While discussing foal prices, one knowledgeable breeder recently said to me “blacktype is your only man.”

“We can no longer hope for miracles,” added another.

Their intention was to emphasise that buyers are looking not only at the performance of sires but that of first and second dams as well.

More and more across Europe, foal and embryo sales are going online. Along with looking at photos and videos of the lots, buyers can also research the blacktype performance by sire and dam from 1.45m up to 1.60m. In terms of the foal trade, this is a whole new world of information in which there is hardly any place to hide.

Quiet year

Here, on home ground, Balmoral, the RDS Breeders’ Championship and our many country shows have traditionally been the viewing places for buyers of foals. But in 2020, COVID-19 wiped out these venues.

According to the old saying: “It is an ill wind that blows no good.” The closing of these traditional outlets has led to greater online viewing, which in turn has led to greater scrutiny of background breeding through the availability of virtual information on foal sales not only here at home but across Europe as well.

Top prices

There was happy news from Stuart Clarke’s Elite Foal Sale at Cavan Equestrian Centre last September. The top price realised there was for a filly by Nick Skelton’s superb performer Big Star out of an Ard VDL Douglas dam that had performance listed back three generations.

This filly, owned by Matthew McBreen of Crosskeys, Co Cavan, made €17,500 and topped the sale. Overall there was a very satisfactory average of €8,900 for the 28 foals sold.

Interestingly, Matthew had employed the services of Emma McCabe’s Epic Management to advertise his filly through videos and full breeding details on social media platforms. So this is the new world of foal selling and the more blacktype showing up in a long pedigree the better. It is a long way from the days of “what do you want her by?” being an answer to a query about back breeding.

Top prices worldwide

I have heard of one Irish buyer paying over €40,000 for a foal online. This, plus the results from Cavan’s Elite Foal Sale prompted a look at similar sales across Europe.

The average price for top sire Coronet Obolenski’s foals last year was €15,881. The top price at the ET Winter Embryo sale was €24,000 for a foal by Comme il Faut, who was also by Coronet Obolensky and out of the great performance mare Ratina Z.

Blacktype performance matters.