“I’m looking forward to it. A good price is nice, because I’m a professional breeder, but I also truly hope they end up in a good sport stable and that I hear back about them,” says the Dutchman who runs Stal Eijkhof in Roggel.
His connection with Flanders Foal Auction goes back at least eight years. “My first foal went to Canada. My most expensive one was sold by Flanders last year for €72,000, a Carrera x Aganix du Seigneur out of the half-sister to Million Dollar. And yes, today in Oliva I have two embryos here as well. I have around twenty pregnancies each year. During the winter I try to sell ten as embryos. In spring, ten foals are born. I often keep two and sell eight, usually through auctions such as Flanders Foal Auction.”
Frank van Eijkelenburg has been active in breeding for thirty years and was one of the first to embrace ET and ICSI techniques. “Eighty percent of my foals are born through ET or ICSI. I don’t cut corners on costs. We manage the mares ourselves and I work with Avantea and Koen Carrein of Equilife Reproduction Center. I want to have control over the recipient mares myself and I have strict requirements for them. They must have sufficient size and body length, a large uterus and be between 4 and 13 years old. The risk of losing an embryo increases as they get older.”
Commercial success ultimately depends on the quality of the foals and their pedigrees, he explains. “I learned a lot from Mark Kluskens and Luc Henry from who I also bought Inka van ’t Roosakker. Tonight, I have a Comme il Faut out of her in the auction. The other is a United Touch out of Goodnight du Cedre, Spain’s six-year-old champion and a daughter of top mare Dubai du Cedre, who won the 5* Grand Prix of Doha last week.”
“I only want to breed with mares that have already produced sport horses or are young and show exceptional jumping ability themselves. I also often consult with my rider, Bo op den Drink, who rides several mares for me and is co-owner of horses. We set the bar high, exactly what Flanders Foal Auction does as well. That’s why we always like to contribute something. Flanders goes for quality. They invest heavily in promotion, seek out the best clients and provide excellent aftercare. It’s also the only auction that sets conditions for recipient mares. They always ask you to send a photo of the recipient mare and want you to recheck the pregnancy before delivering the mare. That’s how it should be. They do their best, so I have to do mine as well.”