PARIS Olympian Susie Berry tragically lost her Olympic mount Wellfields Lincoln in a field accident this week.

The 11-year-old gelding was owned by Sue Wilkinson and Anne Marling and achieved huge success with Susie in the saddle, including a CCI4*-S win at Little Downham in September 2022 and a third-place finish in the four-star long at Kronenberg in The Netherlands earlier this year, which saw them selected for the Paris Olympic Games where they finished in 31st place individually after three solid phases.

The pair made their five-star debut at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials earlier this month, retiring on the cross-country course after a run out. The Luidam gelding came to Susie’s yard at the end of 2018 as a five-year-old. “I am heartbroken. Anyone who knows me will know how much we all adored him. He will leave a huge hole in our hearts. Thank you Slinky for all the opportunities and memories,” Susie said.

Nations Cup horse sold

Michael G Duffy’s five-star Nations Cup winner Clitschko 17 has been sold to an unnamed American rider. Owned by Irishmen Carl Hanley and Niall Talbot, the 11-year-old gelding was produced at Hanley’s German stable since he was a five-year-old.

With Duffy in the saddle, he was part of the winning Irish team in the CSIO5* Nations Cup of Rome last year, as well as winning the Global Champions League at the 2022 Prague Playoffs. The pair were second in the four-star Grand Prix at the Sunshine Tour in Vejer de la Frontera in 2023, among many other top results.

Meanwhile, two-time Olympian Shane Sweetnam has added another talented Irish-bred horse to his string in Aoife McCabe’s six-year-old gelding KMS Ali. McCabe announced the sale of the Tyson chesnut, who she purchased as a foal, this week. Out of the Heartbreaker mare Windine, he was bred by Ivor Broderick and competed in the young horse classes at the Dublin Horse Show last month.