THE fifth renewal of the Goresbridge select sale of three-year-old show jumpers was held at the Co Kilkenny sales complex on Monday, when a large crowd witnessed Hans Juergen Kuehnle’s Tullibards In My Dreams (Lot 26) make the top price of €65,000.
“We had a very, very good sale,” reported Ed Donohoe. “There was a huge crowd here and it just shows that if you have a catalogue of quality horses, people will come to buy. We promoted the sale heavily and I think a lot of the prices exceeded vendors’ expectations.
“Most of the top show jumping yards in the country were represented and Mondays seem to work well, as there are usually no shows that day. Having sold such good horses in the past as Rosconnell Tango (2022) and Serran De Bun (2025), who both won their championships in Dublin this year, the sale has earned the reputation of [being] the place to buy a top jumper.
“There was huge interest in the sale worldwide and, incredibly, nearly 90 new individual buyers registered to purchase at this sale alone. This far exceeded the number of horses on offer; a lot of people went home, or signed off, without buying a horse.”
Not shying away from the fact that selling started roughly an hour and 15 minutes later than the scheduled 7pm start time, Donohoe commented: “I fully acknowledge that this was a major problem, which I was aware of during the afternoon. The loose jumping went on far longer than we anticipated, so we will definitely start that earlier next year.”
Hans Juergen Kuehnle enlisted the help of his wife Julia to showcase their home-bred Irish Sport Horse gelding Tullibards In My Dreams (Lot 26) on Monday and they were delighted when bidding on the bay went up to €65,000 before the hammer came down. The purchasers were a locally-based syndicate, who bought under the name Freestone Farm.
The sales topper is by Tullibards Bennys Legacy out of the Plot Blue mare MHS Revolver, who Hans purchased in 2020 from Tim Brennan for whom she had already bred the 2018 Cardento mare GCS Jasmine (currently competing at 1.40m level with young rider Brid Ryan). This is the family of Rolo Tomasi, MHS Attraction, MHS Gabhran, etc.
The Kuehnles sold Tullibards I Wud If I Cud, a Cocktail De Talma half-brother to Monday’s top-priced lot at the Goresbridge-conducted supreme sale of show jumping foals during the Breeders’ Classic at Barnadown last month and are consigning Tullibards Talking Benny, a four-year-old full-brother to the sales topper, to next month’s Goresbridge Go For Gold select event horse sale.
“I was more than 100% happy with the price!” said Hans. “It was good to see that purchasers wanted to buy a nice young horse, who was allowed develop in his own time and was well produced. He had had tack on, but hadn’t been ridden.”
Jordan Coyle and Liam O’Meara combined to buy Marie Ennett’s home-bred ISH gelding Solsboro Gold Button (Lot 4) for €55,000. The son of Button Sitte was consigned to the sale by Donnacha Dermody, who described the chesnut as having all the qualities of a top performer over the coloured poles. “He has always been a jumper, likes jumping and is scopey and careful.”
Ennett, who also bred this fellow’s dam Solsboro Sixpence (by Olympic Lux), grandam Solsboro Halleluia (by Harlequin du Carel) and great-grandam Solsboro Duchess (by Lux Z), deflected some of the praise in breeding Solsboro Gold Button to stallion master Michael Hutchinson and her veterinary surgeon husband, Frank.
Marguerite Ryan gave €30,000 for Lot 27, Eamon Walsh’s ISH gelding Galwaybay Naomi Nelson (Nixon Van’t Meulenhof - Galwaybay Naomi, by Namelus R). Bred by Justin Burke, the bay’s dam is a half-sister to the Jack Ryan-ridden Galwaybay Winningmood (1.40m) and to the US-based eventer HSH Connor (CCI4*-S).
Marie Ennett Solsboro Gold Button was sold for €55,000 at the Goresbridge select sale of three-year-old show jumpers \ Radka Preislerova
Trade Horse trading well
Trade Horse Ltd also received €30,000 from Britain’s Tom Sime for one of the two colts in the sale, the Catherine Jackson-bred Kilcorig Agallix (Aganix Du Seigneur Z - Gotcha Nema, by Casall). The flashy chesnut is out of a half-sister to D’Artagan (CCI5*) and from the family of multiple 1.60m jumpers.
The Co Meath vendors were better rewarded when the locally-based Michael Brannigan went to €42,000 to secure Lot 6, their grey unnamed Zangersheide filly by Ermitage Kalone out of the Cancara Z mare Charisma V Schuttershof Z, a half-sister to Elektra Van Schuttershof (1.40m) out of a half-sister to Aragon Van Schuttershof (1.50m).
Alan Wheeler, who was joint-consignor of last year’s top-priced lot, sold this year highest-priced filly, the Zangersheide grey Emira Van Broekhoven W Z (Lot 5) whose dam, Maywinn Van Broekhoven is a full-sister to Love Affair III, who has competed up to 1.60m level, and a half-sister to the 1.40m performers Dynamo Van Broekhoven WF Z and Destiney Van Broekhoven WF Z.
The filly was purchased for €47,000 by an obviously shy Irish buyer, A Moore, who also parted with €26,000 For Lot 7, Richie O’Hara’s Glenbeigh Velocity (Vigo D’Arsouilles - Jelesta, by Berlin), a Joules Cournan-bred ISH colt, and with €13,000 for Lot 16, Jack Lynch’s Caher Rock And Roll (Rock N Roll ter Putte - Paddys Quality, by OBOS Quality 004), an ISH filly bred by Jim Seymour.
On her way across the Atlantic, having been purchased by a USA ‘Cash’ buyer for €46,000 is Karena Fitzgerald’s RHH Deise Kaleesi (Lot 12), an ISH filly who was bred by Aidan and Emma De Brun of Deise Sporthorses out of a Capri Van Overis Z mare from the family of Profyta Velvet (1.60m).
Good family
The home-based Janice Mulligan signed the €31,000 chit for Mairead Lacey’s home-bred Rosconnell Blue (Chacoon Blue - CSF Sophie, by Goodluck VDL). The grey ISH filly is a half-sister to the aforementioned Tyson gelding Rosconnell Tango (winner of the seven and eight-year-old championship at Dublin in August).
Among those who purchased two lots on Monday were Co Waterford’s Paddy O’Donnell, one of the sale selectors, who gave €15,000 for H & J Sporthorses’ unnamed Castlefield Kingston filly (Lot 8) and €12,000 for Mark O’Sullivan’s Eldorado Van De Zeshoek gelding Matador (Lot 14).
Philip Carey signed for two Sweden-bound lots in Joseph Whelan’s Agalinda A.S. Z (Lot 17), a tall chesnut daughter of Aganix Du Seigneur Z (€14,000) and Richard and Siobhan Harty’s home-bred Carrigeen O Nantuel (Lot 29), a bay gelding by Candy De Nantuel (€26,000).
Twenty-seven of the 31 lots offered (32 catalogued) sold for a clearance rate of 87%, an aggregate of €639,200 and an average of €23,674.07.
Referred to above, the viewing and performance stages of the Goresbridge Go For Gold select event horse sale take place from Monday, November 9th to Wednesday, November 11th at Barnadown, with the auction being held on the final evening in the Amber Springs Hotel, Gorey. The printed and online versions of the catalogue should be available next week.
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