MHS Going Global, the Irish Sport Horse gelding which was ridden at this year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro by Co Tipperary show jumper Greg Broderick, has been sold to Greek shipping heiress Athina Onassis for a figure believed to be between €10 and €12 million.
The new owner is a daughter of the late Christina Onassis who died when the rider was just three years old. The 31-year-old is the sole surviving descendant of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis who, in 1968, married Jackie Kennedy, widow of the American President, John F. Kennedy.
The sale of MHS Going Global, which was announced at lunchtime on Friday on The Irish Field website by Catriona Murphy, had been under negotiation for the past two weeks, but was only concluded on Thursday following a full veterinary examination.
While no sale price has been confirmed by Broderick or by the horse’s joint-owner, Canadian Lee Kruger, it is speculated the 10-year-old Quidam Junior bay has changed hands for between €10 and €12 million.
Onassis, who represented Greece at the 2013 European Championships in Denmark and at the following year’s World Equestrian Games in France, flew to Ireland two weeks ago to try the horse in the company of her advisers Jan Tops and the latter’s Australian-born wife Edwina Alexander Tops.
MHS Going Global, which was bred in Co Kilkenny by the late Ita Brennan out of the well-related Cavalier Royale mare Gowran Lady, was first produced on the Irish show jumping circuit by Francis Connors with Broderick taking over the ride in the summer of 2011.
The horse left Ireland on Friday with Broderick commenting on his Facebook pag: “Today is Juniors final day at Ballypatrick, it’s been an unbelievable journey for us right from novice classes in Ireland to making Dreams come through with Olympic Games and Nations cup wins most memorably our double clear in 2015 to help Ireland win the Aga Khan in front of our home crowd.
“He has given my family, friends, owners and the Irish horse world something to be very proud of and thank you to everyone who has been supportive of us along the way.
“He was part of the family here at Ballypatrick and like a best friend to me. He will be hugely missed but it was a logical decision to sell him in the height of his career.
“I’d like to wish his new owner Athena Onasis all the luck with him and a big thank you to Lee Kruger for the opportunity to ride this great horse.”
Meanwhile, on the competition front, Co Meath’s Elizabeth Power was presented with a new John Deere tractor following her win in Thursday night’s indoor cross-country competition at Stockholm.
As only three outside counties were invited to compete at the Swedish venue, the Co Meath dual purpose rider accepted an invitation to line up as a member of the New Zealand team which finished third behind Germany and the host nation and in front of Great Britain.
Power was mounted on the 15-year-old High Roller gelding Doonaveeragh O One on which she was home clear in 74.68, taking the individual top prize ahead of the German team members Freya Füllgraebe riding Oje Oje (74.75) and Ingrid Klimke on board Parmenides (74.77).
