Dougie Douglas Sells for Record Breaking €1.4 Million at Goresbridge Sale

The Irish Sport Horse Dougie Douglas was sold for a record breaking €1.4 million at Tuesday evening’s wildly successful Goresbridge Supreme Sale of Showjumpers in Wexford, Ireland.

Dougie Douglas, a 10-year-old Nations Cup winner under the saddle of British rider Holly Gillott, started the evening off with a bang when he was sold to an as of yet unnamed American owner via Irish agent Barry O’Connor. His sale price broke the record for the highest price paid for a sport horse at public auction in Ireland.

The sale had extra meaning for auction organizer Martin Donahue, who originally sold Dougie Douglas in 2009 for a mere €5,800. That the gelding’s value has risen more than 240 times his original sale price was a satisfying punctuation mark for Donahue.

From there the successful sales continued; Alexander Butler and Neal Fearon’s 7-year-old prospect Dekato was sold for €250,000 to Michael Drea of Great Britain as a mount for his daughter, show jumper Jessie Drea. The 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse Javas Wild Child by VDL Douglas was also purchased by Michael Drea, for €80,000. Other, notable young horses went for top dollar, including the five-year-old mare Claartje by Classe VDL, who sold for €50,000, and the four-year-old Lss Barbados, which sold for €52,000. The last lot of the auction, an embryo out of 2014 Goresbridge sales graduate Ard Ginger Pop, sold for €50,000.

The Goresbridge Supreme Sale of Showjumpers was, as expected, a resounding success,” commented Elaine Hatton, Horse Sport Ireland’s director of International Marketing. “Credit must be given to Goresbridge Sales and their selectors for compiling an all round quality catalogue which attracted buyers from the UK, America, Europe and beyond in numbers. The results throughout the sale underpin the high standard of sport horse production found in Ireland and emphasizes the fact that Ireland is a destination of choice for any buyer looking for quality and value.”