CAMILLA Speirs’ 10-year-old Lukas has been sold to British event rider Oliver Townend, the current world number one.

By Lux Z out of the thoroughbred mare Say Wonderful (Roi Danzig), Lukas was bred by Louise Parkhill and owned by Louise, her husband Ken and Camilla. With Speirs in the saddle, the pair have multiple top five placings at internationals, including third in the CCI4*-L at Ballindenisk International last September and eighth in the four-star short at the same venue in April.

The pair were shortlisted for the Tokyo Olympic Games. “I loved producing him, I always thought a lot of him as young horse,” Speirs told The Irish Field. “He moved through the levels very quickly and became a valuable horse. It is great to see him go on with Oliver. He is so competitive, and no doubt they will be an amazing partnership.”

Townend first sat on the gelding at the 2017 Go For Gold sale where he was unsold. “He was such a big horse and that was probably too soon for him. I spoke to the owner and we decided to take him, I took a share and produced him together.

“The plan was to sell him at some stage; it was just about timing really. Olivier saw him in Aston le Walls recently; we had quite a lot of interest in him this year and we decided to sell,” she added.

Coolivio sold to USA

Greg Broderick has sold his talented nine-year-old gelding Coolivio PS (Conthargos x Baloubet du Rouet) to American rider Charlotte Jacobs. Jacobs splits her time between the USA and Ireland, where she trains at Broderick’s Ballypatrick Stables.

The German-bred gelding has been under Broderick’s command since the end of 2019 and the pair’s recent top results include a fourth-place finish in the two-star 1.50m Grand Prix at Mullingar International and second in the 1.50m Premier Series in Portmore.

Commenting on the sale, Broderick said: “Coolivio has been one of the nicest horses we’ve had at Ballypatrick. We took our time producing him and he was a good winner of the seven- and eight-year-old championship at the Breeders’ Classic last year. He stepped up to 1.50m over the last few months very easily and felt like a proper horse in the international Grand Prix at Mullingar. Charlotte rides great and I think they will really suit each other so we are really looking forward to seeing their success together.”