THE two top-priced lots at the recent Goresbridge select sale of three-year-old show jumpers were fillies and there are 12 fillies or mares catalogued in the upcoming Goresbridge Go For Gold select event horse sale.

The sole five-year-old among them is Jenny McCann’s home-bred BeeGee Cruise (Lot 9), a chesnut daughter of Valent out of the traditionally-bred Cruising Galway Girl, a Cruising full-sister to Mr Cruise Control (CCI5*-L). BeeGee Cruise has 21 Showjumping Ireland points to her credit and has competed in arena eventing competitions.

Higgins Sporthorses and Aoife Dooley consign The Dane (Lot 16), a four-year-old Echonix half-sister to the 1.40m performers GCS Rosie (by Luidam) and GCS Gold Rush (by Singular LS La Silla) from the family of MHS La Salla (1.50m) and Ballypatrick Mystique (1.45m). By the popular Tyson, Alyson Keane’s 2020 bay TDS Moonbeams Strength (Lot 20) is out of a Balou du Rouet half-sister to the Don VHP Z mare Paris 16 (1.50m).

Of the nine three-year-old fillies due to come under the hammer, Tomás Doyle’s home-bred Monbeg Tiara (Lot 44) is a real eye-catcher. The chesnut with four white legs is by Emerald van’t Ruytershof out of the Ulysses M2S mare Hacondia M2S/Monbeg June. Trevor Horgan’s home-bred unnamed Lucky Luck bay (Lot 53), who is out of a Castlecomer Q mare, has already proven herself in competition by qualifying for the potential young event horse championship at the Dublin Horse Show, where she finished third.

John Widger’s home-bred Grantstown Contendro (Lot 61) is a Colandro half-sister to the KEC Maximum Joe mare Grantstown Cooley (CCI3*-S); Higgins Sporthorses and MBF Sporthorses are due to sell MBF Tallow (Lot 66), a chesnut by Conthargos out of Kilmountain Saphira (1.40m); and the second last three-year-old in the sale, Angus Rothwell’s Ballyorrill Dignified (Lot 89), is a grey by Dignified van’t Zorgvliet out of an unraced thoroughbred mare from the family of Helynsar (seven wins) and Eddie Wee (nine wins).

Sharon Power’s Grantstown Dun And Dusted, who has had much success with Patrick Whelan including winning the CCI1*-Intro at Ballindenisk International, is due to come up as Lot 1 \ Pam Cunningham/Irish Eventing Times

Dun deal

If you want to buy a dun at the upcoming Goresbridge Go For Gold select event horse sale, you will have to be in position early as Sharon Power’s Grantstown Dun And Dusted is due to come up as Lot 1.

And, if you want to buy a horse with form, particularly for an amateur or junior rider, you will have to bid swiftly as this sole six-year-old in the sale has won two CCI1*-Intro classes (at Lisgarvan and Ballindenisk in the autumn) and finished fourth on his only other start at this level (at Kilguilkey House in late June). The Mermus R gelding is out of a Connemara mare by Coral Misty’s Bobby.

There are eight five-year-old geldings catalogued, starting with Tomás Doyle’s Monbeg Winston (Lot 2), who is a half-brother to the Lux Z mare ESI Florence (1.50m). The flashy Winston bay has an excellent record on the national young horse show jumping circuit, while he also competed in Spain during the spring. Two of these five-year-old geldings are grey, viz Grainne O’Brien’s Bulimba Edition Uno (Lot 3), who is by Van Gogh out of a Cruising mare and has both show jumping and eventing experience behind him, and Daniel O’Sullivan’s KWPN-registered Obailey (Lot 5), a son of Interest from the family of Mister Acobat (1.60m).

Rory Costigan’s home-bred GRC Perhaps (Lot 7) is a Vivant van de Heffinck half-brother to the Tadmus gelding GRC Tadmus (1.50m), while Richard and Daisy Trayford’s Tyson bay Industrial Action (Lot 8) won the Eventing Discovery class at Millstreet, an EI90 at Ballindenisk and finished fifth in the EI100 national championship at Kilguilkey House.

J.J. Bowe’s Odyssey Island (Lot 14), a chesnut Island Commander gelding, won his young event horse series qualifier at Scarteen with Ciara O’Connor \ Tadhg Ryan / Bit-Media

Geldings

The top-priced lot at the 2023 Goresbridge Go For Gold select event horse sale was a four-year-old gelding, Monbeg Condor (by Condios), and this year’s catalogue has 15 such animals listed, including three who are being consigned by the same vendor, Tomás Doyle.

Two of the trio are greys, Monbeg Dunard Blue (Lot 11), a son of Zirocco Blue VDL, who has competed in four-year-old classes jumping double clears, and the traditionally-bred Monbeg Kahlua (Lot 24), who is by Cruisings Ambassador out of a Carrick Diamond Lad mare. The Sligo Candy Boy gelding Monbeg Can Do (Lot 18), who stands out as he’s brown, won a DAFM four-year-old development class and was placed at Balmoral.

Maebh Bolger and Brian Flynn have two four-year-olds entered, their own MBF Caeser Rocket (Lot 12), a Tullabeg Fusion bay, who finished fourth in the Eventing Discovery class at Millstreet and is out of the Romaro mare Breemount Rocket (1.40m), and MBF Killoran (Lot 22) a Lagans OBOS Quality bay they are consigning in partnership with Higgins Sporthorses.

David Harrison is consigning Mosstown Julio (Lot 13), a home-bred OBOS Quality 004 gelding, who competed in the Stepping Stones to Success league, while other bay four-year-olds include Brianna Halliday’s Monbeg Lagoon (Lot 19), a son of HHS Cornet out of a half-sister to HHS Leacourt Cavalier (CCI4*-L) and HHS A Touch Of Class (1.40m) and J.P. Meegan’s Coirban Prince (Lot 25), a For Kinmar Hero Z half-brother to the OBOS Quality 004 siblings Quality Street (1.45m) and Carra Lux Quality (1.40m).

One of the few Traditional Irish Horses in the sale is J.J. Bowe’s Odyssey Island (Lot 14), a chesnut Island Commander gelding, who won his young eventhorse series qualifier at Scarteen, finished sixth in the four-year-old working hunter class at Dublin and was fourth in his age at the Lisgarvan international.

Another chesnut is Peter Smyth’s Urbalreagh Knockalla (Lot 21), who is by A Quidam M out of a Mermus R half-sister to Diamonds Courage (1.45m), while another is Storm Causeway (Lot 27). Dorothy Dowling’s home-bred by Island Commander is a half-brother to the Go For Gold graduate Sadlers Clover Storm (CCI2*-L), out of a Stormhill Miller full-sister to Doctors Orders (CCI4*-L).

There are three grey four-year-old geldings catalogued, starting with Steve and Georgie Jones’s Classicals Jerpoint Will (Lot 15), a son of HHS Cornet, who won his Dubarry Burghley young event horse qualifier at Millstreet, where he also finished second in the four-year-old Eventing Discovery final having won his qualifier en route.

The other pair are unnamed viz Northlawn Farm’s Lot 17, who is by SHS Soco Blue out of the Glidawn Diamond mare Cavalier Teaca (1.50m), and Trade Horse Ltd’s Lot 23, who is by Cruising With Diamonds out of a point-to-point-winning Insatiable mare, whose own dam was by Beau Charmeur, sire of Karen O’Connor’s Olympic ride Biko.