IHB election results
CHAIRMAN of the Irish Horse Board, Dr Jack Murphy, yesterday (Friday) confirmed the results of the 2020 IHB elections. In Region 2, Marion Hughes has been re-elected unopposed. In Region 4, Tiernan Gill of Ballina, Co. Mayo has been elected unopposed. Kathleen Gielty-Cunney is the outgoing director in Region 4.
Stepping Stones auction dates
EQUINE Auctions Ireland and the Stepping Stones to Success League plan to hold an online auction at Orla Roche’s Wexford Equestrian Centre on September 1st-2nd next. It is open to four and five-year-olds, thoroughbreds of any age and ponies. Entries open on July 1st. The Stepping Stones league will begin on July 21st next with a prize fund of €12,000.
To view upcoming auction’s catalogues, visit www.eai.auction or contact Maria Costello-Hayes on 086 0210137. All information on the Stepping Stone League and criteria can be found on www.steppingstonestosuccess.ie or by phoning Orla Roche on 086 3902309.
£32,000 colt tops Bolesworth auction
BOLESWORTH’s inaugural Online Elite Yearling Auction concluded on Tuesday with Flamenco Serenade (Lot 12) topped the sale at £32,000. The chesnut colt is by Je T’aime Flamenco out of Tinka’s Serenade (Tinkas Boy), both of which enjoyed multiple top international wins.
Vendors of the top selling colt were Janette Chinn and Sue Davies of Pewit Stud.
Head-to-head bidding was seen on a number of lots including Loughview Quantum Leap (Quabride l’isle x Loughview Lou Lou (Limmerick)) which landed on £28,000 as the hammer fell and Otareusa JDV (Ultimo van ter Moude x Etareusa (Indoctro)) which earned £20,000.
The average hammer price of the collection as a whole was £12,500.
Bolesworth managing director Nina Barbour said: “This truly was one of our most spectacular collections to date. Our targeted global campaign to the prevalent show jumping nations has proven hugely successful in attracting a real global audience for this year’s auction.
“Several of the lots been sold to overseas buyers which is testament that we are selecting the right calibre of horses with the best breeding.”
Dressage move
THE Danish division of the FEI World Cup in dressage and the CSI*/ **/CSIP-T will relocate from Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning to the National Equestrian Centre in Vilhelmsborg this October. The main reason cited for the move was Covid-19 concerns and numbers restrictions.
The organisers expect the move to cost a six-figure sum but have chosen to invest in maintaining the event in Denmark.
Lamaze excited over Dieu Merci
2008 Olympic champion Eric Lamaze welcomed a new Olympic show jumping prospect to his Torrey Pines Stable this week. In partnership with Mark and Tara Rein, Lamaze has purchased Dieu Merci van T&L, an 11-year-old Belgian Sport Horse stallion (Toulon x Corrado I), as his Tokyo Olympic prospect.
Lamaze had originally brokered the sale of the horse at the end of 2019 to Chris and Thea Stinett’s Heathman Farm LLC of the United States as a top mount for their rider, Ireland’s Cormac Hanley. When Heathman Farm and Hanley parted ways this spring, Stinett asked Lamaze to take the horse back to Europe to sell.
“After the horse came to me in Europe, the more I rode it the more I got an incredible feel from it and wanted to find a way to keep it,” explained Lamaze. “Once again, I thank Mark and Tara Rein for partnering with me to secure this horse for Canada. As fellow Canadians, it is super exciting for them to have a horse that could potentially represent Canada at next year’s Olympic Games.”
Dieu Merci van T&L was bred in Belgium by Luc Tilleman and has been lightly campaigned at the five-star level.