REPEAT customers are a good indication of a stallion’s worth and among the breeders preparing to use the Cornet Obolensky son Cobra 18 again is international show jumper Jessica Mendoza.

Mendoza was one of the first clients, alongside Harry Marshall and Diane Harron Eakin, to select the well-bred stallion when he was bought by established breeder, producer and successful businessman Tony Noble and made available to Irish and overseas breeders.

“Cobra 18 has everything I look for in a top-class sport horse stallion – impeccable breeding, proven ability to the highest level and offspring already proving to be of world-class standard. The combination of Cornet Obolensky and Ramiro Z is a showjumper’s dream and I also love the fact that he is 49% TB, so will also carry through the speed and stamina required to win at the highest level. I’m really looking forward to seeing my Cobra 18 foal this year!’ said Mendoza in 2017.

She was so impressed by the resultant colt foal that she plans a repeat covering: “Cobra 18 was a real find as a stallion for us. He’s really well-bred on both sides but as a mare owner you are never quite sure how the progeny will turn out. But we are really delighted. Cobra 18 has brought quality, blood and height to the foal. A real modern type with good bone but more importantly for us, the jump has come through. The foal is 100% athlete. We are going to use Cobra 18 again.”

Another from his 2017 foal crop made her mark at the Irish Breeders Classic elite sale last September when this smashing filly foal sold for €10,000. Her sale built on the stallion’s increasing popularity as a producer of commercial show jumping and eventing foals. Another to make a good financial return was the Cobra 18-Master Imp colt sold for €5,500 at the Cavan Elite foal sale in 2016.

While the oldest of Cobra 18’s Irish crops are just rising two-year-olds, one of the very small number of progeny he sired as young horse is already jumping on the 1.60m international show jumping circuit.

The spectacularly scopey Dublin (Cobra 18 x Calido) is part of the world number one-ranked rider Kent Farrington’s team and the pair first made headlines last March with a Florida win in the CSI5* $130,000 Suncast 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic Final. Since then, Dublin has recorded nine top-three placings on the CSI5* and Global Champions Tour circuits, including at Spruce Meadows last July where the 11-year-old clocked up a win, two seconds and a third place in 1.50m classes there.

Dublin continued to notch up other good results at Valkenswaard (second) and Windsor (third) before finishing up 2017 at the Tryon autumn series where he placed third in two classes.

Dublin and American world number one Kent Farrington (Photo: Sportfot)

Continuing where he left off, the extravagant-jumping grey has already got off the mark with a win at Wellington in January. Dublin was from a small number of mares covered by Cobra 18 as a four-year-old before concentrating on his own show jumping career.

Congstar, produced with great success in German young horse classes by Tim Rieskamp-Goedeking, was another of his early offspring. A career-ending injury in 2014 brought about Cobra 18’s retirement to stud. “During this time, he jumped to international 1.50m level, but what was the sport’s loss is the breeders’ gain,” say his connections.

WORLD FAMOUS

Cobra 18 was bred at the world-famous Ligges Stud. Located in the heart of the Münsterland horse capital, it was founded by one of Germany’s most famous show jumpers and Olympic gold medallist Fritz Ligges.

He received an impressive overall jumping score of 8.81 when he underwent his 30-day stallion test in Germany. He is licensed with the German ZfdP studbook, Awarded Approved status with the Anglo European Studbook (AES) and Cobra 18 is registered with Horse Sport Ireland, making his progeny HSI eligible.

Cobra 18 has the genetic ingredients to produce modern day performance horses. He is another example of the successful nick between sire Cornet Obolensky and Ramiro Z bloodlines, a cross witnessed in Marcus Ehning’s World Cup campaigner Comme Il Faut and Conte Bellini.

His sire Cornet Obolensky featured in the top-three in the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) show jumping sire rankings for three years (2014 - 2016). No less than six of the Rio Olympics qualified show jumpers were by the Clinton-Heartbreaker cross. Ranked fourth in the 2017 rankings, his best performers last year were Clooney 51, Martin Fuchs’ team bronze medal horse at Gothenburg. The Swiss pair were on a roll this year too, with Grand Prix home ground wins at Basel and at the final Zurich International show.

The importance of mare lines is continually emphasised by leading breeders and Cobra 18’s pedigree is balanced by his dam, Ranaschun. A daughter of Ramiro Z, a sire of countless Grand Prix jumpers including Ludger Beerbaum’s brilliant Ratina Z, Ranaschun is a full-sister to the licensed stallion Rodney, a Grand Prix and Nations Cup horse for Fritz Ligges.

Ranaschun, from the Hannover Stamm 461 dam line, produced 11 foals, including five licensed stallions and sport horses that have won at S-level show jumping (Germany’s highest level of national competition, with fence heights up to 1.55m). Her offspring produce successful competition horses too, such as Cornet’s Gold 2 and Miss Fritz, competing up to 1.55m level and the four-star eventer Phoenix L.

Cobra 18’s grandam, Usch, was retained by Gestut Ligges as a foundation broodmare on the merit of her own performance career. Her thoroughbred sire Usurpator adds the blend of blood required for the modern sport horse and Cobra 18’s own pedigree is 49% thoroughbred. In Ireland since 2015, Cobra 18 has proven excellent fertility. Based at Drumhowan Stud he is available by fresh or frozen semen from UK and European stations.