The Flanders Embryo Auction at the Italian chateau & relais Il Borro attracted worldwide attention and closed with great sales on Saturday evening 18 November. The average price was lower than last year, entirely as expected. “The market has become more realistic,” say Luk Van Puymbroeck and Gerald Lenaerts. “But in terms of price/quality, we sold well. These are going to be satisfied customers.”
After being received in the wine cellars of Il Borro, the international guests headed to the magnificent Amphitheather, where the auction took place for the second time. Once again, it was a confirmation for the Flanders Foal Auction team how important it is to auction on location, since the majority – as in Dublin earlier this year – were sold on the spot. Only two embryos fell into the hands of online bidders.
Most of the spectacle was in the second half of the auction. A present Belgian customer, who had previously captured interesting ‘Flanders’ fillies, bought the embryo of Catoki out of the 1.70m Grand Prix mare Gancia de Muze (Malito de Reve) for 52,000 euros. A loyal customer from the Emirates bought four embryos, including the Diamant de Semilly out of Azuela de Muze (Heartbreaker) for 40,000 euros and the Ermitage Kalone out of Balou du Reventon’s half-sister for 36,000 euros. Finally, Balou du Reventon out of the 1.60m Grand Prix winner Askaria was auctioned for 62,000 euro.
“There were some excellent prices, but what we predicted came true. The hype and extremely high prices may be a thing of the past, since everyone is becoming a bit more realistic, both breeders and buyers. The exclusivity due to the large number of embryos being made and the amount of auctions, though, has decreased. Nevertheless, we are convinced that there is a market for such interestingly bred embryos, because some exceptional showjumpers will be coming out of this group. We also feel honoured that so many regular customers came to Il Borro and invested here,” say Luk Van Puymbroeck and Gerald Lenaerts.
French customers bought the embryo by Heartbreaker out of Spruce Meadows winner Candy for 32,000 euros, additionally, there were sales to Monaco, Mexico, Ireland, Switzerland and, of course, Italy. The cheapest embryos went for 14,000 euros, which auctioneer Louis De Cleene found so interesting that he sold the Emerald x Mylord Carthago out of the family of Ben Maher’s Cella to himself for this price.
The next Flanders Embryo Auction is scheduled for Saturday 13 January at the Emirates. After successful auctions in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, it will take place at the international 4* show in Al Ain, one hour drive from Dubai. “It’s going to be beautiful. Our UAE auction partner Al Shira’aa Stables is also the organiser of this. A new venue with new potential customers. We are already collecting the new collection.”