The existing concept of Flanders Foal Auction: auctioning on location and not just online remains a great success. For the seventh time, the team travelled to the Emirates, this time to a beautiful new venue, the Al Shira’aa Horse Show in Al Ain. Of the 25 soon to be born foals, 20 were sold, no fewer than 19 of them on site. The only online sale on Saturday 13 January was the auction top-seller with 42,000 euros, the Ermitage Kalone out of the FEI Nations Cup final winner Calleryama (Casall), ridden by Gilles Thomas. A loyal customer invested and this embryo will be born in France.
Grand Prix and even Olympic riders, top dealers, trainers and breeders were joining the bidding in the ‘oasis of the Emirates’. “We secured an average price of 17,600 euros and we are very pleased with that in the current market. By coming to the Emirates, we again got to meet several new customers but existing customers also took their chance. There was something for every wallet and they are happy with these realistic prices,” Luk Van Puymbroeck and Gerald Lenaerts tell us.
Al Shira’aa Horse Show packed heavily with dazzling shows, set a top atmosphere and auctioned off three coverings of showjumping stallions for charity. Top rider Christian Ahlmann takes the cover of Tsunami de Hus to Zangersheide.
The prices of the sold embryos ranged from 11,000 euros to 42,000 euros. Al Shira’aa Stables, which also has a professional breeding and sport stable in England, bought four. Among them for 38,000 euros was the Cardento out of 1.55m GP mare Cacacha van het Schaeck (Bamako de Muze), who is the dam of Like a Diamond van het Schaeck (1.65m GP) and daughter of the 1.60m GP mare Fortis Fortuna.
The enthusiasm for embryos from Grand Prix mares was overwhelming. Arabs had the winning bid of €26,000 for the Conthargos out of Baloucenta (Baloubet du Rouet), with whom Moufi Awaida Al Karbi competed in the 2022 FEI World Cup final in Omaha. That set the mood for the rest of the evening. The fact that more and more auctioned ‘Flanders embryos’ are performing in the sport in the Emirates is creating more and more confidence among riders. “We are looking forward to also seeing this collection here in the ring in the future.”
The next Flanders Embryo Auction will take place closer to home, at Sentower Park in Opglabbeek, Belgium. This group of embryos will also be very interesting and the auction takes place on 3 February.