THANKS to modern day technology, breeders and horse producers are spoiled for choice with platforms to follow their horses, research results and assess potential stallion choices.
One such platform which is a massive benefit to breeders is the online breeding data platform Hippomundo, founded by Belgian breeder Koen Terryn, who was a speaker at last year’s Horse Sport Ireland Marketing Symposium.
Sport horse enthusiasts can search horse and rider results, breeding pedigrees, and most useful for the purpose of this research, rankings – for horses, riders, breeders, studbooks, sires, mares and so on.
Looking at the results from the last 365 days (March 2017 to March 2018), the top-placed Irish Sport Horse at number 22 is the Suma Stud-bred Sumas Zorro with €321,128 in prize money. The 14-year-old mare by Ard VDL Douglas out of the Horos-sired Voxens Frolic, is currently ridden by Egypt’s Sameh El Dahan and owned by the rider and Joanne Sloan-Allen.
That prize money was earned from four major wins. The first came when winning the three-star Grand Prix at Arezzo, Italy, in April 2017 where the mare earned €6,250. June saw the combination collect a whopping $125,400 CAD for a five-star Grand Prix victory in Spruce Meadows, Canada, followed by a five-star World Cup win in La Coruna, Spain, earning another €89,100.
Their final win of 2017 came in December at the four-star Liverpool International Horse Show when they collected €8,118 for a 1.50m victory. With a further 53.8% of placings earnings, that shoots Sumas Zorro to the head of the Irish-bred list and just outside the top 20 ranked horses in the world.
The mare is the last born of eight progeny registered to Vixens Frolic on Capaill Oir, Horse Sport Ireland’s horse database. The Kilkenny-based Sumas Stud is operated by Susan Lanigan-O’Keeffe and Marily Power.
Another hugely successful story is that of Luibanta BH (Galway Bay Luibanta), bred at Galway Bay Stud in Co Galway by Justin Burke. Ranked second in the Irish Sport Horse rankings and 54th overall with earnings of €217,977, the 10-year-old mare by Luidam has risen to prominence under Britain’s Amanda Derbyshire.
The Irish Sport Horse Luibanta BH, ridden by Britain's Amanda Derbyshire, has earned €217,977 in the last 365 days (Photo: Sportfot)
Produced by Ellen Whitaker as a young horse, Luibanta BH was sold to Derbyshire’s employers, Gochman Sport Horses LLC, at the end of 2016. Derbyshire’s success with the mare came into force in the latter part of 2017 when they won a four-star 1.50m in Liverpool (€8,118), followed by $23,100 USD in Wellington last month when landing the four-star WEF Challenge Cup.
However, their biggest pot came at the five-star Saugerties Horse Show in New York last August when they collected $100,000 for fourth place in the Grand Prix. Burke has bred five foals from the KWPN mare Mibanta, the youngest of which was born in 2015, sired by Askoll Peter Pan.
With the help of 1.60m performers Galway Bay Jed (Harriet Nuttall), Galway Bay Laith (Capt Geoff Curran), Galway Bay Pandora (Jenny Rankin), Burke is ranked 60th overall in the global breeders rankings (in the last 365 days), while Sumas Stud sits top of the Irish in 31st.
The David Moran-bred Limestone Grey (by Try Time), who is partnered by Italy’s Lorenzo de Luca, is third best of the Irish and ranks 127th with earnings of €119,083, before a large gap to Dougie Douglas in 286th.
RECORD HOLDER
Bred in Co Limerick by John O’Brien, another out of Ard VDL Douglas and by Neills Girl (High Roller), the 13-year-old gelding Dougie Douglas holds the record for the most expensive horse sold at public auction in Ireland. He was purchased by America’s Katie Dinan for €1.4 million at the Goresbridge Supreme Sale of Showjumpers in 2015.
Interestingly, O’Brien has since bred six full-siblings to Dougie Douglas, the oldest born in 2012 and youngest in 2017.
CHS Inception, bred in Co Cavan by the Messrs Ard Ri Properties group, has earned €58,332 thanks to a good run of form under Ireland’s Andrew Bourns last summer and ranks in 294th place overall, fifth best of the Irish.
Out of the mare Bohemia, CHS Inception has a four-year-old full-brother.
The sixth-ranked Irish Sport Horse is the ill-fated Codarco who sadly passed away last month. The 11-year-old stallion has earned €57,800 in the last 365 days for his American owner/rider Chloe Reid. By Darco, he was bred in Co Galway by Tomas O’Brien was the four-year-old champion in Dublin in 2011.
The late Ita Brennan from Mill House Stud – the MHS prefix made famous by MHS Going Global (Quidam Junior x Cavalier Royale) – has two in the top 10. The aforementioned comes in 305th place with €56,731, while the Laura Renwick-partnered MHS Washington, by OBOS Quality out of Mill Royale (Cavalier Royale), just behind in 333rd after earning €52,720.
With a 9.1% of winnings, the last mentioned mare has a solid record at two and three-star 1.45/1.50m level.
Renwick also partners her seven-year-old half-sister, MHS Sanfrancisco (by Quidam Junior), a recent winner of the seven-year-old class in Vilamoura.
RISING STAR
Another rising Irish star, ninth on the Irish list, is the Patrick Kehoe-bred ABC Quantum Cruise, by OBOS Quality.
The nine-year-old gelding is out of a former RDS champion, the traditionally-bred Ardnehue Diamond Cruiser (by Cruising), and has earned €44,585 in the last 12 months, including almost €10,000 for a third place finish in the three-star Grand Prix at Vejer de la Frontera two weeks ago under Britain’s Peter Charles.
Closing out the top 10 Irish Sport Horse list is the third OBOS Quality-sired horse, Quality Old Joker. Bred in Co Kilkenny by Roberta Dowley, the 10-year-old is out of Little Joker (by Slyguff Joker VII).
Produced by British speed merchant Holly Smith, Quality Old Joker has become a Puissance specialist, winning the Liverpool Puissance last December (£2,880), as well as the Hickstead Derby Trial (£2,640) and a third place finish in the Al Shira’aa Derby (£10,850).
Kent Farrington’s prolific Belgian-bred mare Gazelle (Kashmir van Schuttershof x Indoctro) tops the rankings, winning an incredible €867,130 prize money in the last 12 months.
NUMBERS
4 – of the top-10 Irish horses were bred in Co Kilkenny
3 – of the top-10 Irish horses by OBOS Quality
2 – by Ard VDL Douglas
2 – bred by the late Ita Brennan at Mill House Stud