THE gala dinner, which was very much a part of the Goresbridge Go For Gold select event horse sale pre-Covid, returns to the programme for this year’s renewal, which takes place at Barnadown and the Amber Springs Hotel from Monday, November 11th to Wednesday, November 13th.
This will be the first running of the sale with Ed and Siobhán Donohoe at the helm, while British 5* event rider and coach Nick Gauntlett FBHS has joined the selection team of Sally Parkyn, Chris Ryan and Nicky Roncoroni. Cementing a developing promotional partnership with Goresbridge Horse Sales, Connolly’s Red Mills are sponsoring Wednesday’s pre-auction welcome reception in the Amber Springs Hotel.
There is one withdrawal from the three-year-old section of the catalogue, leaving 61 horses foaled in 2021 to be sold following one six-year-old, nine five-year-olds and 17 four-year-olds. There are 12 fillies/mares listed and the vast majority of the lots are registered as Irish Sport Horses.
The catalogue features photographs of some of the top Go For Gold graduates and testimonials from some leading purchasers. These include Britain’s Max Warburton, who commented: “Go For Gold never disappoints and we have been very lucky to source some top class horses from the sale. It’s great to have pre-selected, quality horses in one place with excellent viewing and trial facilities. The Go For Gold sale is a date firmly in our diary.”
Last November, bidding on behalf of Karla Wheatfort, Warburton secured the top-priced lot, Tomás Doyle’s Monbeg Condor, for €87,000. This season, the now five-year-old Condios gelding recorded three wins, the last of these coming in the CCI1*-S at Blair Castle in August.
There will be a lot of interest among producers of young event horses in this country in how Co Meath’s John Bannon fares with his two unnamed entries in the sale, Lots 33 and 83, who finished first and sixth in the three-year-old potential event horse championship at the Dublin Horse Show.
The former, a black son of Rock ‘N Roll Ter Putte, is out of the Harlequin du Carel mare Lucys Harle, a half-sister to the Ard Allez Cat mare Wildcat Clover King (1.40m) and dam previously of the OBOS Quality 004 gelding PLS Somers Knight (1.40m). Bannon’s Lagans OBOS Quality gelding is out of the Maltstriker mare KEC Malta Safari, who comes from the family of KEC Alligator Alley (CSIO5*).
Ado Moran’s Tomgar Valour, who qualified for the same championship, comes up as Lot 29. One of three horses in the sale by Imnotafraid Fortuna, this gelding is out of the Lansdown mare Overton Whitby. The bay’s stable companion, Lot 49, is an unnamed gelding by Jacadello out of the Ramiro B mare Diro, whose previous produce includes the Dignified van’t Zorgvliet mare SRS Dignity (1.40m). The chesnut was bred by Barnadown’s Maurice Cousins.
Among other vendors with two or more lots in the sale are Brandon View Stud (Lots 31, 51 and 71), George Campbell (Lots 45 and 75), Frank Casey (Lots 52 and 82), H&J Sport Horses (Lots 28 and 38 (Cantona Kann, a Cantona TN gelding from the family of Boherdeal Cruise (CCI4*-S)), Niall O’Doherty (Lots 58 and 68) and Jack Warner (Lots 39 and 79).
It would be impossible to list all those with one horse in the sale, but I will mention Olga Scully, whose three-year-old Harlem Candy Man is due to come up as Lot 67. The Sligo Candy Boy gelding is out of the Russel mare Russel Angel, a half-sister to Future Storm (1.45m), Doonaveeragh Elise (1.40m) and Sportsfield Candy (CCI4*-S). Olga is one of the many hard-working, ever-helpful Main Arena stewards at the Dublin Horse Show.
Lot 67, Olga Scully's Harlem Candy Man is a half-sister to and Sportsfield Candy (CCI4*-S)
Monbeg form
Unlike the specialist point-to-point sales, where you could have three of the Doyle brothers selling under the Monbeg banner, Tomás has the stage to himself – and his wife Marti Rudd – in the sport horse sector.
