Buying unborn foals

Pinkwellies2

Pinkwellies2

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 September 2007
Messages
1,738
Location
Back in Spare Room / Cheshire
Visit site
Following from another post about event stallions, there was a comment made that the foals due to Headley Britannia are already for sale. Is this a normal practise? Given that in an article in last weeks Daily Mail stated that these foals would be worth £30,000 each (i know papes can elaborate these things but they must have got a figure from somewhere) are there people out there who would spend that kind of money on the hope of getting something that may or may not has inherited its parents talent.
Please don't shoot me down, I'm not trying to critise or pass any judgement, its just I know nothing of breeding and selling at this level and was curious.
 
In Europe foals regularly change hands for these sums, but you are talking about the top of the top, the best of the best. If you take a look at the mare being discussed on another thread, she had an embryo taken in 2007 and the in utero foal has been sold for 25,000€ already, which in my opinion is a bit cheap. Think about it, the full sister of a top ten stallion crossed with Quidam de Revel (covering fee 7500€), the number one stallion in the world? If the foal comes out good and male, correctly conformed etc etc, then you've got yourself a serious stallion prospect, which might get approved by one of the credible stud books, most likely Holstein.

What you're getting with Brits foals, are offspring whose father AND mother will probably (fingers crossed, touch wood etc etc) be at the Olympics. I don't know how many times that has happened in history, but I think it's only once and this is it. I think that Ratina Z and Carthago Z were at the same Games, but Crown Z (their son) wasn't born yet. I think also that the same was acheived by Ratina Z and Dollar de le Pierre, but again Treasure Z wasn't born by then. It's an interesting story if you think about it, because Ellie Fredericks will be in the same position as Brits foals!

With regard to the price, that is correct, and I believe one of them is being sold right now, hopefully the in utero contract will be signed soon. Selling in utero can work very well for both sides, and can actually be beneficial for a buyer who doesn't want the aggro of owning the mare etc, but wants to benefit from the offspring.
 
So do you think most buyers who are in this market don't mind whether it's a filly or a colt? Or would the embryos have been scanned for sex (which I think I heard isn't very reliable, nothing like in humans for instance)?
 
Interestingly, I have just sold a foal in utero this afternoon, just after I called you. The owner doesn't seem bothered about gender. They bought the Dollar du Mûrier x Concorde x Ramiro Z, so get blood from a World Champion, a World top ten stallion and one of the all time greats.

In fact you can sex at 60 days, and it is supposed to be close to 100% reliable. Normally though when I'm selling my most expensive foals in utero, the buyers are looking specifically at the gender. The breeders are looking for fillies, whilst the stallion owners are looking for the colts.
 
I wouldn't mind a filly with those lines....
smile.gif


Slightly off the subject, in the results of the Fences auctions it says after some horses "Rachat" - does this mean the seller bought the horse back? And what is Amiable supposed to mean in the same column against some other horses?
 
Do they go for more or less money when sold in utero compared to once on the ground and then for the first few years?

Unless it offered a real saving I would be a little reluctant, just in case there are confirmation issues etc, but I assume when spending that sort of money they insure for such eventualities??
 
Rachat - means bought back (your french is getting good!) Amiable - means that after the sale, if the owner wants to sell, they have the opportunity to represent to horse immediately after the sale has ended and agree a price with possible buyers.

Generally "in utero" contracts are written so that everyone is protected. In the event that something horrible comes out (that doesn't include wrong colour!), or dead, the buyer is protected with the opportunity to take a foal of a similar value from that years crop, or to have the mare reinseminated with the same stallion for next years foal. The last thing we want is for a client to get screwed, and providing everyone is sensible about nature being occassionally unhelpful, everything can be acheived.
 
Thats actually quite a nice guaruntee, its a lot of money to part with when unseen, so covers any investment you would be making, shame I dont have that many £££ in my bank!
 
One of Tobago's foals (from his very first crop) is being sold 'in utero' at the moment. This is a foal from one of the mares AI'd with frozen semen in Belgium, but will be imported to the UK by the buyer at weaning.

'In utero' sales are not all that common, and generally only happen with fairly high-class horses, although there are exceptions.

In Tobago's case, the buyer did not mind what sex the foal was, but all sorts of things can be written into 'in utero' sales contracts, including sex, colour, etc. Basically conditions can include whatever the buyer and seller will agree on!

The advantage of buying an unborn foal is usually that the price is slightly lower (about 25% on average, but this varies a lot) than the same foal would be once it is born and can be viewed. But in some cases - such as Headley Britannia's - it is probably just a chance to secure in advance a foal that will be in great demand and will get snapped up very quickly!
 
I was asked to sell one of my foals in-utero last season. The buyer was not concerned as to the sex of the foal or the colour; she purely wanted a foal out of my mare and by my adorable stallion. The buyer was present when the foal was born and for the first few days of the foals life we were all happy.

I later changed my mind about selling this foal to her though. This foal is not any average foal; she is a high quality filly who is bred to work and that is what I want her to do. I did however offer an alternative (and quieter filly) and the buyer was perfectly happy with this arrangement.
smile.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top