From auction topper to sporthorse?

Investment or illusion? What became of the most expensive auction foals.

It is a trend of recent years: worldwide, foals and young horses are sold for astronomical amounts at auctions. Prices of 50,000, 100,000 or even towards the million are no longer an exception. But have these investments been worth their money? Have these promising foals lived up to their high price in the sport or breeding?

We took a look at the data on Hippomundo of foal auctions up to 2020 - because these horses are now old enough to take their first steps in the sport - and analyzed whether the outliers of +€50,000, proved to be worth their high price.

The absolute auction topper of the foal auctions through 2020 was Troy Z, the full brother of jumping phenomenon Darry Lou, who sold at the Zangersheide Quality Auction of 2019 for €127,000. He is now approved as a breeding stallion and, with a Hippomundo Rating of HR44, is among the better six-year-olds in international competition. Under the saddle of Abdullah Mohd Al Marri (UAE), he competes internationally for Al Shira'aa Stables.

©Helen Cruden - Troy Z

10 years ago we still looked up at foal prices above €50,000. But then the hammer did knock off at €75,000 for Didjy Doda Z, a colt from the first crop of Dominator Z, who has since reached the Black Type level and scores HR46p in the Hippomundo Ratings.

Also the auction topper (€72,000) of 2018 at the Zangerheide Quality Auction, Big Day Z, out of the Grand Prix mare MoM's Carlina, is already showing jumping qualities at 1.35 level at age seven.

These auction toppers set course for returns:

While a few notably expensive auction horses are well on their way to justifying their price tags, they remain the exception rather than the rule. Large numbers have yet to follow. The coming years will reveal whether these investments will pay off in the long run – in sport, breeding, or both. One thing is certain: identifying talent early on is always a risk, but sometimes it hits the mark perfectly.

Black Type for the happy few

Between 2000 and 2018, Hippomundo registered 4,149 foals sold through public auctions. To check the extent to which these investments also paid off athletically, we analyzed how many of these horses reached the level of Black Type - a designation for horses performing internationally at 1.45m level or higher. Since these foals are now at least seven years old, they had time to prove themselves in the sport. The chart below shows what percentage effectively developed into Black Type horses.

Success stories from the auction ring

Although most auction foals never reach the top, there are exceptions that proved well worth their price tag. These horses confirmed the potential people saw in them at the time.

Follow here the auction prices on Hippomundo, where you can click through to the pedigree of the auction horses?

Whether auction horses actually live up to their potential can also be seen in the results section on the Hippomundo homepage, where auction horses regularly appear among the results.