THURSDAY night’s elite foal sale in Cavan, held in conjunction with their Cavan Indoor Championships, was a boost for the industry with a turnover of €307,000 for 21 foals. Add that figure to six days of trade at the bumper Goresbridge September Sales and the turnover for sport horses at public auction in Ireland over the last week totalled €2.85 million.

Despite getting off to a flying start, the three-year-old trade at Goresbridge earlier this week was tough going. It is quite a worry to read in Sally Parkyn’s report on page 80 (results on pages 81-83) that nearly half of the three-year-olds brought to the sale were sold for less than €3,000. That leaves breeders and producers with little or no profit. However, the good horses sold well and there will always be a market for those standouts.

Breeders were duly rewarded on Thursday night, with 14 of the 21 foals sold for a five-figure sum. You can see the full results and report on page 84.

There were a number of unfortunate event clashes last weekend. None more so than the Eventing Ireland Nationals Championships and the Dressage Ireland National Championships, where there would have undoubtedly been a cross over of certain members.

Margie McLoone reports on both events mentioned above, which weren’t without their own issues, between the pages of 88 and 93. Also clashing was the TIHA performance championships in Mullingar where the entry also looks to have suffered from the schedule squash (see page 86-87). The competition calendar is only getting busier every year but is it in the best interests of competitors and horses?

Flag bearer

Congratulations to Michael Murphy who had the honour of being one of the Irish flag bearers at the Paralympic closing ceremony last Sunday. His teammate, Sarah Slattery, had a whirlwind morning on Saturday when she got a last-minute call up to ride the Freestyle in Paris and finished in seventh place. Listen to Sarah talk about her road to para dressage, the sacrifices she and her family made to get to Paris, and what is next for her on The Irish Field podcast (scan the QR code on page 77).