A proven pedigree is the primary requirement for inclusion in the Flanders Embryo Auction catalogue, but today’s market may be looking for something extra: the chance of a distinctive color. One month ago, the most expensive embryo at the Flanders Embryo Auction in Abu Dhabi sold for €52,000, not only because it came from a 1.60m Grand Prix mare, but also due to the possibility of an Appaloosa coat, with J-Nius V.V. Z as sire.
Then there is Ping Pong van de Lentamel, the piebald 5* Grand Prix winner ridden by Gerrit Nieberg. The breeder gave Flanders the opportunity to auction his full brother or sister. The foal, due in May, will not have far to travel, as a Belgian investor purchased the embryo on site at MET Oliva for €50,000.
The new venue delivered everything Flanders Embryo Auction had hoped for: a beautiful and atmospheric setting, many new clients and a strong sales percentage. Of the 24 embryos offered, 19 were sold to buyers from ten different countries: 12 on site, one by telephone and six online.
“Now we just need Spanish clients, because there weren’t any,” joked Luk Van Puymbroeck and Gerald Lenaerts. “We absolutely intend to return to MET Oliva. This was a very successful auction. With embryo auctions, you never quite know what the response will be, but the atmosphere was incredible, we were fully booked in terms of tables and buyers purchased wisely. Many of these embryos will already be born soon!”
The retired HH Azur (Thunder vd Zuuthoeve), still the world’s highest-earning showjumping mare with McLain Ward, produced the second most expensive embryo. Luk Van Puymbroeck sold this Darry Lou embryo for €40,000 over the phone to an American lady.
A Czech buyer on site secured the United Touch S embryo out of the 1.50m level showjumping mare Exquise Lulu (Guarana Champeix) for €30,000. The dam line includes both a mother and grandmother who competed at 1.60m Grand Prix level.
British showjumper Philip Spivey, who has brought eight horses to MET Oliva, had his eye on the Heartbreaker x Nabab de Rêve embryo. Not only because it is bred out of New Classic (1.50m level), the half-sister of United Touch Z (1.70m GP), Zypria S (1.70m GP) and Deauville (1.60m GP), but especially because it is by Heartbreaker. “I had Romanov, the Heartbreaker who later won a 5* Grand Prix with Bertram Allen. A phenomenon and I dream of having another horse like that. If not for myself, then for my fourteen-year-old daughter.”
From a pedigree perspective, it is a strong investment: great-granddam Cantate Touch jumped at 1.60m Grand Prix level and produced two 1.60m Grand Prix horses. The great-great-granddam is the famous Classic Touch, a phenomenon under Ludger Beerbaum and the dam of both a 1.60m and a 1.55m Grand Prix horse.
For €28,000, a Comme Il Faut embryo out of Inka van ’t Roosakker (Calvaro Z) was purchased on site by clients from Poland. Inka has already produced four Grand Prix horses (one at 1.70m level, one at 1.60m level and two at 1.50m level).
All prices can be found at:
https://flandersfoalauction.be/en/veiling/Flanders-Embryo-Auction-comes-to-Spain