Tara Dunne

ARD Ginger Pop, the showcase entry into the inaugural Goresbridge Supreme Sale of Showjumpers at last weekend’s Irish Breeders Classic, topped the sale at €95,000 when bought by Enda Carroll and Carl Hanley on Friday night.

The gala dinner and auction at the Amber Springs Hotel attracted a large crowd eager to see how the first ever elite auction of show jumpers would perform, with standing space around the room at a premium.

While the top price was paid for the five-year-old Luidam mare, demand was actually higher in the younger three-year-old category, where there was a clearance rate of 58% from the 12 animals offered. Buyers were more selective for older horses, ensuring higher prices but a lower clearance rate of 33%.  

Prices for older horses reflected the quality of animal on offer, averaging out at €47,916, while three-year-olds worked out at an average of €10,321. Overall the clearance rate stood at 47% over the total of 30 lots offered in the auction, not including Sunday’s foal sale which achieved a clearance rate of 64% and an average price of €6,414.

The complete turnover of the sale stood at €404,650, which by any standard would be seen as a success. Goresbridge supported the Irish Breeders Classic with 2% of the commission going towards the prize-fund.

Irish Breeders Classic organiser Ronan Rothwell commented: “It’s the first year and I think the trade was very selective. You would have liked more of them to sell but I think in the future the clearance rate will increase. I think the Goresbridge Supreme Sale of Showjumpers is a stepping stone this year to what it can be in the future.”

Rothwell continued: “I think we were very lucky to have an extremely high quality of horse offered by loyal vendors and those vendors were duly rewarded with some exceptional prices.”

The top price came early in the night with Sharon Fitzpatrick’s five-year-old mare Ard Ginger Pop being knocked down at €95,000 to Enda Carroll and Carl Hanley. 

By Luidam, Ard Ginger Pop is out of the Cruising-sired dam Derrylea Greylady. Bred by Heather Dean-Wright, the five-year-old is well-related. Ard Ginger Pop is a full-sister to Ard Greyman Attyrory, who is currently jumping in Sweden with Anna Hasso while her dam is a sister to a CCI*** eventer and a 1.30m showjumper.

Ard Ginger Pop has had an incredibly consistent season under Ger O’Neill with some notable results including winning the Irish Sport Horse Studbook five-year-old league, as well as the Millstreet Ruby Five-Year-Old Championship. She also took the runner-up position in the Flexible Five Year National Championship at the Dublin Horse Show.

Speaking after the sale, vendor Sharon Fitzpatrick said: “My son Jonathan picked her as an unbroken three-year-old in Goresbridge and she has been produced by the family. She was lightly campaigned as a four-year old and then this year due to Susan’s commitments with the Pony European Championships we gave her to Ger [O’Neill}.

“He has done a great job with her, she had done very little as a four-year-old so this year was a bit of an ask but she really rose to the occasion and she has an incredible record. She is brave and intelligent with loads of scope. It was a bittersweet sale as she is such a special mare but you can’t turn down money like that.”

Belgian-based Irishman Carroll said: “I only heard about the auction last week and I think it’s fantastic what the lads are doing to support the industry. They are really moving with the times and I feel that the industry in Ireland needs to be supported.

“I didn’t really know so much about the mare before the auction but I’ve bought horses off Ger before and they’ve been really lucky for me. I really like the mare she looks very careful and I think she will suit a lot of my clients.”

Ard Ginger Pop had been selected to represent Ireland at this year’s World Breeding Championships at Lanaken but is now expected to compete with Carroll’s Ashford Farm stable rider Marlon Zanotelli.

Carroll and Hanley also invested in Hannah Joyce’s mare Talks Cheap at €50,000. By Tinaranas Inspector, the six-year-old mare is out of the Colin Diamond-sired dam Dreaming. Another mare with a good record, Talks Cheap has been campaigned for the past two years by Alexander Butler and in that time has won the five-year-old consolation class at Lanaken and the 2014 Irish Sport Horse Studbook six-year-old league. She also finished third at the Dublin Horse Show this year in the Cruising Six-Year-Old National Championship.

Talks Cheap proved well worth the money when she went on to win Sunday’s lucrative Irish Breeders Classic final. Carroll and Hanley now plan to aim Talks Cheap at the WBFSH World Breeding Jumping Championships for Young Horses, where Hanley’s rider Alex Duffy will take up the reins.

Taking the second best price on the night was Neal Fearon’s Evergreen M, who sold well at €68,000 to Elizabeth Van Amerongen. The striking five-year-old stallion showed well on Thursday and drew plenty of interest. Exceptionally well-bred, Evergreen M is by the World Equestrian Games and European Championship Gold medal winning sire Berlin out of the Chin Chin-sired dam Waliante M.

Yorkshire man Neal Robinson was the under bidder for Evergreen M but will be taking home Deirdre Bourns’ Cybel for his daughter Laura to compete with. By Varo out of the dam Friedas Ramona, by Lancer III the six-year-old mare was a qualified finalist for the Irish Breeders Classic with Jenny Rankin. Cybel was unsold at €38,000 but was later secured outside the ring at €47,500.

The three-year-olds attracted a mainly domestic trade, with the final lot of the night receiving the biggest price. The Kennedy Sport Horses-owned Jockeyhall Midas Touch came on the market at €20,000 and was secured one bid later by Bridge House Stud’s Trevor Badger for €21,000.

The well-bred colt is sired by the renowned Baloubet Du Rouet out of the Coevers Diamond Boy-sired dam Clista and was the runner-up in this year’s Millstreet Young Irelander.

Sunday’s foal auction was well supported and offered some elite lots but it was Cavalier Royale that stood out as a sire, providing the two top priced foals on the day.

Noel Walsh’s brown colt topped the bill for €8,000 and was purchased by Greg Broderick. By Cavalier Royale the colt was out of the dam Diamond Puissance, by Puissance.

The colt is well-related, with connections to Broderick’s former ride Ballypatrick Esperanza and his second dam Diamond Lass produced the international show jumpers Rainman and Wally.

Next in line was Michael Callery’s bay colt, also sired by Cavalier Royale but this time out of the OBOS Quality dam Green Acres Quality. Another to sport good relations, the colt’s second dam has produced LCC Lux Like Cavalier who is currently jumping 1.60m with Australian rider Nicole Bruggemann. The foal is also related to Vincent Byrne’s Grand Prix mount Mr. Rockefeller through his third dam.

Jonathan Fitzpatrick, coming off the earlier success of Ard Ginger Pop’s sale, reinvested by securing this colt for €7,500.