WHEN the late Ned Donohoe sold a coloured donkey from the back of a trailer half a century ago, few would have predicted that even this entrepreneurial man would have started an enterprise that would develop into one of the largest sport horse auction houses in the world.

Nor would he have recognised the sheer extent of the current business, which over the past 50 years has encompassed almost every equestrian discipline. From Olympic event and jumping horses, to group and listed race winners; and from ponies, to hunters and show champions, an extraordinary number of horses will, at some stage of their careers, have passed through the sale ring at Goresbridge.

A fourth-generation auctioneer, Ned Donohoe was not a horseman, but with a keen eye for business, he moved to the current sales yard in 1964, accompanied by his wife Kitty and growing family. Living on site, in the same house as Kitty does to this day, Donohoe built a showroom where he initially focused on selling furniture and machinery. Horses, along with cattle were a subsequent venture and it was not until 1968 that the monthly horse sales were launched.

A few years later in 1973, Bord Na gCapall set up a similar, state-funded sale at nearby Gowran Park. Viewing this as opposition to their recently launched special sales, Kitty was unimpressed, and recalled, “Ned didn’t mind as he could see that it could work for us, but to be truthful I did. Ned however, realised that we could attract the same customers that were attending Gowran, so we staged a sale either a day before or just after – and it worked, and was probably the making of Goresbridge Horse Sales as it is today.”

Tragedy was to hit the family five years later, when Ned died suddenly at the age of just 45. Kitty was expecting her 10th child, and one can only imagine the situation she found herself in. “I was already working in the office alongside Ned, and we had built the sales room,” she explained. “I luckily also had the help of a housekeeper who lived across the road, so I was able to continue with the business. Ned’s two brothers Michael and Paddy stepped in, the family all pulled together and I was surrounded by good people. I can remember the children fetching and carrying at the sales, and selling catalogues, while my son Ed and his friend John Fogarty, sold saddlery and rugs from a shed in the yard.”

Kitty’s brother-in-law Michael Donohoe also held the advantage of having strong links with the equestrian world. A horseman and a racehorse trainer, he suggested to Kitty that she should employ the auctioneering services of the late David Pim. “Michael, Ned and I had watched him sell at Tattersalls and Ned thought he was brilliant,” she explained. “David was absolutely fantastic when he came here, and really helped to make the place. People nearly used to come to listen to him.

“Other important cogs in the wheel from that era include Jim Fenlon, who is still part of the auctioneering team today, and Sonny Cody who had worked alongside Ned in the early days. Goresbridge would not be the same without Cody, who, to this day, is in charge of sending the horses into the ring on time.”

Life threw up further challenges a few years later when Kitty was seriously injured in a car crash. She was hospitalised for four or five months, leaving 22-year-old Martin in charge of the young family and largely with the business. During this time as always, she was surrounded by so many loyal supporters, but was unquestionably at the helm. A former civil servant, an astute business woman in her own right and later a member of Bord Na gCapall, it was Kitty who moved the business forward.

“I remember when the Irish Shows Association asked me to contribute a thousand pounds to sponsor a three-year-old loose jumping championship – which was a huge amount of money in those days,” she recalled. “I laughed heartily at them, but they were so nice that before they went home I eventually agreed!”

This set the wheels in motion for the All Ireland Lunge Jumping Championships, for which horses qualified from 30 shows around the country. The finals took place at Goresbridge, before the participants came under the hammer. Kitty was quoted at the launch in 1986 saying, “It is our fervent hope that we can provide a constant and rewarding sales service to the breeders around the country.”

Thirty years on, her statement has turned into a reality. Although the lunge jumping competition hasn’t taken place for many years, its inception arguably led to the enduringly strong three-year-old trade at the venue, which at the height of the boom attracted well over 1,200 horses to its September flagship sale

As the eldest of her 10 children, Kitty’s son Martin was completing school when his father died. A boarder at Knockbeg College in Carlow, he was keen to follow in his father’s footsteps and through Denis Mahony (father of Tattersalls Director Edmond) he was offered a fine arts apprenticeship at Keane, Mahony, Smitha in Dublin. “Dennis Mahony had offered his condolences to my mother when my father died, and as a later consequence this opportunity arose,” reflected Martin. “I owe a debt to Dennis Mahony – this was an invaluable opportunity for me, and it’s probably apt now that nearly 40 years later we have joined forces with Tattersalls in the breeze-up sales.”

