peninsula between 1932 and 1936 upon Atatürk's instruction into the future by preserving it. One of our institution's fundamental duties is to protect gene resources. We continue our efforts to transfer these horses, which are a legacy to us from the past, to future generations by breeding them with scientific methods."