NEWS

Isabel Hurley

ihurley@theirishfield.ie

Goresbridge smashed all Irish sport horse records with returns totalling €3.3m from their flagship Go For Gold and Supreme Sale of Show Jumpers sales last week.

British Nations Cup winner Dougie Douglas (ISH) was sold to Malahide’s Barry O’Connor for €1.4m and is now destined for a new home in America. Bred by Limerick’s John O’Brien, the ARD VDL Douglas horse first passed through Goresbridge in September 2009 when he was knocked down to Britain’s Graham Smith for €5,800. The liver chesnut gelding is out of Neills Girl by High Roller and he is a half-brother to the progressive 2010 mare Up And Over, by OBOS Quality, out of a half-sister to the dam of international eventers One Two Many, Topwood Beau and Dassett Saratoga.

International affair

Buyers from all over Ireland, Britain, Europe and America attended the two midweek sales and another record price of €85,000 was achieved at the Go For Gold sale for the 10-year-old Hermes de Reve mare Gorsehill Pearl, bred by Co Wicklow’s Anne Bannon, and bought by international event rider Joseph Murphy, based in Co Down. The horse, campaigned throughout her career by Luke Drea, has competed at three-star level and has over 120 Show Jumping Ireland points. She went on the market at €75,000, having opened at €40,000.

Co Carlow’s Fred Scala achieved the next highest price at the eventing sale of €38,000 from Liza Jane MacNaughton, an owner at the Californian yard of Beijing individual silver medallist Gina Myles who accompanied her to the sale to buy Simba Della Caccia. The four-year-old came on the market at €30,000 and is by the Holstein stallion Singulaer out of the Swedish warmblood registered mare.

Meanwhile, top British event rider Oliver Townend sold the Irish-bred LCC Cooley and Peruising for €35,000 and €40,000 to Richard Sheane and Carol Gee respectively.

The average for the show jumping sale was €110,000 (including Dougie Douglas sale) and without the top lot was still a very respectable €45,225, while the average for the Go For Gold eventing sale was €22,100.

Goresbridge auctioneer Martin Donohoe said: “We left no stone unturned. It’s what we signed up to and we owed it to the vendors to do that. Trade was simply fantastic. You are talking €3.3m for the two sales – absolutely record-breaking figures, a fantastic shot in the arm for Irish breeders and producers. Clearance rates of 85% for the Go For Gold sale where the average was €22,100 – another incredible price.”

He paid tribute to Maurice and Felicity Cousin of Barnadown who provided top-class facilties for the sale and Horse Sport Ireland’s new international marketing director Elaine Hatton and her team for their help, as well as the selectors, who put together top-class catalogues.