The second Flanders Foal Auction of the year will go into the books as a strong edition with overwhelming international interest. Buyers from fifteen different countries purchased 29 of the 32 jumping foals, and even a breeding country like Germany couldn’t resist the offerings. The most expensive foal was the Catoki son, Comme Catoki QC Z, which came into the ring as the final lot and was sold for 42,000 euros to an Olympic rider and stallion owner from Germany.
The Flanders Foal Auction took place during an international competition at De Peelbergen Equestrian Centre, once again confirming why ‘Flanders’ sticks to the concept of live auctions. Online biddings came in frequently as well, but ultimately only four foals were sold via the internet. In most cases, the present guests kept on going until the end, two were sold via telephone and the average price ended up at 17,900 euros.
Many professionals
“It was another good auction at a beautiful location. We are pleased that there were many professionals who have confidence in the foals and secure them for the future,” said Luk Van Puymbroeck and Gerald Lenaerts.
Germany and Belgium were the biggest buyers of the evening with five foals each, followed by the Netherlands, Hungary and Canada with three foals each. The auction topper this time did not come from Chacco Blue, Emerald or Cornet Obolensky, but from Catoki, who is back in the spotlight thanks to his sensationally jumping son Ermitage Kalone. “We had two fantastic colt foals by Catoki in the auction and had a good feeling that Comme Catoki QC Z would be secured for sport and breeding.”
The splendid sport foal combines a lot of blood and scope in its pedigree. A fun detail: his dam by Comme il Faut was sold as a foal by Flanders Foal Auction in 2015. She is a half-sister to the stallion Glasgow van ‘t Merelsnest (1.60m GP with Jur Vrieling) and four 1.50m showjumping horses. Granddam Wendelina van ‘t Merelsnest (1.50m level showjumping) is the full sister of McLain Ward’s top mare Sapphire (Darco), winner of numerous 5* Grand Prix and even two golden team medals at the Olympic Games in Hong Kong and Athens.
Ermitage Kalone
Catoki’s son Ermitage Kalone was responsible for the second most expensive foal, Elle Fleur Z, which will leave for Germany for 38,000 euros. The elastic-moving filly is bred out of a Quick Star daughter and is the granddaughter to the 1.60m Grand Prix mare Ratina Kervec (Diamant de Semilly). Ratina Kervec also produced a 1.60m GP horse Cuick Star Kervec with Shane Breen, who was second in the 2023 Nations Cup of Hickstead.
Following with 32,000 euros was Cherry Jubilee van WW Z (Chacco Blue x Toulon), no surprise as she is a granddaughter of Spruce Meadows GP winner Candy. The filly is bred out of Indiana van HD (1.45m level showjumping), a half-sister to three 1.60m Grand Prix jumpers and also the dam of a 1.55m GP horse.
The colt Coolflash DW Z (Chacco Blue x For Pleasure) with Walnut de Muze as granddam and the filly Dancing Queen van Overis Z (Diamant de Semilly x Kannan) from the Emerald line both fetched 24,000 euros. This clearly shows the interest in renowned damlines.
Auction in Germany
Three more Flanders Foal Auctions are on the calendar, with the next one taking place on German soil at Holger Hetzel Stables in Goch on Saturday, July 27. “We are going to make it spectacular, as we have already assembled a very good collection! There will be such a professional audience that we need to come up with something excellent there.”