Did you know Copper Beach is a Goresbridge Go For Gold graduate? Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.
Time for another round of one of our favorite games: “What Would You Buy If Money Were No Object?” Goresbridge Go For Gold Sale Edition! The sale takes place next week on Nov. 14-16 in Co Wexford, Ireland and is a one-stop shop for world class Irish-bred event horses and event prospects.
“We are really excited about this year’s horses for sale, which range from an experienced CCI4* horse to smart 5- and 6-year-olds who have started their careers and lovely 3- and 4-year-olds with all the potential in the world,” Goresbridge’s Martin Donohoe said. “The Go For Gold sale has grown and grown and is undoubtedly the premier select event horse sale.”
Goresbridge Go For Gold graduates have gone on to garner numerous top finishes at the world’s biggest events. U.S. fans will of course know Buck Davidson’s mount Copper Beach, who has two CCI3* wins to his name at both Jersey Fresh and Rebecca Farm.
Other top graduates include Cooley Rorkes Drift, who represented Ireland at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro with Jonty Evans, jumping clear cross country and show jumping rounds to finish ninth individually. Prince Mayo, another graduate who previously competed with Canada’s Jordan McDonald, won the CCI3* at Tattersalls with Paul Tapner this year.
Oliver Townend said he’s a big fan of the sale and for good reason, as his Go For Gold graduate Cooley SRS finished third at Boekelo CCIO3* last month and helped boost the British team to a Nations Cup win. “I’ve bought and sold lots of horses through it over the years and had a lot of success with them,” Oliver said. “It builds every year, and I always look forward to it. It’s an unmissable night.”
After perusing the sales catalogue, we picked out three horses we’d happily bring home if money grew on trees.
Clare Abbott and Euro Prince at the 2014 World Equestrian Games. Photo by Jenni Autry.
While many of the 70 horses available in the sale are young prospects, there is also one four-star horse in Euro Prince. The 13-year-old gelding by Lougheries Quiet Man represented Ireland with Clare Abbott at the 2013 European Championships, 2014 World Equestrian Games and 2016 Olympic Games. Euro Prince finished ninth at Pau CCI4* last year and has also completed Badminton twice. He’s a CCI3* winner to boot, having finished first at Tattersalls in 2014. Yup, we’d take him home in a heartbeat!
Next up, there are two horses available in the sale that competed at the FEI World Breeding Eventing Championships last month at Le Lion d’Angers that we would definitely take home. Cornascreibe Glenpatrick, a 6-year-old gelding by Womanizer, finished 11th with Harold Megahey in the irons, adding just two show jumping penalties to his dressage score.
While Loughnavatta Cedar had an unlucky end to his run at Le Lion with Camilla Speirs, the 7-year-old gelding by Luidam has three two-star completions under his belt, including a 16th place finish at Tattersalls CCI2* earlier this year. We’d welcome Cedar with open arms!
Which horses would you bring home from the Goresbridge Go For Gold Sale? You know you want to look! Click here to check out the catalogue and view videos of all the horses available for sale. Click here to visit the Goresbridge Go For Gold Sale website.
