"Wonder-foal" sired by dressage champion arrives in thunderstorm

Colt's value at auction can only be guessed at

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Just over a year ago, under a rather colourful headline, we reported on a forthcoming happy event in the equestrian community in Finland, with the news that a single Finnish mare was to be inseminated with sperm from the world's finest dressage horse, the Dutch stallion Moorlands Totilas.
      The 11-year-old mare Asherah Ishtar from the Kirkkonummi-based RH Team decided on Monday morning that her confinement had gone on long enough, and she slipped her fourth foal out with a suitable sense of drama - the birth coincided with a short and violent thunderstorm for added theatrical effect.
     
But the birth by and of itself is likely to cause shock-waves, at least in Finnish equestrian circles.
      The colt that was born on Monday has a seriously powerful bloodline: he is the only Finnish offspring so far of Moorlands Totilas, and his value as a yearling - should he be put up for auction - could be colossal.
      Moorlands Totilas has taken the world of dressage by storm in recent years, elevating things to new and unheard-of levels, and the horse was the mainstay of the Dutch team, winning gold at the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games under the direction of rider Edward Gal.
     
The stallion's sale last October caused almost as much of a sensation as its performances in the show-ring.
      It was bought by a German breeder, and whilst the actual price has not been disclosed, rumours have put it at anything between EUR 10 million and EUR 25 million.
      The expectation is that Moorlands Totilas will be bringing Germany - and not The Netherlands - a bankable gold medal from the 2012 London Olympics, but first the horse will have to demonstrate its supremacy once again at the European Dressage Championships in August.
     
Asherah Ishtar's owner Tarja Malmström hopes the new Moorlands offspring, currently known familiarly as "Totti", but to be given a name in June, will become a show horse like its sire.
      The foal will remain on the stud in Kirkkonummi for at least six months before any decision on his sale is made, but in the case of a colt such as this, it seems more likely that he will be heading abroad than that a buyer will be found from Finland.
      A group has also been set up on Facebook under the title "Totilas Foals 2011", allowing users to follow the first crop of colts and fillies sired by the wonder-horse.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Super-stallion´s semen is talk of the day in Finnish equestrian circles (23.3.2010)

See also:
  Video: "Totti" goes for a run at the tender age of one day (voiceover is in Finnish)

Links:
  More images of the mare and foal (Copyright Tarja Malmström; all rights reserved)
  RH-Team (site in Finnish)
  Moorlands Totilas (Wikipedia)

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