Valegro’s full brother for sale [April Fool]
OLYMPIC, World and European gold medallist Valegro’s full brother — a 5-year-old, 16.2hh stallion by Negro — is for sale in the buy and sell pages of Horse & Hound’s website.
The stallion, known as “Gooseberry” — as a nod to his big brother whose moniker is “Blueberry” — has been kept under the radar until now. His owner, Netherlands-based Jo Kers, had hoped to continue his education to Prix St Georges, having competed up to small tour internationally with her previous horse. However, Jo has recently been diagnosed with leg length alignment asymmetry and no longer feels she can deliver the stallion’s full potential.
The 5-year-old has so far mirrored Valegro’s achievements — failing his KWPN stallion grading — and is on the market for £6,500.
Jo says: “I have approached several top Dutch riders about taking on the ride, but they are nervous about the huge weight of expectation they would experience, competing a sibling to the greatest dressage horse of all time.”
One Olympic rider, who asked not to be named, told H&H: “The critics would pull apart your every move, and there are no guarantees in this sport — look at what happened with Totilas.”
However, Jo is confident that a Brit will see past these concerns, saying: “I’m marketing Gooseberry in the UK because it was a Brit who was smart enough to see his brother’s potential in the first place.”
Since placing the advert on the H&H website, Jo has been inundated with calls, but says she is vetting potential purchasers very carefully, adding: “It’s really important to me that he goes to the right home — he’s an unbelievably special horse, his talent is unreal.”
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To see Gooseberry’s advert, click HERE
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Sarah has worked at an equestrian journalist and editor since 2004 and has held the position of Horse & Hound Editor-in-Chief since 2014. She has reported for Horse & Hound from major championships including Europeans and World Equestrian Games. She has co-written books on horses and horse sport including The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horses & Ponies. She has owned and ridden horses since 1993, and worked for and trained with Olympic gold medallist event rider Leslie Law prior to going to university. While studying for a BSc at London School of Economics Sarah also worked for top British dressage rider Louise Spate.