The only full brother to the double Olympic dressage horse champion Valegro is to be sold at auction.
He will form part of the Excellent Dressage Sales catalogue for the auction on 30 July, which takes place in Ermelo, the Netherlands, during the Longines/FEI WBFSH World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses.
Auction organiser Joep Schellekens — husband of Dutch Olympic dressage rider Imke Schellekens-Bartels — told H&H: “This is the first time we will be including foals in the sale, and we knew we had to find 15 special ones.
Maartje & Joop Hanse with Lelegro and Maifleur. Lelegro is the full brother of Valegro (Negro x Gershwin)
“A few months ago we had the idea with the KWPN (Dutch warmblood society) to organise an auction during championships. This show in Ermelo is very international, with real horse people from all over the world.”
Lelegro is by the Ferro son Negro and out of Maifleur (Gershwin x Heidelberg), who is now 22 years old.
Excellent Dressage Sales has been running for three years and has — until now — only included ridden horses of three years old and over.
“As Imke’s husband we know a lot of riding horses, but not so many foals,” said Joep.
“But my colleagues are so impressed with this foal and everyone is excited to have family lines like this horse’s in the auction; everyone thinks Valegro is so incredible.”
Maartje & Joop Hanse with Lelegro and Maifleur. Lelegro is the full brother of Valegro (Negro x Gershwin)
The foal is being sold directly from his breeders, Martje and Joop Hanse.
“We visited the breeders and they were interested in promoting Lelegro to the world championships audience,” Joep said.
So how much will the foal fetch under the hammer next month?
Related articles:
- Lelegro: Valegro’s first full brother is born
- Carl Hester: I was unable to secure Uthopia myself
- Why Valegro terrifies judges and how H&H helped him stay in British ownership
“It’s completely open and there is no guide price,” Joep told H&H.
“Now that news of Lelegro is starting to be in the media, we are getting calls and emails for pictures and videos. The pictures and videos will be online next week for all the foals in the sale.”
Auctions are a hot topic in the dressage world at the moment following the sale of Carl Hester’s London 2012 ride Uthopia.
He was knocked down for £165,000 to a bidder at the auction in Northern Ireland. However, the winning bidder has yet to reveal their identity and the stallion is still at Carl’s yard in Gloucestershire.
