CAVAN’s Elite Foal sale on Thursday saw a brisk trade with high-class breeding commanding top prices.

Starting slowly, the sale steadily gained momentum and finished on a high note with the top price of €18,000 going to the final lot.

On average, prices were strong with the final two lots boosting the overall average to €7,115, up from €4,550 in 2014 while the clearance rate was 87%.

Cavan’s Stuart Clarke said afterwards: “We are very happy. It started a little slow but it did gain momentum and ended up really good. The turnover and average prices were very good – up from last year and I think it shows that demand has really grown for the higher end pedigrees. The people are there to take the risk and there is the right money on offer for the right pedigrees.”

Paul Flanagan’s unnamed chesnut colt attracted lively bidding which opened at €5,000 and climbed to the top price of the night when the hammer finally fell at €18,000 to well known show jumping owner Michael Hayden.

Sired by Kannan, the colt is out of the Cavalier Royale-sired Annyalla Three Seas and the entire family has been bred by Eileen Nugent. Exceptionally well related, the colt’s third dam has produced the international showjumper Dreamin, a team gold medallist at the Europeans with Swiss rider Thomas Hauri in 1998. The colt is also related to HHS Fortuna and HHS Figero.

Hayden commented on his purchase saying, “The breeding stood out for me with this colt; Kannan is the number one sire in the world and his back breeding includes the HHS horses which really attracted me to him. I think that Marion Hughes and Eileen Nugent have a good idea of what they are doing.”

Hayden owns horses for Francis Connors and American-based Limerick rider Paul O’Shea who is enjoying great results on the competitive circuit there. “I like to bring on a few every year. I aim to have a small selection of top breeding aimed specifically at the American market,” remarked Hayden. Paul Flanagan was understandably delighted with the result. Based out of Castleblaney, the colt was an embryo transfer foal and Flanagan has the full-sister at home. This year he also has two embryos, one to Kannan and one to VDL Dallas.

The preceding lot, Eamonn McArdle’s grey filly by Cornet Obolensky out of the Lando-sired mare Mullentine Lantana, had also attracted a huge amount of interest. Another with international jumpers in its back breeding, the filly finally went under the hammer at €15,000 to Britain’s Tom Williams. The purchase brother to British international Guy Williams, was on the telephone with Sven Hadley keeping an eye on the action for him.

The filly’s second dam is the Cavalier Royale-sire Crosskeys Cavalier which produced Mullentine Loughall, a successful campaigner under the Army Equitation School’s Captain Michael Kelly.

Cornet Obolensky proved to be a popular sire on the night with a daughter, Steven Reilly’s bay filly also commanding a high price. There had been a lot of interest in this filly with a huge crowd gathering around the ring to watch the action. In the end she went to regular purchaser Raymond Carroll for €11,500.

The filly was another with an impressive pedigree with her dam, Boraya VDL sired by Argentinus. Her damline includes the KWPN Prok predicate and Ster and Preferent broodmare predicates.