Auctioning embryos in Dublin remains a special occasion, but nothing is better than having the foals themselves in the auction ring. A day after Ireland averaging 28,772 euros for the embryos, an average price of 21,800 euros for the foals was achieved at Sentower Park on Saturday evening, 12 August. At 42,000 euro, Best Queen (Balou du Reventon x Don VHP Z) was the most expensive filly sold and there is a special story attached to that.
Not only is Best Queen a granddaughter of Laura Kraut’s former top mare Oh La La (by Orlando vd Heffinck) and a fantastic filly to look at, her now 3-year-old dam was auctioned as an embryo by ‘Flanders’. Auction organiser Luk Van Puymbroeck did not want to let her slide in the auction in Sharjah (UAE) a few years ago and bought her together with Patrick De Roeck. “She turned out to be a dream of a mare with exceptional quality. She could win a free-jumping competition in no time. She will be broken in soon and will start her sports career”, he says.
Exactly half of the collection was sold on the auction floor and the remaining 50% online. Ten foals were knocked off for 30,000 euros and more, six of them by online bidding.
“It was another great auction. Sentower Park always has a very professional customers audience from various countries and it was good to see how many professionals still logged in online and placed their bids. Among them were international riders and renowned breeding stables,” state Luk Van Puymbroeck and Gerald Lenaerts.
The black filly Emfine Axelhoeve Z (Emerald x Quintero la Silla) out of a 1.50m level jumping mare was the second most expensive with an online bid of 38,000 euros and stays in Belgium.
Tremendous by Nature (Comme il Faut x Catoki) out of a 1.60m Grand Prix mare was sold to South Africa for 36,000 euros. A German Grand Prix rider bought three online, including the exceptional Hollywood AEG Z (Heartbreaker x Vigo d’Arsouilles) for 36,000 euros. For the same price, Kandyce Z (Kashmir Van Schuttershof x Hunter’s Scendro) was sold as well after an online bid from an Irishman, who attended the embryo auction a day earlier and also bought there.
Belgium’s Krystle Wienen, who sold the most expensive embryo out of Gancia de Muze in Dublin, invested in three interesting fillies at Sentower Park. For example, she purchased Bella Vita vd Nachtegaal Z (Balou du Reventon out of Cumano’s half-sister), and with these investments, new adventures may emerge again.
Flanders Foal Auction has two more auctions on the calendar this year: a foal auction on 16 September at Equestrian Centre Peelbergen and an embryo auction on 4 November at the beautiful Il Borro in Italy. More information: www.flandersfoalauction.be