Embryo auction proves fruitful for Breen
The Flanders Embryo Auction has become an unmissable event for many Irish and overseas visitors to the Dublin Horse Show. Last year, the third edition of the auction was held at The InterContinental Hotel after the prestigious Nations Cup and attracted a large audience and many motivated buyers, including Irish international show jumper Shane Breen.
Breen had indicated beforehand that he had his eye on Golden Hawk’s embryo (a stallion he rode with much success at 1.60m Grand Prix level) out of Michael Duffy’s incredible 1.60m Grand Prix mare Cinca 3, and he was successful in securing it at €42,000.
The fact that Cinca 3 jumped two rounds for Ireland in the Aga Khan Nations Cup with only one foot in the water just a few hours earlier, further confirmed her quality. “It’s not something that I normally do, buying embryos, because obviously you can’t see them - but with Michael Duffy’s mare, we’ve done a lot of shows together and I really liked her, and obviously I know Golden Hawk very well so I was very drawn to it. I just thought that that those two families together would be extremely interesting. “With Golden Hawk getting older, I had thought I would like a son of his so we’re very fortunate in the sense that it is a colt. It’s a beautiful, beautiful type and he’s a real character. He’s kind of the leader of the foal group. I wouldn’t be able to predict whether that foal is going to be stallion material, but he definitely does look the part at this point so hopefully he can carry on Golden Hawk’s legacy.”
Breen said he would go down the embryo route again if the right families were involved to catch his eye. He said the process was very straightforward and that breeders should be aware of other cost factors such as transporting the recipient mare and insuring the pregnancy if that was the route they chose to go down. In total, 80% of the 2023 collection was sold on the night with the sale topper, a Cardento out of Gancia de Muze embryo, attracting a whopping €56,000. The average price was €28,772.“ It was an incredible result. It was a very strong collection and it was greatly appreciated.
The Irish are clearly interested in bringing home strong damlines. By buying these embryos, they can call themselves breeders next year, which is also interesting. “This will allow these foals to compete in Irish championships in the future and that is a big thing here. The embryos have been sold to top riders, investors and breeders,” Gerald Lenaerts and Luk Van Puymbroeck of Flanders auctions said.
The top lot, a Gancia de Muze embryo by the sire Cardento, was secured by a Northern Irishman and Gancia’s owner Krystle Wienen was there to witness the price skyrocket for an embryo of her mare’s for the second year in-a-row. This 1.70m Grand Prix mare was bought by Wienen when she was six and she went on to win several million euros in prize money. Now retired from international competition, she is available for breeding. The second most expensive at €45,000 was the Emerald embryo out of the Olympic mare Zeremonie (Cero I), who has been so successful with America’s Laura Kraut. At €37,000, the Chacco Blue x Darco mare Geena (1.55m GP) embryo was also sold while the full sibling of 1.65m Grand Prix horse Like a Diamond vh Schaeck (Diamant de Semilly x Bamako de Muze) delivered €36,000. The Diamant de Semilly x Guidam out of the same dam as Cian O’Connor’s Olympic jumper Kilkenny fetched €35,000.
Return buyer Donnacha Doyle of Wexford said he came back to the auction in 2023 after first securing an embryo from Flanders five years ago and being thrilled with the foal. That now four-year old is being targeted at the Breeders Classic at Barnadown next month. “We were so happy with that foal and how easy the process was that we went back and bought four more last year and we are very excited about the foals we now have on the ground.” he said. “I normally breed all Thoroughbreds and we are predominantly a point to point operation so this has been something of an experiment but it’s been great. It’s a fantastic way to get into involved with those big pedigrees. You’d never be able to buy them otherwise unless you got in at that early stage and it’s a very straightforward process so I’d encourage anyone considering it to give it a go.”
This year’s auction will be held at The InterContinental Hotel, Ballsbridge, on Friday, August 16th, at 8pm. Find the lots on offer here.
Embryo auction proves fruitful for Breen