As Hong Kong geared up for the second iteration of The Asia Horse Week earlier this year, the organisers of this unique equine expo added a surprise item to the programme – Asia’s first-ever auction of premium horse embryos.

Run by Arqana, the renowned French auction house, this inaugural event had 18 premium in-utero lots on offer, each derived from some of the world’s most illustrious show jumping bloodlines. In addition to the hopeful purchasers gathered within AsiaWorld-Expo, buyers the world over were offered the chance to partake via the miracle of online bidding to secure their very own future equine champion.

Right from the off – and much to the delight of an enthusiastic in situ audience – the digital bids flooded in. The first lot (Eldorado Van De Zeshoek x Coriana Van Klapscheut [Darco]) sold to a Canadian buyer for 41,000 euros (HK$367,770), the largest single bid of the night. By close of play, all horse embryos had been successfully auctioned off, with the evening’s takings totalling more than 416,000 euros (HK$3.7 million).