Last week Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney urged sport horse breeders to aim to breed the best: “You can get semen from anywhere in the world now and we should be using that in a really targeted and selective way,” he stated. “We need to get the best of breeding programmes both in Ireland and abroad.” With this in mind, The Irish Horse and Horse Sport Ireland have compiled this exclusive list of the top 10 show jumping stallions in the world and the most up-to-date contact details for each of these prized performers.
Last week Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney urged sport horse breeders to aim to breed the best: “You can get semen from anywhere in the world now and we should be using that in a really targeted and selective way,” he stated. “We need to get the best of breeding programmes both in Ireland and abroad.”
With this in mind, The Irish Horse and Horse Sport Ireland have compiled this exclusive list of the top 10 show jumping stallions in the world and the most up-to-date contact details for each of these prized performers.
Dominating the top end of show jumping and producing the million euro winners are these 10 hugely influential sires. Either as sires or as grand sires through their daughters, these 10 have contributed to the breeding of at least 25% of the top-200 ranked show jumpers in the world and their influence will last for years to come.
Baloubet
Du Rouet
This son of the great Galoubet is out of a French mare that traces back to the thoroughbred Rantzau. He was an Olympic champion and also a three-time winner of the World Cup in 1998, 1999 and 2000 for Rodrigo Pessoa. He has topped the WBFSH list of show jumping sires for the past two years with over 11,000 points gained by his progeny.
www.baloubetdurouet.com
Kannan
Kannan is by the Hanoverian Voltaire, who traces back to the thoroughbred Furioso. He is out of a Dutch-bred Nimmerdor dam who has Mexico in her background. Kannan won both the Belgian and French championships. With Michel Hecart, he took Grand Prix events at Deauville and Paris and was on winning French squads in 2003 and 2004. Among his 60 internationals is Bertram Allen’s Molly Malone, out of a Cavalier dam.
www.thestallioncompany.com
Quick Star
This is another son of Galoubet. He is out of a Selle Français dam Stella who goes back to the thoroughbred Hurry On and who jumped internationally for Nelson Pessoa. Quick Star had many successes for Meredith Michaels who has also ridden one of his daughters, Another Stella. Included among his progeny is Nick Skelton’s Olympic horse Big Star.
www.harasdesm.com
Heartbreaker
He is by Nimmerdor out of the Dutch mare by Silvano, who was a daughter of Paul Schockemohle’s great winner, Orchidee. With Peter Geerink, Heartbreaker was on a Dutch winning team at Falsterbo and was well-placed in Grand Prix events at London, Rotterdam, Aachen and Hamburg. Among his progeny is Bertram Allen’s ride Romanov.
www.team-nijhof.nl
Diamant De Semilly
A half-brother to Edwina Alexander’s international star Itot du Château, this 1991 sire is by the sire of sires Le Tot de Semilly. His dam, the Selle Français Venise des Cresles, traces back to the great Ibrahim. With Gregory Wathelet, he was French champion in 2002 and the same year was on the winning WEG team at Jerez.
www.semilly.com/gb/
diamant-gb.html
Cornet
Obolensky
A son of the 11th listed Holsteiner Clinton, who traces back to Cor de la Bryere, this 15-year-old is out of a Heartbreaker dam. Ridden by Marco Kutscher, he was on the German team at the Beijing Olympics and on their winning side at Rotterdam. He won almost €300,000 in competition. His latest progeny winner was Cornet d’Amour in the Mechelen World Cup.
www.gestuetligges.com
Darco
This well-known sire is by Lugano Van L Roche, who in turn was by the great Belgian foundation stallion Lugano. He is out of the Codex mare Ocoucha, who through the good broodmare sire Codex goes back to Cottage Son. Darco was winner of World Cups at Olympia and ’s-Hertogenbosch for Ludo Philippaerts. He was seventh at the Barcelona Olympics. One of his sons is Amaretto Darco, who is competed by Shane Sweetnam.
www.keros.be
Mr Blue
The 1988 sire Mr Blue is by the Dutch Lucky Boy (TB) stallion Couperus and out of Arcala, who has Anglo Arab in her background. Like most of the top 10 stallions, Mr Blue is approved for use in the Irish stud book. His own performance gives him a four-star rating there. He has five stars for his progeny, which includes the German team star Plot Blue.
www.keros.be
Numero Uno
Numero Uno is by the great Landgraf sire Libero H. His dam is by Lord Calando, who also sired Kedrah House Stud’s popular stallion Lux Z. He was successfully campaigned by Marcus Kutscher up until 2006. They had wins at Verona and Zurich. Since retiring to stud, Numero Uno has produced five approved stallions in the KWPN stud book.
www.hanshorn.com
Contendro
He is a good representative of the Contender, Calypso, Cor de la Bryere line. His dam, by the Holstiener Reichsgraf, goes back to Ramiro both through her sire and dam. He has headed the Hanoverian jumping stallion rankings for four seasons running and has over 20 licensed stallions to his credit.
www.gestuet-famos.de
www.thestallioncompany.com
* Above are the Top 10 show jumping sires in the WBFSH rankings. We have included the stud which either owns them or which we have found to be the most accessible distributor of their semen.
** Other agents may apply to the above stallions and this should only be used as a guide.
*** With special thanks to Alison Corbally, director of breeding and programmes at HSI, and her team for the contact information.
This is a subscriber-only article
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