“I have a good feeling about tonight,” says Luk Van Puymbroeck and he claps in his hands. Gerald Lenaerts agrees: “The collection is really strong.” However, you only know if it’s a successful auction once the final bid is made. And successful it was on Saturday evening, August 10, at Sentower Park – extremely successful, in fact. Of the 38 foals offered, 37 were sold, generating nearly one million euros in total, with an average price of 26,865 euros. The auction highlights, sired by Ermitage Kalone and Comme il Faut, fetched the top prices of 64,000 euros, closely followed by a dazzling son of Zirocco Blue at 62,000 euros.
Auctioneer Louis De Cleene made a memorable entrance, riding one of two Belgian Blue heifers, but soon opted for solid ground and sold them to a buyer in the Netherlands.
The focus, of course, was on the foal collection, which was linked to the Olympic Games and even attracting riders who competed in Paris. Olympic champion eventing Michael Jung purchased two foals, while showjumping finalist Richard Vogel bid online and purchased Thoopie STM Z (Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve x Cornet Obolensky) for 28,000 euros. Thoopie STM Z is a three-quarter brother to the 1.70m Grand Prix stallion Tobago Z. The auction saw an unprecedented number of new online registrations, resulting in eleven foals sold via the internet.
Unbelievable VG (Zirocco Blue x Indoctro) was perhaps intended as the successor to his full brother, Island V G, for Kim Emmen, who was in attendance. Last year, she won silver at the Dutch championships at 1.60m level with Island V G, but this time, Italian buyers outlasted the competition and signed the contract for 62,000 euros.
Two foals for 64,000 euros
These same Italian buyers, who have been prominent at previous Flanders Foal Auctions, purchased the most expensive foals. Elite de Jolie Z (Ermitage Kalone x Calato), a half-sister to two 1.60m Grand Prix horses, and Comme Papa van het Oosthof Z (Comme il Faut out of a full sister to Emerald van ‘t Ruytershof) both fetched 64,000 euros.
Three fillies were sold for 36,000 euros each: Bluebelle van de Polderblues (Cornet Obolensky x Heartbreaker) out of the daughter of Quasibelle du Seigneur, Chantimena vd Nachtegaal Z (Carthago out of a 1.55m Grand Prix mare by Coronado I) and the last one of the night, Celeste RZ van ‘t Gelutt (Chippendale Z x Coriano), the three-quarter sister to Olympic mare Legacy ridden by Daniel Coyle. Celeste was sold over the phone to a buyer in the United States.
Other notable sales included 35,000 euros for Honey AEG Z (Heartbreaker), 34,000 euros for Unstoppable SL (Quel Homme de Hus) and 30,000 euros for Chic Chic van WW Z (Cumano).
Embryo auction
The Flanders Foal Auction team heads to Dublin next week for the fourth embryo auction on Friday, August 16, at the InterContinental Hotel, with another impressive lineup. The foals expected in 2025 are closely related to top Grand Prix horses. The collection is online now: https://flandersfoalauction.be/en/veiling/Flanders-Embryo-Auction-94.