“Have You Got a Go For Gold Horse?” Inside Ireland’s Most Coveted Young Event Horse Sale | Eventing Nation

In Irish breeding circles, there’s a question that gets asked every summer: “Have you got a Go For Gold horse?”

For breeders and producers across Ireland, the answer matters. Earning a spot in the annual Goresbridge Go For Gold sale is a mark of quality, and many of them plan their year around it. “It’s the sale to get into,” says Siobhan Donohoe, who runs Goresbridge Horse Sales with her husband, Ed as a part of a multi-generation family effort that dates back to a tiny horse sale in 1968.

“People will say, ‘Oh, that’s a good horse — I’m keeping that for the Go For Gold.’”

This November, the sale’s 90+ select lots go under the hammer at a gala dinner at the Amber Springs Hotel, capping off three days of live viewing. And if you’ve only ever watched the livestream from home, this might be the year to see it in person.

Goresbridge has been selling horses in Co. Kilkenny since 1968, when Ned Donohoe wondered why a horse couldn’t be sold in a ring the same way a bull or a heifer could. After his sudden death ten years later, his wife Kitty was determined to carry on the sale as a part of his legacy. She remains an active part of the business today, which sees the family business run a full calendar of sales. But Go For Gold, established by Ned’s son Martin and his wife Mary Frances, is the one everyone circles.

Getting in is no small feat. A panel of experienced riders and producers — Siobhan affectionately calls them the “X Factor judges” — sifts through hundreds of young horses each summer. This year, they narrowed the field to roughly 90 lots: about 30 four- and five-year-old riding horses and 60 three-year-olds.

“A lot of breeders target this sale because it’s quite difficult to get a horse into, due to the high standard,” Ed says.

For vendors, that thumbs-up of acceptance into the sale is the reward for years (and, for some of these breeders, generations) of work. “They put their heart and soul into it,” Siobhan says. That pride shows in the results: the sale typically clears around 80 percent of its lots, and when the hammer falls on the last horse, the vendors’ party is the unofficial start of the Irish Christmas season.

Selection day is just the beginning. Once horses are chosen by the three-member Selection Panel of Sally Parkyn, Chris Ryan, Nicky Roncoroni and guest selector Nick Gauntlett, representing a broad range of competition and horse sourcing experience, the Goresbridge team spends months preparing them for the catalog — filming, photographing, and watching each one develop. “It’s exciting to see how they’ve come on since they were selected a couple of months ago,” Siobhan says. “And then to see them improve again by November? It’s magic.”

Siobhan brings an unique and useful skill set to the process. Before joining Goresbridge, she spent a decade as a multimedia journalist and TV presenter in Ireland, covering big race days and the Irish Open and hosting her own human-interest program, Irish TV, which aired in America and Australia. When she and Ed took over the business in January 2024, she gave that career up, but not the instinct.

“The very first day we took over the horse sales, I just went out with my mics,” she says. “Some people said, ‘We weren’t sure what you were doing.’ And I said, hold on a minute. If I’m buying a horse, I want to know the person who bred my horse and where my horse has come from. I’m not just buying a random horse. You need to know the people behind the horse.”

Her format is simple: walk down to the stable with the breeder or vendor and ask three questions — past, present, future. Those stable-door interviews now travel across Goresbridge’s social channels, and Siobhan and her camera operator, Sarah Jane, regularly visit breeders’ yards around the country. They never turn down a cup of tea. “There’s always a hot scone or soda bread in the farmer’s kitchen,” she laughs. “That’s when you meet the real people.”

For buyers overseas, that’s half the story. A three-year-old’s catalog page tells you its pedigree. Siobhan’s videos tell you about the family that raised it, the farm it grew up on, and the people who believed in it enough to aim for Go For Gold.

Go For Gold has a reputation as a professionals’ sale, and Olympians certainly shop it: last year, a table of Olympic riders was bidding hard, and several went home with new horses. Pro names such as Liz Halliday, Oliver Townend and Austin O’Connor have purchased horses consistently in the past from Go for Gold. But the Donohoes are clear that the catalog is built for a wider range of buyers.

“Our buyers range from riders looking for a future five-star horse to those wanting a top-quality amateur ride, so it’s essential that we offer horses to suit every level,” Ed says. “When selecting for the Go For Gold sale, we look for potential five-star horses, top amateur international horses, and quality amateur horses capable of taking their rider as far as they want to go. Above all, they need to be super friendly, have great brains and be easy to ride.”

The buyers prove it. Last year, a grandfather and granddaughter visiting Ireland for the first time, after discovering the sale on Facebook, went home with three or four horses. Here in the U.S., plenty of Go For Gold graduates have found their way to amateur riders, either straight from the sale or a few years down the road.

At the top end, graduates include Cooley Nutcracker (Liz Halliday’s Olympic and Boyd Martin’s World Championship horse) and Copper Beach (5* partner of Cosby Green), and the sale has sent horses on to the top five-stars around the world, the World Championships and the Olympic Games. Additional graduates include Cooley Corraghy Diamond – a horse entered in this week’s US Equestrian Open Final at Morven Park with Olympian Kim Severson, as well as Lucy Latta’s RCA Patron Saint, who you may recall was on the podium in his first attempt at Badminton back in 2024.

“Every time one of our horses does well, whether it’s at a local event or at five-star level, it’s a proud moment for everyone involved,” Ed says. “From the people who produced the horse to the riders who bought them and our own team.”

Growing that American audience is a priority. “It’s a huge market for the Irish event horse, and we expect it to be very strong this year,” Ed says. “Irish event horses are top of the pile at the minute.”

The livestream is great and convenient (California-based 5* rider Andrea Baxter can attest to that, seeing how she has a horse quite literally named The Big Easy for his origination at this sale and its livestream’s “easy button”), but Go For Gold is built to be experienced in person. Over three days, buyers can watch every horse perform, get hands-on, and talk to the people who produced them. Siobhan’s advice: “Bring your riding helmet. You can test the horse out — people love that.”

Auction night is the main event. Since taking over and since the COVID-19 pandemic put a pause on close gatherings, Siobhan and Ed have brought back the glitz and glamour, with full TV-style production, big screens and auctioneers in black tie. Every successful buyer receives a bottle of champagne, a Go For Gold saddle pad from partner Connolly’s Red Mills, and a framed photo of their new horse. Last year, the tables got competitive over who had collected the most frames.

The online catalog goes live October 15, followed by an online gallery with extensive photos, videos and X-rays for every lot. Keep an eye right here on EN for our forthcoming Wishlist picks as well, because we have zero issue enabling our friends to buy horses.

This year’s Goresbridge Go for Gold sale kicks off November 9 and runs through November 11, the date of the actual sale. Browse the catalog (once it’s available) and plan your visit at goresbridge.com/goforgold. The Go for Gold Instagram is also worth a follow; keep an eye out for content about this year’s sale horses coming on their page soon.