This stint in Dublin was followed by a spell with PT Quirke in Tipperary and at the age of 20, Martin returned home to work alongside his mother at Goresbridge. “It was getting too big for me,” said Kitty afterwards. “And I have to admit that if Martin hadn’t come back, I would probably not have continued.” To her credit, Kitty allowed her son to run with his own ideas and rarely turned them down. “I remember at one stage we were receiving huge entries for the September sale, and my mother thought we should close them,” said Martin. “However, I suggested that we keep taking them, and as a result the three-day sale was extended to six days, and was the talk of the country.”

At first Martin very much concentrated on his own business of buying, selling and exporting antiques, and while he was very much involved in running of the horse sales, he did not fully take over the financial reins until the year 2000.

He marked his accession with the building of a new indoor school, which was a huge investment at the time, while subsequent improvements have included the outdoor arenas, upgraded restaurant facilities and the latest being a covered awning connecting the indoor school to the sales ring.

On the business front, a ground-breaking innovation came in 2006, when Donohoe launched the Gorsebridge Breeze-Up Sale. The first ever of its kind to be staged in Ireland, it allowed prospective buyers to view the horses galloping on a race track prior to sale. It was a brave move. Subsequent breeze-up sales were run to a muted response by both Goffs and Tattersalls, and while the National Hunt version at Goresbridge was short-lived, the flat edition blossomed. “We had found our niche,” said Donohoe. “We built into it and it was phenomenal success.”

It was a real coup for the company, and also personally to Donohoe and his wife Mary Frances, who, with her husband, was a driving force behind it. “Mary Frances is an integral part of the business,” he added. “She is hands-on in a variety of aspects, and works extremely hard.”

This year, the couple made the decision to merge the breeze-up into a partnership with Tattersalls, and to move the sale to the Fairyhouse complex in Co Meath. “Tattersalls are the No 1 thoroughbred auctioneers, and will bring it to a different level,” Martin explained. “I feel that it was the right decision and have no doubt that the sale will go from strength to strength.”

Another notable addition to the calendar has been the Goresbridge Go For Gold sale of pre-selected event horses. Initially run under the banner of Ireland’s Select Event Horse Sale, and for the first year staged in conjunction with Monart Equestrian, the specialist sale has, since 2011 found its successful standalone footing with a showcase base at Barnadown, in Co Wexford, and running under the now familiar Go For Gold moniker.

Now in its ninth year, the sale has just staged one of the most successful renewals to date, carrying an evening turnover of just short of a million euros. Martin’s younger brother Ed Donohoe, who has his own thriving estate agency in Kilkenny is a vital cog to that particular wheel, and is described by Martin as being “an absolutely brilliant, top-class auctioneer.”

The Supreme Sale of show jumping foals, held at the same venue has been another worthy addition to the calendar, and while the Supreme show jumping sale itself failed to catch on in a similar format, it produced the record-making price of €1.4 million for the sale of the show jumper Dougie Douglas (ISH).

Looking to the future of the sport horse sales as a whole, Donohoe wishes he could be more optimistic. Gone are the boom days when the September sales ran over 12 days – this year it was six, and while this is partly due to business conducted on social media, Martin reacts when saying. “The sport horse business is not in a great place at the moment. Our regular sales are unfortunately for the greater part not really progressing. It’s not all negative however, and as we’ve often said – if breeders breed the right horses for the market we can sell them. A case in point has been this year’s Go For Gold sale which has really copperfastened that train of thought.”

As a sprightly octogenarian, Kitty enjoys her retirement, and is still a familiar figure around the yard. Until recently she took her regular place on the rostrum reading out the veterinary certificates, and now helps out in the office when needed, and is otherwise happy to catch up with familiar faces from bygone days.