On the 21st of September, The Showjumping Fund of the Netherlands (SFN), held a unique auction in which a number of the Netherland’s most high-profile Showjumping horses were put up for sale in an online auction.
Four horses were sold on to new owners, including Aquila SFN, previously ridden to Nations Cup level by Wout-Jan van der Schans, who was bought by a highly regarded French rider.
Of the other three horses sold, the six-year-old Ferrari SFN was purchased by a famous Belgian jumping stable, Djumpsina SFN moved to double Olympic gold-medallist Jos Lansink whilst Elmos’a Blue SFN, who has performed exceptionally under Wout-Jan van der Schans, was bought by the successor to the SFN, SFN II. As a result, Wout-Jan will continue to ride and train the promising seven-year-old.
In total the four horses sold for a combined total, including buyer’s premium and VAT, of €1,365,000.
The board of the SFN has, in the interest of the investors, decided to place the final bid of € 850,000 for SFN Zenith N.O.P. themselves, to ensure they retained ownership of the Champion horse.
As a World and European Championship gold-medallist, ridden by Jeroen Dubbeldam, it was decided by show jumping experts that the value of the bids for SFN Zenith N.O.P. were not in accordance with his quality and instead there will be a private sale of SFN Zenith N.O.P in the near future.
In general, with the majority of the bidders were from outside The Netherlands, and there was little interest from the Dutch to keep horses of such exceptional level within their ownership. This underlines the importance of an institution such as The Showjumping Fund of the Netherlands to support the future of Dutch produced competition horses.
During the auction, it appeared that there was little or no interest from the Dutch side to keep horses for the exceptionally high level of the sport. This once again underlines the importance of an institution like the SFN.
The SFN management are incredibly grateful for the support its shareholders have given the SFN and equestrian sport in The Netherlands during recent years.
Overview of sold horses:
Aquila SFN €750,000
Ferrari SFN €165.000
Djumpsina SFN €90,000
Eloma’s Blue SFN €70,000
Chuck Blue SFN Negotiations ongoing