Embryo by the sire of Olympic champion Explosion W sells for a cool €90,000

Explosion W Hickstead bound: British Nations Cup team Hickstead Royal International. Ben Maher is on the British side, and is also entered for other classes with Explosion W — Explosion W, pictured at the Tokyo Olympics.

(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

An embryo by top showjumping sire Chacco-Blue sold for €90,000 (£78,824) to a buyer from the Emirates, who also snapped up a full sibling to H&M All In.

The embryo by the same sire as Ben Maher’s Olympic champion Explosion W, out of Nabab De Reve mare Kirby De Muze, was the subject of a bidding battle at the end of the Flanders Embryo Auction in Italy on 12 November.

Buyers at the Il Borro estate in Tuscany gathered in the wine cellar for the bidding, and the first embryo sold was the full sibling to Peder Fredricson’s double Olympic individual silver medallist H&H All In, by Kashmir Van Schuttershof out of Andiamo mare Fortune. This went for €38,000 (£33,267) to the Emirati buyer, who also paid €26,000 (£22,761) for a Cathago embryo, out of Venus, dam of Beezie Madden’s five-star grand prix winner Darry Lou.

Initiator and host Marco Debolini was delighted with the auction. “To be honest, normally speaking, embryo auctions are a little dull,” he said. “There is no reason for a lot of preparation or explanation. Anyone visiting an auction like that knows the story of Chacco-Blue by now. Our aim was to create a good atmosphere, to offer everybody a night never to forget. We Italians do not have such a powerful auction culture as you do, but having mixed various elements in combination with offering the very best embryos I expect that next year we will have an even more interested public!”

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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.

Embryo by the sire of Olympic champion Explosion W sells for a cool €90,000

Of 32 embryos up for auction, 29 were sold for an average €30,276 (£26,519). A Canadian buyer secured a Cash x Carthago embryo for €68,000 (£59,522), and a half-sibling to Emerald van ’t Ruytershof was sold to Italy for €60,000 (£52,520).

“The question whether Flanders Foal Auction wanted to organise an embryo auction on Italian soil did not take Luk Van Puymbroeck and Gerald Lenaerts long to respond to,” a spokesman for the sale organisers said. “It turned into an unforgettable occasion with prices you can only dream of.”

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