Irish Draught Sale

LATE last Friday, the England-based company Agri-Tradaco Ltd gave the Irish Draught sale’s top price of €6,300 for Springvale Clover (Lot 401) who was consigned by her Mayo breeder, Noel Sheridan. The six-year-old Class 1 mare is by Rebel Flagmount out of a Castana mare who was out of a Powerswood Purple mare. The chesnut is due to foal to Farmhill Highlander in April.

For €5,600, Thomas Lynch secured the last lot to be sold in Cavan this year, Manor Daisy (Lot 405), another Class 1 mare. One of a consignment offered by the executors of the late Donegal breeder Jim Steele, this five-year-old grey daughter of Allys Bridge is out of the Rockrimmon Silver Diamond mare Manor Over Draught, dam of, among others, Shanbally Remember Me. That 2015 Cappa Cassanova gelding was fifth in the four and five-year-old performance Irish Draught class at Dublin.

The same vendor also received €4,300 from the same purchaser for Manors Lady (Lot 400), a six-year-old by Mountain Triumph out of the Flagmount Diamond mare, Flagmount Gillian. This chesnut is a half-sister to the 2015 Cappa Cassanova gelding Shanbally Spot On, who was fifth in the four-year-old performance Irish Draught class at Balmoral, and to a two-year-old S Creevagh Ferro gelding (Lot 200) who was sold to Britain’s Laura Haslett for €3,400 here on Thursday.

The highest-priced paid for an Irish Draught two-year-old was €4,100 which Westmeath’s Tom Troy gave Maura Walsh for Lady Molly Ophelia (Lot 393). The chesnut Mountain Diamond filly was bred in Co Kilkenny by Michael Kirwan out of the Holycross mare The Young Lady.

Top foal price

The top-priced foal was Lot 344 for whom Roscommon breeder Jude Lennon received €3,000 from Donegal’s Gillian Devenney. The grey or roan filly by Clew Bay Bouncer is out of the Class 1 Ard Grandpa mare Dunard Dawn who was out of a mare by Holycross.

The clearance rate jumped dramatically on Thursday from 36% to 60% but the average price paid only increased marginally from €2,252 to €2,521. The figures from Friday’s Irish Draught sale also showed a jump in the clearance rate, from 60% to 80%, with a welcome increase in average from €1,292 to €2,039.