SOME 74 of the 79 pre-selected and catalogued foals for Edition 9 of the Breeders’ Select Foal Sale Ireland appeared at Glenamaddy Equestrian on September 26th. The sale is organised under the umbrella of The Irish Horse Centre (IHC), a marketing initiative powered by the Mayo Roscommon Breeders’ Group (MRBG).
Edition 9 reached 38 lots sold under the hammer (51% clearance rate), achieving an average foal price of €4,470. In a somewhat suppressed market globally, the group continues to fine-tune their strategy for a clear and transparent foal selection to meet the market demands for quality, to continue international marketing efforts and sustain a loyal customer base to deliver the breeders a return on investment in their equine farming enterprises.
Upgrading the group’s mare herd over the previous eight to 10 years is now paying dividends, while also meeting market requirements in an ever-changing equine sporting sphere.
Top lot
Lot 66, the filly Snowstorms Serenade, by Emerald van’t Ruytershof, set the benchmark as the top-priced foal on the day, bought by Ballypatrick for €10,200. The chesnut filly by Emerald Van’t Ruytershof is out of Frozen Z (For Pleasure). The maternal line is particularly distinguished. Her second dam, Arctic Ice Z, is a full-sister to As Cold As Ice Z (1.60m) and has already produced multiple successful sport horses including Chill Ice Z, Canada Z and Solid Ice Z.
Going back another generation, the family traces directly to Cold As Ice Z (1.60m), one of the foundation mares of a remarkable international show jumping dynasty. Descendants of this family include As Cold As Ice Z (1.60m), Antartica Z (1.60m), Cold As Ice King Z (1.50m Approved BWP Stallion), Frozen Pleasure Z (1.40m), Kalliope Z (1.45m) and numerous other international performers.
Headliners
Other headliners on the day saw the following foals make €6,800 or more: Lot 59, CSF Rainbow, a colt by Carrera VDL was consigned by breeder Patrick Connolly and sold to Ciaran O’Connor for €8,000. Also selling well was Lot 57, Clondee Zico, John Deegan’s colt by Zinedream who was sold to Ballyward Equestrian for €7,300.
Jack O’Shaughnessy signed for Lot 58, Cookstown Lux Like Emerald, a colt by Emerald van’t Ruytershof consigned by Donal Callery at €7,000. Lot 32, the Carroll Brothers’ CBI Sultan, a colt by Kafka van de Heffinck was purchased by Killian Browne for €6,800.
DAFM/HSI event foal class
The successful running of the MRBG’s sport event foal class, in collaboration with DAFM and Horse Sport Ireland (HIS), aims to identify and reward breeders of potential eventing colts and fillies.
The filly class was won by Lot 40, Dreams to Dreamers by Sligo Candy Boy, bred by Tomas Conway from Co Cork.
The pedigree of the filly by Sligo Candy Boy, who also sired last year’s colt class winner, carries 45% thoroughbred blood. She is from the family of Cavalier Crystal, ridden by Harry Meade, who was placed third at Burghley CCI5*-L in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and fourth at Badminton CCI5*-L in 2025.
The colt class was won by Lot 52, Cappulcorragh Time to Dance by Galileo Dance, bred by the MRBG event breeder Liz Murphy from Charlestown, Co Mayo. The bay colt is by the thoroughbred eventing sire Galileo Dance out of Malta Control (OBOS Quality). The damline is particularly noteworthy, with the first dam being a full-sister to Cappulcorragh Quality Control (CCI3*-L), winner of the CCI3*-S at Arezzo.
Both breeders received €700 euro each for their endeavours. The group lent a sincere thank you to the judge Ulla Connolly for the difficult job of picking out the winners from the high standard of event foals continually presented by the top-class event breeders.
Strategy and support 2025-2030
Plans are now underway in-house within MRBG and IHC to further meet the market and sport demands of the international equestrian community from leading Irish breeders and producers over the coming years.
“Support from the equine and breeding section of our tight industry has been key in evolving and continuously improving the activities that are required to push this non-profit organisation forward,” the MRBG group said.
“A special thank you goes to all the stallion owners, who have continually supported the group through stallion nominations over several years. Without this support, the group would not be able to operate at such a high level, producing high-quality catalogues, videos and photography, and providing online bidding. While high-profile equine sponsorship and direct grant aid has been challenging for our breeders’ group to secure, the stallion owners have bridged that gap for several years now.”
The group will be working hard to secure sponsorship and direct grant aid that is associated with and targeted to equine breeding and performance.
Relentless drive
Aside from the relentless drive of the key founders Noel Kilroy (chairperson), Patrick Hester (marketing/PRO), Mark Hester (operations and sales) and John Murphy (operations and auctions), it is without doubt that the initiatives by the Mayo Roscommon Breeders’ Group would be unachievable without the support of the following individuals, who worked tirelessly on compiling the information for the catalogue and online platform.
They are: online platform and operations Leo Larkin (Flatout Media Video Editing); Peter Van de Bulck at PWEB Solutions (website); team members Joseph O’Brien and Ulla Connolly (PWEB platform/admin and catalogue commentary); Hannah, Ami and Sean Winstanley (social media, photographer and livestreaming); Sinéad Mallee (catalogue compiler and graphic design); Liz Murphy (operations and hospitality), Shane Donohoe (pedigree research and analysis) and all the team at Glenamaddy Equestrian Centre; MRBG’s ground team of Reece Keane, Ruari Kilroy, and the office team of Mary Cahill, Emer Kilroy and Catherine Dunne.