Unique opportunity to buy Olympic stallion’s genes raises £11,500 to benefit injured children

Only in the horse world can semen sell for £11,500 – and the proceeds go to support sick and injured children.

At the Bolesworth Elite Auction on 18 November, a breeding to Olympic stallion Enjoy De La Mure was sold, in aid of the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund.

The French-bred 10-year-old, owned by HH Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s Al Shira’aa Farms, turned heads in Paris when he and the UAE’s Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi jumped clear to qualify for the individual Olympic showjumping final.

The 21-year-old rider and the Vigo Cece stallion, out of a Sable Rose dam, then won the FEI Zangersheide Sires of the World competition in Lanaken in September.

“Not available on the open market, this breeding was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the winning bidder, Adam Deering, owner of Carrera Stud, UK,” a spokesperson for the auction said.

The Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund is a charity founded in 1991 that provides free medical care to thousands of injured and ill children yearly. Mr Deering said he was very happy to support such a worthy cause.

“And to be able to use a stallion like Enjoy, is of course, a great opportunity,” he said.

“I have a lovely mare, Dackaria, the only daughter of DSP Chakaria, so I’m hoping to use the breeding on her.”

Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi, who was the winner of the Longines rising star title at this year’s FEI awards, said the stallion is an “exceptional” horse.

“Despite only sitting on him 10 months before the Olympics, we developed a special bond early on, winning the CSIO4* Sharjah Nations Cup presented by Longines and the Montefalco CSI4* Grand Prix,” he said.

Another £1,750, raised for a breeding to Tsunami De Hus, will also be donated to the charity.

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