The sale of Irenice Horta is an exceptional opportunity for any breeder, especially as just a day earlier embryos out of absolute top mares had sold for €88,000 and €84,000. Irenice Horta herself placed seventh at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon with Lorenzo De Luca, achieved top placings with Cian O’Connor, has already produced two 1.60m and two 1.50m Grand Prix horses and she has a 1.60m Grand Prix dam herself. Mares so thoroughly proven on all fronts rarely come onto the market.
Immediately after Irenice Horta, her high-quality filly foal Coeur d’Irenice Z (Cero Blue TN) was sold online to America for €64,000. “We’re happy we could reward the trust of the consignor with these prices. We remain primarily a foal and embryo auction, of course, but we couldn’t pass up such a unique opportunity. The new owners are going to be very happy with these mares,” said Luk Van Puymbroeck and Gerald Lenaerts.
Average of €23,100
A total of 34 foals were sold to fifteen different countries for an average price of €23,100. The average price for a filly was €27,500, and for a coltl €20,050. Eleven times an online bidder won the auction; all other times a champagne bottle could be handed over on-site. Spain leads with six purchases, followed by England with five. France and the Netherlands each bought three foals, followed by America, Ireland, Germany and Poland with two foals each.
Investing for the sport
Among the buyers were 5* Grand Prix riders as well as investors, such as Luis Javier Gonzalez, a Mexican living in Madrid. He came to the Flanders Foal Auction for the second time, this time securing five foals with the aim of developing them for sport with his riders Sergio Alvarez Moya and Angela Gonzalez Muñoz. “The pedigrees here are strong, but the foals also appeal in type and canter. The best damline is no guarantee and there are always surprises in this sport, but we find it an interesting concept to start with foals and then develop them for sport.”
Among the foals heading to Spain are Catoki van de Eijkhof Z (Catoki x Kassander van ’t Roosakker), granddaughter of Panama du Seigneur, for €44,000, and Elena E4U Z (Ermitage Kalone x Diamant de Semilly) out of the full sister to Emerald for €32,000.
Top rider Philipp Weishaupt also signed for several foals, including Z-Festival winner Audi Z (Aganix du Seigneur x Chacco Blue) for €32,000. Audi’s dam is a half-sister to the stallion Jaguar vd Berghoeve, participant at the World Equestrian Games with Matthew Sampson.
For €32,000 each, the filly foals Bibi v/d Nachtegaal Z (Balou du Reventon x Cracker Jack), out of the half-sister to Cumano and Chamau ter Selle van ’t Vlasmeer (United Touch S x Ludwig von Bayern) are heading to France and Switzerland respectively. Flanders Foal Auction will return to Sentower Park on September 20 for the last foal auction of the year, followed by the next embryo auction on November 1 in Samorin.