The vendors of last year’s top-priced lot at the Goresbridge Go For Gold select event horse sale - the four-year-old Monbeg Condor - have a 10-strong consignment heading to this year’s renewal.
Of the six three-year-olds catalogued, five are geldings of whom two are home-bred, Monbeg Rubicon (Lot 34) and Monbeg Chacco (Lot 84), who are both sons of HHS Cornet. Rubicon’s dam is the actively-competing eight-year-old Diamant de Semilly mare Monbeg Ruby (1.40m), who comes from the family of Ballycapple Diamond Cruise (1.40m). Chacco is the second foal of the 2013 Chacco Blue mare Legaland Blue Angie (1.20m), a half-sister to Legaland Monbeg (1.40m) and Gold Flame Guy (CCI3*-L).
One of five produce in the sale by SHS Soco Blue, the grey gelding Lates Monbeg Pringle (Lot 64) is out of the unraced thoroughbred mare I Wish I Was (by Flemensfirth), who comes from the family of the dual Grade 1-winning hurdler Nobody Told Me.
The Connemara stallion Abbeyfield Comet is sire of the traditionally-bred Monbeg Comet (Lot 74), who is out of a Nigrasine dam.
Lot 84 is Monbeg Chacco consigned by Tomás Doyle who sold the top-priced lot in 2023
Powerful team
Meabh Bolger and Brian Flynn are a powerful enough team when selling on their own and they have six horses entered in the select event horse sale under their MBF Sporthorses banner.
Four of these are three-year-old geldings, the first of whom is MBF Can Dance (Lot 40). I am unaware of his breed type, but the bay is by Andiamo Semilly, while his dam is the Jenson van’t Meulenhof Z mare Julie van’t Prinsenveld (1.30m). The Lucky Luck bay MBF Lucky Find (Lot 50) is out of the Ars Vivendi mare TRSH Kiss Me Kate, a full-sister to Rocksy Music (CSI5*) and from the family of Krafty Jack (CCI3*-L).
Bolger and Flynn will be hoping some customers keep their powder dry until the last horse in the sale comes under the hammer. MBF Ivy Coast (Lot 90) is a striking black gelding by Rock ‘N Roll Ter Putte out of the Cinsey mare Lislan Cinsey, who comes from the family of Drumgiven Mr Charisma (CCI4*-S).
Bolger and Flynn are also selling five horses in partnership with Jason Higgins Sporthorses. Among the quartet of three-year-olds is the KWPN-registered MBF Rafelindo (Lot 70), a bay son of El Salvador, and MBF Touch Of Class (Lot 80).
This grey by Call Me Number One is out of the Cit Cat mare HHS Touch Of Class (1.40m), a half-sister to HHS Matilde (1.50m), A Touch Of Grey (1.40m), HHS California (1.45m) and HHS Leacourt Cavalier (CCI4*-L).
Higgins will be keeping an eye on his own El Salvacor O Z (Lot 76), a bay gelding by El Salvador out of a Contendro mare, and My Kingsman (Lot 56), who he is consigning with Mary Kehoe. This Castlefield Kingston gelding is out of the Colman mare Hadine van’t Zorgvliet (1.45m), dam previously of the Toulon stallion Tallmann TN (1.50m).
Higgins is consigning two geldings in partnership with Mary Bolger. Kilcannon Showman (Lot 46) is a grey son of Aganix du Seigneur out of Jacquitta (by Jack Of Diamonds), a full-sister to Jack Diamond (CSI4*) and a half-sister to Cast Away (CCI3*).
This is the immediate family of Sail Rain (1.40m). The Conthargos gelding CSF Kilcannon (Lot 86) is out of the Ars Vivendi mare CSF Lady At Last, a half-sister to the Cruising siblings WCE Cruco (1.60m) and WCE Falco (1.50m).