An impeccably bred colt foal by Elvis Ter Putte, out of the top jumping mare Ballypatrick Flight, headed an extraordinary sale at Barnadown last Saturday.

Reaching heights that were comparable with the best in the Europe, the third renewal of the Goresbridge Supreme Sale of show jumping foals produced a top return of €22,000, together with an average of €11,273. Adding to the strength of the figures, 11 of the 13 foals forward changed hands, giving a clearance rate of 85%.

Sale topper

The sale-topper was consigned by Greg Broderick’s Ballypatrick Stables and was undoubtedly the stand-out lot on paper. He carried one of the stoutest pedigrees in the country, being out of a half-sister to the vendor’s RDS Aga Khan partner Going Global, as well as the CCI*** event horse MHS Joules.

He was never going to be cheap, but there was an air of anticipation around the ringside when he first came on the market at €20,000 and a cheer when he was secured by Askeaton bidder Ronnie Kelly for €22,000.

“I’ve bought him for Shane Breen, mainly because of the pedigree, but I did think he was a nice blood foal and very attractive,” he said.

Staged in conjunction with the Breeders Classic show jumping championships, which prize fund benefits from 2% of the turnover, Saturday’s sale took place immediately after the finals.

A further five foals realised five-figure returns, including the Carroll brothers’ filly by Cornet Obolensky, out of Cenith M (Diamant de Semilly).

A half-sister to one of last year’s top priced foals (by Vittorio), he was knocked down to Michael Hayden, in conjunction with the American-based show jumper Paul O’Shea, for €17,000.

Selling as the penultimate lot, another filly by Cornet Obolensky delivered a €16,500 return for her vendor Pat Kehoe. Carrying a more traditional dam line, she is out of the classy jumping mare Ardenue Diamond Cruiser (Cruising).

Carrigfergus show jumper Melanie Davidson signed for this smart individual, while earlier in the proceedings Kylemore Stud’s white legged colt, by Ard VDL Douglas (dam by Heartbreaker), was secured by Joanne Sloan Allen for €12,000.

Completing the sale-toppers, Connolly’s Stud Farm’s filly by Plot Bue (dam by Cruising) went the way of Co Wexford breeder MJ Kavanagh for €11,000 and Richard Bourns paid €10,000 for John Mulvey and Kerrie Anderson’s colt by Emerald (dam by Lux Z).

Martin Donohue from Goresbridge commented: “An unbelievable trade, genuinely unbelievable. We had the easy task, however, as the breeders and the selectors did a fantastic job putting these foals together.”