Irish Sport Horse Dougie Douglas to USA’s Katie Dinan

Holly Gillot & Dougie Douglas helped Great Britain secure a CSIO5* Nations Cup win at Rome in May 2015. Ph Erin Gilmore

American rider Katherine Dinan’s Staysail Farm is the new owner of Irish Sport Horse Dougie Douglas, who was sold as the top-selling horse at the hugely successful Goresbridge Supreme Sale of Showjumpers just four weeks ago.

Dinan will be the rider of Dougie Douglas, a 10-year-old gelding (Ard VDL Douglas x High Roller) that was formerly competed to great success under the saddle of British rider Holly Gillot. The sale of Dougie Douglas headlined the November 10th Goresbridge auction when he was purchased by a then-unidentified American buyer through agent Barry O’Connor. The final bid of €1.4 million broke the record for highest price paid for a sport horse at public auction in Ireland.

Soon after the sale, Dougie Douglas was flown to his new home at Dinan’s winter base in Wellington, Florida, where he is currently getting settled under the eye of Dinan’s trainer, Swiss rider Beat Mandli. Twenty-two-year-old Dinan, who was not in attendance at the Goresbridge auction and bought Dougie Douglas sight unseen, plans to spend the winter season in Florida getting to know the Irish bred gelding.

With two other top mounts that have plenty of experience under their belts, Dinan is aiming to make a big impact in 2016 while continuing her studies in her final year as a student at Harvard University. Dinan’s other two horses include longtime partner Nougat du Vallet, who spent time off this year recovering from injury, and Amaretto D’Arco, the impressive Belgian bred stallion by Darco that was formerly seen under Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam.