MHS Going Global has been sold to Greek shipping heiress Athina Onassis in a multi-million euro deal, Greg Broderick and Lee Kruger have confirmed.

Onassis and her advisers, Jan Tops and wife Edwina Alexander Tops, flew into Ireland on a private jet to view and ride the Irish Sport Horse at Broderick’s Ballypatrick Stables near Thurles in Co Tipperary two weeks ago and the sale completed yesterday.

MHS Going Global, the most high profile Irish-bred show jumper of the modern era, was jointly owned by Canadian Lee Kruger and Broderick, who produced the gelding from the age of five right up to last summer’s Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Broderick refused to be drawn on the sale price, saying only that, based on his performances, MHS Going Global was one of the top five horses in the world.

However it is believed that MHS Going Global could have been sold for in the region of €10-12 million, which would make him not only the most expensive show jumping horse ever sold out of Ireland but also one of the most expensive in the world.

It is believed that MHS Going Global could have been sold for in the region of €10-12 million

Jan Tops was previously involved in the sale of Palloubet d’Halong, which set a record price of €11 million in 2013. Sold to Qatari rider Ali Yousef Al Rumaihi, Palloubet d’Halong was billed as the most expensive show jumper in the world.

A keen show jumper, Athina Onassis is well known in both show jumping and society circles, being the one surviving descendent of the Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. She is also the sole heir to the fortune of Aristotle’s daughter Christina who was her mother.

The trio of Onassis, Jan Tops and Edwina Alexander Tops flew into Shannon and viewed MHS Going Global at Ballypatrick Stables, jumping him at the Thurles yard as both Lee Kruger and Greg Broderick watched on.

Onassis then sent her own veterinary surgeon to Ireland, again by private jet, to oversee the vetting process at Kedrah House Stud and veterinary clinic in Cahir.

Onassis, accompanied by Jan Tops and Edwina Tops Alexander, flew into Shannon on a private jet to view and ride MHS Going Global

Bloodwork and other tests were carried out on MHS Going Global before the sale was completed on Thursday of this week, with the bay gelding leaving for his new home in Holland today, Friday.

MHS Going Global has been owned by Canadian Lee Kruger and Broderick since 2011, having been bred by the late Ita Brennan at Mill House Stud in Gowran, Co Kilkenny. By Quidam Junior I (KWPN), MHS Going Global is out of Gowran Lady (ISH), by Cavalier Royale (HOLST).

INHERITANCE

His new owner Athina Onassis was known as “the richest little girl in the world” following her mother’s tragic death when she was just three years old. Her inheritance was the subject of intense speculation but believed to be in excess of $1 billion and include gold bars, a baby food factory, as well as Skorpios island, where Aristotle’s wife Jackie (Kennedy) Onassis stayed to avoid paparazzi.

Onassis began riding horses as a small child and at the age of 17 she moved to Brussels, Belgium, to ride professionally. She trained with Brazil’s Nelson Pessoa, where she met her future husband Brazilian rider Alvaro (Doda) de Miranda Neto.

Athina went on to represent Greece in the 2013 European Championships and she also competed in the 2014 World Championships. Most recently, she jumped at the five-star Global Champions Tour show at Doha, Qatar in early October, competing in the 1.60m Grand Prix and 1.50-1.55m Table A competition.

Onassis and Doda de Miranda were married in 2005 but separated earlier this year, amid reports that Doda had an affair with another woman.

The pair are in the midst of an acrimonious divorce, with courts in Belgium involved in ownership debates over horses they held together under the AD Sport Horses banner. De Miranda has been prevented from riding Cornetto K, the horse on which he finished ninth individually in front of a home crowd at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

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